COMED: Building Systems and Structures to Promote Consensus on Education in Africa
The Communication for Education and Development (COMED) program was launched in 1998. Since then, COMED has trained over 100 working journalists and ministry of education communication officers from 29 countries. These trained specialists now constitute the basis of a network of media and communications professionals with a special interest in education. This article outlines the objectives of the program, reports on what has been achieved so far, and highlights future activities planned.
It also points to areas where the COMED network will be called upon to advance education in Africa.
Popular participation is now accepted as a precondition to sustainable social and economic development. There is a general consensus that economic and political reform, good governance and democracy can succeed in a country only if the population is aware of, and directly involved in, the planning and execution of public policy. Without informed reporting and analysis of policy issues in the mass media, governments cannot be held accountable for their decisions. If they are not held accountable and their policies are not subject to informed and serious scrutiny by citizens and the media, public management and decision-making are not likely to improve.
However, public awareness and support for development policy initiatives can only be generated through an adequate flow of information and feedback between policy makers and the population. To guarantee such a regular two-way information flow, institutions must develop their capacities to design and disseminate information. Governments, particularly in Africa, have often failed in their task of public education because they have neither the human and financial resources, nor the institutional capacity to plan and execute the information and communications programs needed to generate public support for policies, reforms and the development process. Even in those African countries with developed mass media systems, journalists are not well informed enough to serve as effective public educators on development issues. This is all the more apparent in education, the sector with the largest share of national budgets, the greatest number of partners and very often, the most virulent crises and conflicts.
The objectives of the COMED program
The COMED program was initiated to systematize the concept of popular participation and empower citizens to become active participants in the development process. It is designed to assist governments in establishing structures able to conceive and implement information and communications programs. The program is a joint initiative conducted by ADEA, the World Bank and the West African News Media and Development Centre (WANAD) with financial support from the Norwegian Education Trust Fund. The capacity building component of the program aims at creating, within education ministries, the expertise needed to produce and deliver targeted messages to the multiple partners in education, including civil servants, parents, teachers, students, NGOs and funding agencies.
Given the key role of the mass media in disseminating information, COMED also gives special emphasis to training African journalists in how to report development issues.
What has been achieved so far
COMED was launched at a meeting in Cotonou in September 1998 that brought together journalists and communication officers of ministries of education from 12 sub-Saharan countries. Participants assessed the communication needs of the region and developed a capacity building program for African journalists and communication officers of ministries of education. This program was subsequently presented to ministers and deputy ministers of education at a meeting organized by ADEA during the OAU Conference on the Decade of Education (COMEDAF1) which took place in Harare in March 1999. The ministers commented on the program and approved it, and COMED set out to carry out the agreed activities.
Three sub-regional training workshops for journalists and communication officers were organized in 1999 and 2000 in Cotonou (for Western Africa), in Harare (for Eastern and Southern Africa) and in Yaoundé (for Central Africa and the Indian Ocean countries). The main objectives of the regional workshops were: (i) to reinforce the ministries' capacities to effectively communicate education policies and programs to the larger public; (ii) to enhance the journalists' skills in education reporting and engage them in the task of promoting education in Africa; and, (iii) to build a network of African communication and media professionals specialized in education.
Another important objective was to encourage the development of a working relationship between journalists and communication officers, which often have an antagonistic relationship. They were deliberately invited to attend the same workshop, which lasted ten days, so that each group would get acquainted with the other. Participants from both groups were brought together during common sessions investigating topics such as "What Makes the News?" (an analysis of headlines in education) or "Issues in Education," and separated during working sessions geared to their specific training needs. This approach proved constructive, as each group shared its professional concerns, needs and frustrations. In many cases, journalists and communication officers from the same country had developed a camaraderie by the end of the workshop. Participants expressed hoped that the mutual understanding that has started to develop will lead to a rapport based on professionalism, respect, and eventually trust.
At the national level, COMED held a first "pilot" training workshop in Dakar for Senegalese journalists and ministry of education communication officers. The workshop was organized jointly by the President of the Network of Education Journalists and the communication officer of one of the three ministries of education. Lessons learned from this workshop will guide the organization of future national workshops.
In addition to these training activities, COMED financed the travel expenses of 16 journalists in 2000 to facilitate the coverage of the following events: The World Education Forum (WEF) in Dakar (in April), the Zimbabwe International Book Fair in Harare (in June) and the Sahel Conference of Heads of States on Education in Bamako (in November). Numerous press conferences and briefings were organized for the journalists during these events. We are pleased to report that in Bamako, Heads of states of Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Mali, Niger and Senegal declared that they were resolved to set up forceful communication policies that would inform and mobilize their populations around education policies and reforms [See excerpts of the Bamako Declaration on page 16].
ADEA was also invited to make a presentation on COMED at the OAU Regional Seminar on the Decade of Education in Banjul. West African countries listed communications as a priority for the region, and Benin, in collaboration with the WANAD Centre, was mandated to draw an action plan for the region.
What next?
The COMED program has now been in existence for two years. The first capacity building phase (training at the sub-regional level) has been completed, and it is time to look back on what has been achieved, evaluate results, and take stock of lessons learned. This will be done in December, at a meeting hosted at the WANAD Centre in Cotonou.
The results of the December workshop will guide the implementation of future activities. In 2001, the program will enter Phase III (Capacity Building at the National Level), Phase IV (Network Reinforcement) and Phase V (Using the Network). The program activities for these phases will be carried out in parallel. National training workshops for education journalists and communication officers will be organized in Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda and Zimbabwe, in close collaboration with the journalists and communication officers who have been trained at the regional level. Tool kits for training at the national workshops are being produced, based on the modules offered at the regional level. National workshops will be carried out in other countries in 2002 and following years, with some training delivered through distance learning modes offered by new information technologies.
Other training activities planned in 2001 include a three-day workshop on education statistics that will be organized in response to a request from the network of education journalists of Senegal. The objective of the workshop, which is being organized in collaboration with the ADEA Working Group on Education Statistics and the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), is to help journalists understand, analyze and use education statistical data in their work.
Phase IV (networking) will consist of two main elements: (i) the establishment of an Internet infrastructure for journalists and communication officers that have participated in the COMED workshops; and, (ii) the launching of an electronic forum and a Web site to promote information exchange between the network members and provide continuous training opportunities. Internet connection and the installation of computers for communication officers of ministries of education is expected to continue in 2001 through USAID's Leland Initiative. COMED is seeking additional funding to provide a similar infrastructure for education journalists involved in the COMED sub-regional workshops through their national networks or associations.
Using the COMED network to advance education in Africa
Phase V (Using the Network) will also start in 2001. COMED's three sub-regional workshops have trained over 100 journalists and communication officers from 29 countries. These professionals now constitute the foundation of a COMED network of media and communication professionals with a special interest for education. This network will grow as more participants are trained at the national level. How this network can tangibly contribute to advancing education in Africa will be a major point of discussion in Cotonou at the December Meeting. Already Education For All is on the agenda.
Akin Fatoyinbo
Senior Communication Officer,
World Bank
and
Thanh-Hoa Desruelles
Information and Communication Officer, ADEA
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