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November 2005
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| ADEA Activities |
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WGMSE holds training session on ASEI and PDSI
approaches
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network of education communicators takes shape after
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WGCOMED and WGNFE training session in Dakar builds media
• In Harare, the
WGES welcomes EMIS specialists for workshop |
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The WGs
on Early Childhood Development and Non-formal Education are totally engaged in preparations for the Biennale More information |
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ADEA Participation in External Meetings |
• First
Islamic Ministerial Conference on the Child
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Second annual meeting of the WG for
International Cooperation
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Mid-term review of the Conference of Commonwealth
Education
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BREDA regional seminar on secondary education
in Africa
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Canadian Ministry for International
Cooperation round table
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Fifth meeting of the high-level group on EFA
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3rd round table on the elimination
of child labor
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Internet forum on Open
Educational Resources |
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• New members of the ADEA Steering Committee |
| Just Published |
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ADEA Newsletter on languages and
education
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ADEA article published in Book of Commonwealth
Heads
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Handbook on Multigrade Teaching (WG on the Teaching Profession) |
| Upcoming... |
ADEA MEETINGS
December 5-9, 2005 Pretoria, South Africa • WGES workshop on databases and web integration December 12-15, 2005 Cotonou, Benin • Seminar on adaptation of curricula December 12-17, 2005 Dakar, Senegal
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First annual seminar - workshop for sharing of ideas and
January 19-21, 2006 Maputo, Mozambique • WGECD Steering Committee meeting March 27-31, 2006 Libreville Gabon • ADEA 2006 Biennale of Education External Meetings
January 10-13, 2006 Addis Ababa, Ethiopia • Extraordinary Meeting of the Ministers of Education African Union |
| ADEA Activities |
WGMSE holds training session on ASEI and PDSI in the teaching of mathematics and science The Working Group on Mathematics and Science Education (WGMSE) organized a training session on mathematics and science education from December 7 to 9, 2005 in Nairobi, Kenya. Some 95 participants from 14 countries in sub-Saharan Africa were invited to this capacity-building activity. The countries were: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Côte d'Ivoire, Madagascar, Mauritius, Nigeria, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zanzibar. The training was aimed at popularizing the Activity, Student, Experiment, Improvisation and Plan, Do, See, Improve (ASEI & PDSI) approaches that are a key to revitalizing classroom activities in mathematics and science education in Africa. This course was the first international activity mounted at the Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa (CEMASTEA), which houses the WGMSE secretariat. The session was officially opened by Professor Mzobz Mboya, education advisor at NEPAD. Ø For more information, contact: Bernard M. Njuguna, WGMSE Coordinator, bernardnjuguna@smasse.org A network of education communication takes shape after a WGCOMED training course in Brazzaville A national workshop on communication for education and development was organized in Brazzaville (Congo) from November 7 to 11, 2005, by the Congo Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in charge of Literacy. The workshop received technical assistance from the ADEA Working Group on Communication for Education and Development (WGCOMED). Besides journalists and communications officers, the course was also attended by representatives of teacher unions and Parent-Teacher Associations (PTAs) in the Congo. The course was meant to strengthen technical and professional skills of participants in order to broaden their interest and understanding of education issues and thus improve coverage of education by the media. At the end of the session, participants decided to create a network of Congolese education communicators. Ø For more information, contact: Professor Alfred Opubor, WGCOMED Coordinator, comed@wanad.org WGCOMED and WGNFE training session in Dakar builds media awareness of the challenges of literacy Education journalists and press officers from Senegal's Ministries of Education participated in two days of sensitivity training and awareness building on the challenge of achieving literacy for all. The training was organized on November 15 and 16, 2005 at UNESCO’s regional office in Dakar (BREDA) by the ADEA Working Group on Communication for Education and Development (WGCOMED) and the Working Group on Non-Formal Education (WGNFE). ADEA’s Executive Secretary Mamadou Ndoye and the Director of the UNESCO Institute for Education (UIE) Adama Ouane exchanged questions and answers with the journalists present about media coverage of literacy issues in the region. Participants also discussed some of the obstacles the press faces, particularly the lack of standardized statistical data. The two-day session was organized outside the WGNFE workshop for planning the literacy events at the 2006 ADEA Biennale, which took place from November 14 to 17, 2005 at BREDA headquarters [see below under "2006 Biennale coming up..."]