Johannesburg, South Africa
5-9 December 1999
© Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) 2000
© Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) 2000
This document is a summary of the 1999 ADEA Biennial Meetings. The views and opinions expressed on this report are those of the authors and should not be attributed to ADEA, to its members or affiliated organizations or to any individual acting on behalf of ADEA. The report was prepared by a team composed of Nico Cloete, Director, Centre for Higher Education Transformation (CHET), Pretoria; Jo Muller, Professor of Curriculum, Head of Education, University of Cape Town; and, Jenny Roberts, Education Consultant, Joint Education Trust (JET), Johannesburg.
The objective of this report is to provide an accurate account of the proceedings of the Johannesburg Biennial Meeting. The meeting focused on country experiences brought to light by ADEA's "Prospective, Stock-Taking Review of Education in Africa". A synthesis document of this review was distributed in Johannesburg which provided the basis of the discussions during the meeting. The document will be published at a later stage.
Published by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA). ISBN: 92-9178-024-3
A French edition of this book entitled "Education en Afrique -- Réussites et innovations : L'Afrique parle !, Compte rendu de la biennale de l'ADEA. (Johannesburg, 5-9 décembre 1999)" is available: ISBN: 92-9178-025-1
Cover design: Marie Moncet
Painting by: Raymond Andrews (South Africa)
Financial support for the 1999 ADEA Biennial Meeting and for publishing of this report is provided out of ADEA Core Funds, to which the following organizations are contributing members: African Development Bank (ADB); Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); Carnegie Corporation of New York; Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA); International Development Research Centre (IDRC); International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP); Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD); Rockefeller Foundation; Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA); United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO); United Nations International Children's Fund (UNICEF); United States Agency for International Development (USAID); the World Bank; Department of Development Cooperation (Austria); Department for International Development, U.K. (DfID); Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland, Department for International Development Cooperation; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department of International Cooperation and Development (France); Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland; Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Netherlands; and, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Federal Departement of Foreign Affairs.
© Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) 2000
Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA)
International Institute for Educational Planning
7-9 rue Eugène-Delacroix, Paris 75116, France
Web Site: http://www.adeanet.org/
ECE Early Childhood Education EFA Education for All EMIS Education Management Information System GER Gross Enrolment Ratio IT Information Technology UPE Universal Primary Education
The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) held its 1999 Biennial Meeting in Johannesburg December 5-9, 1999.1
The meeting was attended by 230 participants including 37 ministers and deputy ministers and 75 senior government officials from 44 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, there were 140 participants from 43 bilateral or multilateral development agencies, foundations, non-governmental organizations and other bodies. Members of ADEA Working Groups, resource persons coming from 24 African countries and members of the ADEA Secretariat and of other organizing agencies also attended. The list of participants is reproduced in ANNEX 1: List of participants.
The following African countries were represented
at the meeting: Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina
Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic,
Chad,
Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of
Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Gambia,
Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia,
Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, São-Tomé et
Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa,
Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia,
Zanzibar and Zimbabwe.
The following agencies and organizations sent participants to the meeting:
(a) Bilateral agencies: Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Austria; Administration générale de la coopération au développement (AGCD), Belgium; Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA); Department for International development Cooperation (DIDC), Finland; Direction générale de la coopération internationale et du développement, ministère des Affaires étrangères and Agence française de développement, France; Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Germany; Higher Education for Development Cooperation (HEDCO) and Department of Foreign Affairs, Ireland; Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nederlandse organisatie voor internationae (NUFFIC), Netherlands; Ministry of Development Cooperation (NORAD), and Ministry of Education, Research and Church Affairs, Norway; Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida); Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Switzerland; Department for International Development (DfID), United Kingdom; United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
(b) Multilateral agencies, Foundations, NGOs
and other bodies: All Africa teachers organisation
(AATO); Agence française de la Francophonie;
Association internationale pour la promotion de l'éducation
en Afrique (AIPEA); Association of African
Universities (AAU); Carnegie Corporation of New York;
Commonwealth of Learning; Commonwealth
Secretariat; Conférence des ministres de l'éducation des
pays ayant en commun l'usage du français
(CONFEMEN); European Commission (EC); Fédération africaine
des associations de parents d'élèves et
d'étudiants (FAPE); Forum for African Women
Educationalists (FAWE); International Association of
Universities (IAU); International Institute for Educational
Planning (IIEP); Rockefeller Foundation; Syndicat
des enseignants de l'éducation nationale
(SEENA); United Nations Development Program
(UNDP); United Nations Economic Commission for
Africa (ECA); United Nations Educational, Scientific
and
Cultural Organization (UNESCO); United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); World Bank.
