ADEA holds Biennial Meeting in Africa for the first time
Dakar, October 14-18, 1997
This issue of the Newsletter is focused on the ADEA Biennial Meeting.
For African Ministers of Education, researchers and senior officers from the development community, the ADEA Biennial Meeting provides a unique opportunity for members of the Association to meet and debate a specific issue concerning education in Africa.
Until now, these meetings had been held in Europe. This year the Biennial Meeting was held in Africa, in Senegal. For ADEA, which actively seeks to foster effective partnership among its members, the choice of an African city reflects the path the Association has chosen. From its origins as a mere coordinator of lenders, ADEA has transformed itself into an association in which all members play a vital role. Furthermore, relationships between funding agencies and African decision-makers have evolved to enable countries to assume responsibility for their own education policies. In another first, the Dakar meeting was attended by two heads of state: Senegalese President Abdou Diouf, and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. The Biennial Meeting opened with their vision of education and its role in Africaâs political and economic development.
Opening remarks
For the first time, the Biennial Meeting welcomed two heads of state, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and Senegalese President Abdou Diouf. At the opening session, the two presidents addressed the more than 500 participants, African political decision-makers, development agency senior officers, members of the diplomatic corps adn representatives from Senegalâs civil society, articulating their vision of the role of education in the continentâs political and economic development.
Mr. Diouf outlined the challenges confronting African countries: democratizing access to education and academic achievement; improving the quality of education and raising the level of instruction in the sciences; and overhauling education systems with an eye toward African culture and the requirements of country-driven development. To meet these challenges, it is essential to develop partnerships at every level, both nationally and internationally.
Mr. Yoweri Museveni repeatedly stressed the idea that development of African education is inconceivable without a parallel process of industrialization and modernization of the entire society. The only realistic solution to the continentâs education problems lies in a larger context of economic growth capable of giving African states new financial capabilities.
Additional opening remarks were delivered by ADEA Chair Ingemar Gustafsson; Mr. Amanya Mushega, Ugandan Minister of Education and Alternate Chair of ADEA; World Bank Vice President for Africa Jean-Louis Sarbib; Mr. Mats Karlsson, Secretary of State for Cooperation in Swedenâs Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Mr. Charles Josselin, French Secretary of State for Cooperation.
All of the speakers agreed that the magnitude of the difficulties confronting African countries as they build effective education systems makes it essential to tap into all national resources and potential and to adopt a new partnership approach, both nationally and internationally.
Mr. Josselin illustrated this new partnership approach with examples, focusing in particular on the development of new education policies. These policies must have the support of all of the stakeholders involved ÷teachers, parents, students and business. For Mr. Karlsson, the key characteristics of this new partnership are frank recognition of each partyâs interests, unambiguous contractual arrangements, and a thorough, mutual understanding of every aspect of the issues involved in order to put the parties on an equal footing.
Structure of the meeting
The Biennial Meeting took place over the four-day period from October 14 to October 18 and included the following sessions: (i) plenary debate on the central theme Partnerships for Capacity-Building and Improving the Quality of Education in Africa; (ii) in-depth reflection on various aspects of the theme in small discussion groups; (iii) two closed meetings of the Caucus of Ministers. In addition, a number of fringe activities organized by the working groups were held before, during and after the Biennial Meeting.
Reflection on the theme of the meeting
This yearâs theme was ãPartnerships for Capacity-Building and Improving the Quality of Education in Africa.ä Reflection on this theme was based on analysis, experiences and initiatives illustrating various types of partnerships in the field of education. These practical experiences, described in over a dozen background documents distributed to the participants, were presented in the plenary session, which focused special attention on the results of these experiences and the insights they offer from the standpoint of both policy and practicality.
Plenary sessions
The plenary sessions examined the following sub-themes in depth: partnerships between agencies and countries; partnerships within countries (between the public and private sectors; with communities); partnerships for capacity-building; and partnerships for improving the quality of education.