. Ø For more information, contact: Professor Alfred Opubor, WGCOMED Coordinator, comed@wanad.org In Harare, the WGES welcomes EMIS specialists for workshop on intranet development and integration of databases The WG on Education Statistics (WGES) conducted a training workshop in its ICT laboratory at UNESCO offices in Harare on Intranet Development and Database Integration November 14-25, 2005. The workshop brought together database administrators from the ten provinces served by Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture. The WGES NESIS program has an internship component designed to work with IT personnel from Ministries of Education in the area of Education Management Information Systems (EMIS). It promotes country owned and self-led development of EMIS so that countries are able to develop information systems and prototypes that can be improved through continuous testing and later implemented in the whole country. NESIS has gathered generic information requirements for many different types of education systems. November 14-30, 2005, NESIS hosted EMIS specialists from Tanzania, Zambia and Zanzibar to assist them in strengthening their capacity. Ø For more information, contact: Tegegn Nuresu Wako, WGES Interim Coordinator, t.nuresu-wako@unesco.org |
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The WGs on Early Childhood Development and Non-Formal Education are totally engaged in preparations for the Biennale Active preparations are underway for ADEA's 2006 Biennale of Education to take place in Libreville, Gabon, March 27 to 30, 2006. The conference will be examining the issue of how to improve the quality of education in the light of effective school and literacy and Early Childhood Development programs. Two Working Groups are particularly involved in preparing this Biennale: the WG on Non-formal Education (WGNFE) and the WG on Early Childhood Development (WGECD). From November 14 to 17, 2005 WGNFE organized a workshop in Dakar to prepare the sessions on literacy and to review the studies to be presented. The workshop brought together some 20 participants including the authors of different studies covering such issues as costs, diversification, and languages. In parallel with the workshop WGNFE and WGCOMED organized a workshop for journalists and information officers from Senegal's Ministries of Education that was designed to build awareness of the importance of non-formal education and literacy. WGECD is also focusing all its energy on preparing for the Biennale. It is currently addressing the benefits of investing in ECD as well as the affordability of various interventions. For this, it has commissioned a study to examine the costs of different Early Childhood Development approaches. WGECD, in collaboration with the UNICEF office for West and Central Africa Region (WCAR), is also currently responsible for piloting the World Bank ECD costing model in Burkina Faso and Gambia. The exercise is a first step towards using the model to guide national investments for young children. The output will also be presented during the ECD session at the Biennale. Finally, WGECD is getting ready to launch a new website for ECD in Africa. Ø For more information, contact: Amina Osman, Coordinator, WGNFE, wgnfe@yahoo.co.uk and Stella Etse, Coordinator, WGECD, setse@unicef.org |
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ADEA Participation in External Meetings |
First Islamic Ministerial Conference on the Child November 7-9, 2005 some 150 participants met in Rabat, Morocco for the First Ministerial Conference on the Child. It was jointly organized by the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO), UNICEF and the Organization of the Islamic Conference. There were three objectives: provide Ministers the opportunity to share their experiences, in light of the World Fit for Children and Millennium Development Goals; identify priority areas where progress is slow which require accelerated action; and mobilize cooperation among OIC member states to achieve progress for children. Participants came from Moslem countries or from countries having large Islamic communities and several sub-Saharan countries sent high-level representatives (ministers or their deputies). ADEA participated in a panel of experts under the banner “Quality Education and Culture”, moderated by Manzoor Ahmed, former head of education at UNICEF. It offered the opportunity to present its own exercise on improving the quality of education, and representatives from countries in sub-Saharan Africa – and also from the Middle East and South East Asia – expressed their interest in learning more about this initiative. Ø Rabat Declaration on Children in the Islamic World Ø For more information, consult the ISESCO web site: http://www.isesco.org.ma/Children/ENG/index.html Second annual meeting of the WG for International Cooperation in Skills Development The second annual meeting of the Working Group for International Cooperation in Skills Development met in Rome, Italy on November 10-11, 2005. The meeting was organized by the Working Group together with FAO and IIEP around the theme: Skills development for rural people. Its purpose was to link skills development with poverty reduction strategies for rural people, and to adopt an integrated rather than a fragmented approach to sustainable rural development. There was agreement about the need to adopt a new and holistic conceptual framework focused on rural development needs and livelihoods. FAO presented the recommendations emerging from the ministerial meeting on education for rural populations organized in Addis Ababa last September by ADEA, FAO and IIEP. After the meeting, ADEA was able to meet with FAO to discuss how the ADEA ad hoc WG on Post-Primary Education might contribute to the follow-up of the Ministerial Seminar held in Ethiopia last September, and a consultant from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs presented an approach called “formation de masse” which essentially provides skills for all young people in rural areas based on a multiple-provision schema that includes non-formal, informal and formal. The approach appears very similar to the “passerelles” one that ADEA wants to launch in Senegal and Burkina Faso to study the passage between non-formal education and the formal post-primary system in these two countries.