The general theme of the meeting was: What Works and What's New in Education: Africa Speaks! The meeting focused on "successful" African educational experiences that have adressed the issues of access, quality and capacity development. These experiences were brought to light by a major exercise launched by ADEA in 1998, referred to as the "Prospective Stock-Taking Review of Education in Africa". Ministries of Education of all countries in Sub-Saharan Africa were invited to identify educational experiences they considered to have had successful outcomes. Country teams then proceeded to document theses experiences and to draft reports. This resulted in a rich stock of case studies coming from 25 countries and 5 ADEA Working Groups. The case studies were discussed in a series of panels where the country team leaders played a central role.
The meeting was conducted in several parts . The agenda of the meeting appears in Annex 2: Agenda of the meeting:
(a) During the opening session, a keynote speech was given by President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa. This session was a joint opening session for both the ADEA Biennial Meeting and the Education For All Sub-Saharan Conference.
(b) Eight plenary sessions, each focusing on a particular issue related to the general theme of the meeting:
Session I: Purpose, process and outcomes of the Prospective Stock-Taking Review of Education in sub-Saharan Africa
Session II: Capacity development
Session III: Access for all—democratization of
educational opportunities
Session IV: Community participation
Session V: Access for girls
Session VI: Access and quality—innovative teacher policies
Session VII: Quality—improving curricular and teacher inputs
Session VIII: Quality—improving curricular
relevance
(c) Breakaway sessions, conducted in small groups, explored in greater depth issues raised in the plenary sessions.
(d) The African Ministers of Education held a closed session during the meeting.
(e) Session IX, conducted in plenary, reported on the small group breakaway sessions and the meeting of the African Ministers of Education.
(f) The Closing Session wrapped up the
meeting and reflected on implications of the
Prospective, Stock-Taking Exercise for the various actors involved in
education in Africa. Suggestions on how the
process
initiated by the Prospective, Stock-Taking Exercise
could be taken forward were made.
A background document synthesizing work conducted for the Prospective, Stock-Taking Review of Education in Africa was distributed to all participants. It summarizes the lessons learned from the country and Working Group reports. The document will be published by ADEA at a later stage.
A number of peripheral meetings took place immediately before and during the ADEA Biennial Meeting. Several ADEA Working Groups held meetings: the Working Group on Nonformal Education organized a "Seminar on The Dynamics of Nonformal Education"; the Working Group on Sector Analysis held a "Seminar on National Reviews of Education Sector Analysis"; a "Regional Seminar on Education and Finance" was organized by the Working Group on Finance and Education; and, the Working Group on Female Participation organized an Open Forum. In addition FAWE held its Executive Committee Meeting and a Donors Round Table and the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) held a "Seminar on Private and Community Schools".
1. Note on coordination with the EFA Sub-Saharan Conference Meeting:
The ADEA Biennial Meeting was held at the same dates and place as the Education For All (EFA) Sub-Saharan Africa Conference. This was decided to encourage greater coordination between ADEA and EFA and to make the most effective use of the time and travel budgets of the people attending both meetings. Each meeting had its respective objectives, agenda, sessions and participants. The opening session was held in common.
Opening Statements by South Africa
Hon. Prof. Kader Asmal, Minister of Education from South Africa welcomed participants to the ADEA Biennial Meeting and concurrent Education For All (EFA) Sub-Saharan Africa Conference. He said that ADEA was meeting for the second time in Africa, and that South Africa was honored to be hosting this conference, which reflected a sincere effort to develop partnerships between Ministries of Education and between them and their external partners. He then introduced Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa as a true son of Africa. Mr. Mbeki, he said, is both a scholar and a lover of poetry, who has given top priority to education and has reaffirmed the commitment of his Education Ministry to the principles embodied in the maxim, "Learners must learn, educators must educate and managers must manage".
President Thabo Mbeki, President of the Republic of South Africa welcomed the participants to South Africa and expressed his pleasure that his country had been chosen as the place where such important issues would be discussed. In his keynote speech he noted that the development of the continent depends upon those who work in the field of education. If the coming century is to be characterized as truly African, the realization of this goal depends upon the success of our educational systems. Nowhere in the world has sustained development been achieved without a well-functioning educational system, without universal and sound primary education, without effective higher education and research sectors, or without equality of educational opportunity.