Partnerships between agencies and countries
The first session included a critical analysis of aid methods and instruments, based on an evaluation of the results of twenty years of aid in the Sahel. In another presentation, Mr. Harry Sawyerr, former Education Minister of Ghana, and former President of the Caucus of Ministers, sought to describe Ghanaâs successful experience with aid coordination.
Partnerships within countries
A private sector initiative in South Africa was presented as an example of fruitful partnership with the private sector. New models for collaboration÷between ministers of education and communities, and between formal and nonformal systems of education÷were presented. These models are based on studies carried out by the Working Group on Nonformal Education.
Partnerships for capacity-building
During the third session, the discussion centered around various initiatives contributing to capacity-building. Participants addressed the following areas: strategic planning of resources dedicated to girlsâ education; statistical mechanisms for better management of education systems; sector studies as tools for improving education policies and programs. The session focused particularly on the Working Groupsâ approaches to capacity-building, but initiatives by the Confemen Education System Analysis Program (PASEC) and the Southern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) were also presented.
Partnerships for improving the quality of education
Two sessions examined a variety of initiatives geared towards improving quality. Among them were FEMSA, designed to improve girlsâ education in mathematics and the sciences; making teachers full partners in their own professional development; the work of the Delors Commission, which is charged with formulating recommendations for education in the twenty-first century; and radio instruction as an efficient learning tool.
Small discussion groups
Two afternoon sessions were devoted to small-group discussions, which addressed the following issues: country-led coordination as a mechanism for effective partnership between agencies and countries; key elements of effective partnership; communities as active partners; capacity-building in the fields of statistics, planning, management and research in education; dialogue and partnerships as strategies to promote quality; factors and strategies to promote sustainable capacity.
The contributions of the various participants will be summarized and included in the proceedings of the Biennial Meeting, to be published in early 1998.
Meetings of the Caucus of Ministers
The Caucus of Ministers met twice in Dakar (see article in this issue), with some fifty ministers, heads of delegation, and ministerial advisers in attendance. The African ministers elected a new Bureau, chaired by Mr. Amanya Mushega, Ugandaâs Minister of Education. The Bureau of Ministers was expanded to ten members, who will represent the Caucus on ADEAâs Steering Committee. The Caucus reviewed the results of the Accra meeting and came to several conclusions, particularly in the areas of using local expertise and giving priority to basic education - without minimizing the importance of secondary and higher education. Other subjects of discussion included practical efforts to advance the United Nationsâ Special Initiative for Africa and the creation of new regional educational structures in Africa.
Fringe meetings
A number of the working groups held meetings during the four days of the Biennial Meeting: Sector Analysis; Nonformal Education; Higher Education; Finance and Education; Books and Learning Materials; Female Participation; Research; and Statistics.
The Steering Committee met after the Biennial Meeting to review the 1997 report of activities and the proposed budget and program for 1998.
Closing session
The final session was presided by Mr. Mamadou Ndoye, Deputy Minister for Basic Education and National Languages in Senegal. Mr. Ndoye and his technical team were involved in all stages of the organization of the Biennial Meeting.
Mrs. Amoako-Nuama, Minister of Ediucation from Ghana briefed the participants on the meetings of the Caucus of Ministers. Mr. Richard Sack, Executive Secretary of ADEA, briefly reported on ADEA and the associationâs program and activities.
The reporting on the small group discussions constituted the high point of the closing session. The reports were presented in a dynamic and lively way, in the form of interviews conducted by Mr. Ndoye.
The meeting closed with interventions by Mr. Amanya Mushega, Ugandaâs Minister of Education and newly-elected Chair of the Bureau of Ministers; Mr. Mamadou Ndoye; and Mr. Ingemar Gustafsson, outgoing Chair of ADEA. Mr. Mushega thanked the government of Senegal for organizing and hosting the meeting and paid special tribute to Mr. Gustafsson for his work over the past two years and for his special qualities as a ãconsensus-builder.ä
A full account of the Biennial Meeting will be published in the beginning of 1998.
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