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For more
information on the WG for International Mid-term review of the Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CGEM) for Africa, Cyprus, Malta and the United Kingdom This meeting took place in Freetown, Sierra Leone, November 14 to 15, 2005. ADEA made two presentations related to its work on the improvement of education quality and the impact of HIV/AIDS on education systems. These are two of the six action areas (achieving UPE, gender parity, distance education and education in difficult circumstances) identified in 2004 by the CCEM. The meeting, which was organized by the Commonwealth Secretariat, was to take stock of both African and European countries’ achievements in these areas. ADEA’s work in improving the quality of education aroused much interest, especially the work undertaken by Commonwealth countries through the inter-country quality nodes and the evidence gathered in national case studies. Participants also were interested to learn about the efforts of the ad hoc WG on HIV/AIDS in taking stock of countries’ readiness to confront the pandemic and the responses of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. ADEA also informed the Commonwealth ministers of work done by its WGs on Higher Education and other WGs that have tackled questions of sectoral policies for coping with HIV/AIDS as well as questions of prevention and protection. Countries were invited to submit their promising experiences in combating HIV/AIDS to either ADEA or the Commonwealth Secretariat. The WG on the Teaching Profession will also be invited to participate more fully in this arena. BREDA regional seminar on secondary education in Africa The UNESCO regional bureau for education (BREDA) held a regional seminar on higher education in Addis Ababa from November 21 to 24. It represents one more step in the reflective exercise on post-primary education in Africa. The seminar took up the discussion begun during the first regional seminar organized by UNESCO on the subject of renewal of secondary education in Africa (Mauritius, December 2001); the two regional SEIA conferences organized by the World Bank in Uganda (2004) and Senegal (2004); the 4th meeting of the Interagency Consultative Group on Secondary Education Reform and Youth Affairs (Paris, June-July 2004); and the partners meeting convened by ADEA in Edinburgh in order to set priorities for its ad hoc Working Group on Post-Primary Education (April 2005). It is also worth mentioning that the African Union and NEPAD have both included the expansion and diversification of secondary education as priorities in their strategic framework for achieving the MDGs and the EFA goals. The main subjects discussed during the seminar were: increasing access; diversification; curriculum renewal; secondary school teacher training; the role of school leaders; and financing secondary education in Africa. The seminar was also an opportunity for ADEA’s ad hoc Working Group on Post-Primary Education to present its approach, activities and perspectives. The seminar closed with the adoption of a document containing key messages on three aspects of secondary education: teacher and school leadership; financial resources; and the curriculum. Ø Regional Seminar on Secondary Education in Africa Canadian Ministry for International Cooperation round table on basic education and development The Canadian Ministry for International Cooperation organized a round table in Ottawa on November 21, 2005 for the purpose of consulting its various partners about the strategic direction that the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) should take. Canada hopes to maximize its impact through sectoral and geographic concentration. Basic education will be one its five priorities for development cooperation. African countries (14) will constitute the majority among partner countries totalling 25. CIDA’s basic education programs will stand on four pillars: improved quality, security and relevance of basic education; elimination of obstacles that prevent closing the gender gap in basic education; education for the prevention of HIV/AIDS; and education of girls and boys in emergencies and situations of conflict, or post-conflict. The Executive Secretary of ADEA, who participated in the round table, gave a closing speech on the challenges and opportunities for the Canadian cooperation. Ø For more information, consult the CIDA web site: http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/index.htm Ø Canada's International Policy Statement Fifth meeting of the High-Level Group on EFA The fifth meeting of the High-level group on EFA took place in Beijing November 28 to 30, 2005. It was opened with speeches by the Prime Minister of China, the President of Mongolia, the Princess of Thailand, the Vice President of the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Director General of UNESCO. The meeting was devoted to