The legacy of colonial education, he continued, which divorces the African child from his or her own experiences and environment, is a key issue. The inadequate incorporation of Africans into the capitalist world is another, resulting in the creation of a dependent and exploitable class rather than one of entrepreneurs. Furthermore, Africa has been impoverished through the destruction of traditional agriculture and has been forced into primary production. Leading centers of learning are being destroyed as people are forced back into poverty and their histories erased: Neocolonialism has merely continued the process. Only through transcontinental cooperation and solidarity will Africa be able to achieve a better life for all. The African child must be intellectually emancipated if we are to build a caring, humane and sustainable African society.
In this context, President Mbeki stressed, it is important that African orientated agencies such as ADEA collectively effect change by cementing ties between educationalists. We must have common goals and a common agenda, he insisted, if we are to realize our ideals. Africans must cease to see themselves as fulfilling merely national roles and must become part of continent-wide movement for development.
The present development phase requires a new class of intellectuals in both economic and social areas. If we are to create entrepreneurs in Africa, we must also create an intelligentsia. Intellectuals must not isolate themselves: they must help build a humane society. The HIV/AIDS epidemic demands the urgent attention of our intellectuals. We must also promote the use of information technology in education, he said, to create links between places and institutions, urban and rural areas, in order that African children are able to advance scientifically and to compete on an equal footing with the rest of the world. Economic modernization depends upon improvement of science education and on the establishment of skills in science and technology. Women, especially those from poor and rural areas, must also be actively involved in this process.
In closing, President Mbeki reiterated that organizations such as ADEA, with its Intra-Africa Exchanges have a vital role to play in the sharing of African expertise because they disseminate research findings while encouraging collective work, the exchange of academics, and the twinning of institutions. National strengths in areas such as medicine and agriculture should be recognized, to enable students from a country lacking in expertise to study in another which possesses such expertise. This would enable students from Africa to share the best in continental expertise and would promote a continental awareness of cooperative development. ADEA's focus on success stories was a clear milestone contribution to African development.
The President expressed his pleasure in opening the ADEA Biennial Meeting and the EFA Sub-Saharan Africa Conference as both meetings were being held concurrently.
Ms Sissel Volan, Chair of ADEA and Senior Education Advisor from NORAD then welcomed the participants from ADEA and EFA. We meet at a time when the state of education in Africa is still a cause of grave concern, she noted. Forty million children are still unable to exercise their right to education and two-thirds live on less than $US1 per day; 11 million have died from, and 22 million are infected with, HIV/AIDS. Among the teaching corps, there are not enough new teachers to compensate for those who are sick or who die of AIDS. It is essential that we alleviate poverty, fight HIV/AIDS and provide children with a better future. For all these reasons, then, concern for education tops the political agenda in Africa. Although responsibility is anchored at the national level, Ministers need both national and international partners. ADEA's central mandate is to promote and sustain partnerships between ministers, funding agencies and researchers in an environment of openness, collegiality and trust. The work of ADEA has contributed to preparing the ground for a new culture of cooperation and a new way of doing business.
Ms Volan stressed that the Prospective, Stocktaking Review of Education in Africa coordinated by ADEA had set the basis for the conference. Through it, ADEA has challenged Ministers of Education to present initiatives which they consider successful and which "have worked". The focus is thus on practicality. Practice is necessarily local; to focus on practice would help counter a tendency to think of Africa merely in terms of general solutions. It is also important that fragmentation be replaced by cohesion. A sector-wide approach, and consensus-building between partners based on trust, rights and obligations, are steps in this process.
Speaking about her own organization, NORAD, the Chair pointed out that that it had negotiated a consultancy agreement with the Norwegian Ministry of Education to help promote dialogue with sister ministries in the South. Many similarities exist between ministries throughout the world. Ministries of Education in the North have an important role to play in development education; yet now, at a time when development partnerships are most needed, developed countries are experiencing aid fatigue. For development projects to prosper they need community consensus and support. The subject of development could be included in the school curriculum, she suggested. There is a constant need for public support for development activities, and for fostering closer relationships between ministries and development agencies.
The majority of children who do not attend school are girls. The Forum for African Women Educationalists, FAWE, is the principal advocate of girls' education on the continent. It is a pleasure and privilege, Ms. Volan said, to work with these motivated women of Africa on such an important issue.
