The Rejasef previous page | next page The ADEA/World Bank "Communication for Education" program will seek to involve various media and communication institutions and networks. Below is a description of the REJASEF, the Network of Journalists Specialized in Education and Training. Rejasef (the Network of Journalists Specialized in Education and Training) grew out of the simple observation that there is an absence of reliable information in the field of education and training. The discovery coincided with the meeting of heads of state from French-speaking countries, in Dakar in 1987, when they declared that education and training were the "priority of priorities". Creation of Rejasef Subsequently, in November 1992, a meeting of about 30 print and media journalists from 14 Francophone countries in West Africa, Central Africa and the Indian Ocean region, was convened in Dakar. The initiative received financial support from the French Ministry for Cooperation, the agency for cooperation with French-speaking countries, UNESCO, the Senegal Ministry of Communication and the director of the review Afrique Education.. Their goal? To transmit the fundamental ideas of education and training to the participants. Among those invited to speak were Ministers of Education, heads of universities and other schools, leaders of teacher and student unions, the Secretary General of the African and Malagasy council for higher education (CAMES), as well as representatives of donor organizations. Jean Louis Roy, Secretary General of the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation (ACCT) attended the opening ceremonies, along with Robert Peccoud, Director of Education and Training at the French Ministry for Cooperation and Pai Obanya, Director of UNESCO's regional office (BREDA) in Dakar. Several high-ranking African officals were also present. They included Moctar Kébé, Senegal's Minister of Communication and Aicha Bah Diallo, Guinea's Minister of Pre-University Education and Training. Rejasef was created at the end of this seminar. It is the first African network to bring together journalists specialized in education and training with the idea of exchanging information and establishing regular education columns and news sections. Several donors expressed their interest in the initiative because it filled a real gap existing in news agencies as well as in the national and regional press. Thematic Seminars Since 1987, Rejasef has met four times during seminars organized by Afrique Education: In Conakry, in September 1994, to discuss Guinea's Program for sectoral adjustments in education (PASE). Financed by the French Ministry for Cooperation and the Guinean Ministry for Pre-University Training, this seminar brought network members together from West and Central Africa; In Bangui, in July 1995, to discuss Textbook Publishing in Africa, with assistance from the French Ministry for Cooperation, the agency for cooperation with French-speaking countries and the Ministry for Education of the Central African Republic; ä In Lomé, in June 1996, to discuss basic education in Africa just after the Heads of State and Governments had adopted a text on "The New School of Basic Education in Africa" (Cotonou, December 1995). The seminar received assistance from the Agency for cooperation in French-speaking countries, the French Ministry for Cooperation and the Togolese Ministry for National Education; In Lomé again, in February 1999, during a fifth seminar on the theme of Partnerships in Education. Today, Rejasef is celebrating its seventh birthday. Even though its membership has changed, the five seminars have allowed a network of journalists specialized in education and training to emerge. Jean-Paul TEDGA Director, Afrique Education

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