literacy for empowerment, gender parity, education of rural populations and the mobilization of resources for EFA. The 2006 Global Monitoring Report has highlighted some recent progress: about 70 countries have increased the share of national budget that goes for education, 22 million more children are enrolled in school and aid to basic education has more than doubled between 1999 and 2003. But the goal of parity between the sexes has not been achieved and 100 million children are out of school while 771 million adults are still illiterate. A number of other challenges remain between now and 2015: the need to multiply annually by 2 or 4 the number of teachers; the need to recruit 60 million new teachers, to raise 5 billion dollars more each year, and to improve the quality of education. Education for rural populations was singled out as both necessary and urgent if the EFA and MDGs are to be achieved. ADEA’s Executive Secretary was invited to speak in the session on investing in education for rural populations. The next meeting of the high-level group will take place in Egypt and will emphasize early childhood development. Ø 2006 EFA Global Monitoring Report http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=43283&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html 3rd round table on the elimination of child labor The 3rd round table on education for all and the elimination of child labor took place during the Fifth meeting of the High-level Group on Education for All. It was organized by the International Labor Organization (ILO), UNICEF, the World Bank and the Global March against Child Labor. Earlier round tables in New Delhi in 2003 and Brasilia in 2004 had highlighted the link between eliminating child labor and achieving the millennium goals and universal primary education. At Beijing, the main objective was to draw the international community’s attention to the need to provide a favorable environment in order to effectively combat child labor: implement practical measures, mobilize additional resources, formally recognize the link between EFA and the elimination of child labor, and the establishment of a normative framework. The round table gave special attention to the sharing of national experiences and good practice in abolishing child labor. Ø From commitment to Action: An Inter-Agency Working Paper on the elimination of child labor Internet forum on Open Educational Resources Everywhere in the world institutions of higher learning are facing increasing demand even while being expected to maintain or even reduce their budgets. At the same time the quality of education is increasingly important, especially in developing countries where demand outstrips capacity. Open Educational Resources (OER) is one response to the need to provide quality resources such as course content and pedagogical materials. As adopted by UNESCO, the concept of OER denotes the provision of educational resources by means of information and communication technologies for consultation, use and adaptation by a given user community, for non-commercial purposes. From October 24 to December 2, 2005, with support from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, IIEP organized an internet forum on Open Educational Resources. The Executive Secretary was invited to lead a session on linguistic and cultural aspects of open access provision. He asked participants to reflect on two major issues: i) the disadvantages of English language domination that prevents non-anglophones from accessing OER and also poses problems for the adaptation of OER to local needs and thinking; ii) the danger represented by developed countries having a monopoly on the production of OERs, which effectively relegates developing countries to the role of simple consumers. |
| People on the move |
New members of the Steering Committee ADEA wishes to welcome the new members of its Steering Committee: The Hon. Mrs Chinwe Nora Obaji, Minister of Education in Nigeria, the Hon. Mr Aires Bonifacio Baptista Ali, Minister of Education and Culture of Mozambique, Mrs Anne Banwell, of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Mr Jussi Karakoski, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland, and Mrs Bente Nilson of the Norwegian agency for cooperation and development (Norad). |
| Just Published |
ADEA Newsletter on languages and education It would appear obvious that students learn best if they understand what they’re being taught. Yet in many sub-Saharan African countries, the language of instruction used in schools is a foreign language. The current Newsletter takes a look at the use of African languages in education, and at the various models adopted and their performance. Meeting of heads of Commonwealth countries The Executive Secretary of ADEA was invited by the Commonwealth Secretariat to contribute an article on education for rural populations for a special book prepared for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) that took place in Valletta, Malta November 25 to 27, 2005. The book is intended as a source of information about key issues currently affecting Commonwealth countries and the world in general. For example, great importance will be attached to questions concerning development and democracy. Ø To view the article by ADEA’s Executive Secretary Ø CHOGM web site: http://www.chogm2005.mt/page.aspx?site=CHGM&page=default Handbook on multigrade teaching (WGTP) The WG on the Teaching Profession has just published a handbook containing seven learning resource modules on multi-grade teaching. It covers the following topics: Module 1: An introduction to multigrade teaching Module 2: Effective teaching and learning in multigrade classrooms Module 3: Classroom management and organization Module 4: Approaches to teaching in multigrade classes Module 5: Instructional resources and resource management Module 6: Assessment and evaluation Module 7: Planning a programme of instruction for multigrade classes Ø For more information, contact: Virgilio Juvane, Coordinator, ADEA WGTP, v.juvane@commonwealth.org |
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| Upcoming... |
ADEA MEETINGS December 5-9, 2005 WGES workshop on databases and web integration The WG on Education Statistics (WGES) is preparing for a meeting to be held in Pretoria, South Africa from 5-9 December 2005. Two parallel activities are foreseen to complete the cycle of training for all English-speaking sub-Saharan African countries, namely a meeting on revival of technical working groups and a workshop on database development and web integration. Ø For more information, contact: Tegegn Nuresu Wako, WGES Interim Coordinator, t.nuresu-wako@unesco.org December 12-15, 2005 Seminar on adapting curricula Organized in partnership with the Intergovernmental Agency for Francophonie (AIF) and the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Africa (BREDA), this seminar aims to stimulate debate over how best to design curricula adapted to the African context and the major challenges confronted. Three main issues will be discussed in depth: the skills-based approach, introducing teaching in local languages and the gender dimension. Ø For more information, contact: Amina Yekhlef, ADEA Secretariat, a.yekhlef@iiep.unesco.org December 12-17, 2005 First annual seminar-workshop for sharing of ideas and strengthening the capacities of actors and teacher training colleges in French-speaking Africa This seminar-workshop is part of a program to create a network of teacher-training institutions. It is supported by the Paul-Gerin-Lajoie Interuniversity Centre (ICPGL) of the University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM), the ADEA WG on the Teaching Profession (WGTP), the International Institute for Capacity-Building in Africa (IICBA), the African Virtual University (AVU) and the World Bank. The theme of the workshop will be: Reforming the training of primary-school teachers within the framework of EFA. Ø For more information, contact: Virgilio Juvane, Coordinator, ADEA WGTP, v.juvane@commonwealth.org January 19-21, 2006 WGECD Steering Committee meeting The second meeting of the Steering Committee of the ADEA Working Group on Early Childhood Development (WGECD) will take place in Maputo, Mozambique from January 19 to 21, 2006. The meeting will focus on preparations for the 2006 ADEA Biennale, the 2007 EFA Global Monitoring Report on ECD, the regional update following the 3rd African ECD conference and defining the direction for the Working Group’s activities beyond the March 2006 Biennale. Ø For more information, contact Jeanette Vogelaar, leader, WGECD, jeanette.vogelaar@minbuza.nl or Stella Etse, Coordinator, WGECD, setse@unicef.org March 27-31, 2006 ADEA Biennial Meeting The ADEA Biennial Meeting is the most important regional get-together on education in Africa. The 2006 Biennale will be focusing on effective factors and conditions underlying effective schools and literacy and early childhood education programs. On March 27, on the eve of the Biennale, the Caucus of Ministers of Education from sub-Saharan Africa will discuss activities related to the African Union's new decade for education in Africa (2006 – 2015) as well as ADEA’s priorities and strategies for the future. Ø For more information, contact: Thanh-Hoa Desruelles, ADEA Secretariat, Communications and Publications Officer, th.desruelles@iiep.unesco.org |
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ADEA Briefs is a monthly information bulletin that is distributed electronically to ADEA members and partners in order to keep them abreast of the association's activities. The bulletin is produced by the ADEA Secretariat. For more information about the bulletin or to send in your comments, please contact the editor, Thanh-Hoa Desruelles, tel: +33(0) 145 03 77 69; fax: +33(0) 145 03 39 65; e-mail: th.desruelles@iiep.unesco.org; web site: http://www.adeanet.org/ | |