In conclusion she expressed her hope that participants would find the coming days meaningful.
Hon. Bireme Abderahim Hamid, Interim Alternate Chair of ADEA and Minister of Basic and Secondary Education and Literacy from Chad then took the floor. He conveyed his thanks to the hosts for the quality and warmth of their welcome. This Biennale, following the one held in Dakar, would allow countries to develop and strengthen their partnerships, he observed. He outlined the ADEA framework of case-studies based on success stories, presented by country and field of activity: despite their weaknesses, he said, they provide models from which lessons may be learned. The reports of these studies from 25 countries and 5 Working Groups, would be made available. Their purpose is to identify constructive policies, processes and practices in recognized problem areas in African education and thus to promote a culture of looking for solutions within the African context.
According to Hon. Hamid, ADEA's work is two-fold: to make solutions known and to create channels through which policies can be based on `true experiences'. He hoped that exchanges during this meeting would lead to an increased awareness of lessons learned and would provide opportunities for the development of education. He congratulated the national teams and working groups on the quality of their work and the relevance of the results achieved in such a short time. He thanked the Steering Committee, the Secretariat, and the coordinators of the national case studies for their important contributions.
The next speaker, Ms Aïcha Bah-Diallo, Director of Basic Education, UNESCO and representing its Director General, declared that our main aim is to ensure that young children, men and women receive a high-quality education which will prepare them for the future. She said that UNESCO had followed with great interest the activities of ADEA and had participated in all the ADEA Biennial Meetings. She said that UNESCO had adopted the global declaration of Education for All, with a focus on the learner and the learning process. This makes provision for the fundamental needs of education by promoting universal access, equity, learning, promotion of knowledge, improvement of the environment in which education takes place, development of partnerships and the strengthening of international solidarity.
The mid-decade meeting in Amman evaluated the success of efforts to attain universal basic education within 10 years. After 5 years, it was confirmed that countries in Africa were indeed moving in the right direction, but the results are not sufficient. Africa, she reported, has the lowest economic growth rate and the highest illiteracy rate in the world. Less than 10% of the poorest inhabitants have access to education. Those who benefit most are mainly urban-based, attend private institutions, and come from the middle class. Furthermore, some two-thirds of those who do not attend schools are girls. In some countries 95% of qualified people are unable to find employment as their training has little relevance to the job market. Therefore, efforts must be refocused on equity, education for adults, greater relevance of education and improvement of teacher training. Countries, however, lack both the human and financial resources needed to carry out the EFA mandate: the debt burden places a major constraint on governments, most of which mobilize resources to service debt rather than to educate children. Ongoing wars are destroying the social fabric and preventing mobilization of human and financial resources. This situation is further aggravated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic: in one country alone, 1000 teachers are dying of HIV/AIDS while the training colleges can not produce even half that number.
The African continent has the potential to mobilize politicians, partners in development, NGOs and funders, but it must first build consensus about goals and priorities. UNESCO wishes to salute the work of consultative regional groups and participates in the consensus-building efforts of different UN organizations and the World Bank, as well as in designing and implementing educational reform in different countries. Its main aim is to help make education more relevant to needs and to explore all the different ways of doing so.
Ms Bah-Diallo said she was convinced that the 21st century would see Africa come into its own. Heads of state must give priority to developing the human resources of the continent, for this is a prerequisite of development. Fortunately, she said, African Ministers of Education are firmly committed to working together, sharing experiences and developing cross-sectoral partnerships. She then ended by thanking the South African Government for its support to the ADEA biennale.
The next speaker was Hon. Sikanyiso Ndlovu, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Technology, Zimbabwe, speaking for the OAU Decade for Education. The record is a mixed one, he admitted. Some countries have forged ahead, others have sustained their gains without making any breakthroughs, and still others have slipped backwards. But he said this is not surprising when we consider that the continent has been plagued by wars and emergencies. We need to formulate a clear picture of successes and failures and to determine the reasons for the failures. It is to be hoped that the next decade will demonstrate concrete successes in the field of African education.
He then outlined how, following the victory over apartheid, African political agenda has shifted from struggles for liberation to the alleviation of mental oppression and the oppression of poverty: all stakeholders must cooperate in facing these challenges. Our best weapons in this struggle are not guns but knowledge, science, morals and cultural values. Peace, prosperity and enlightenment are our strategic objectives; we should create a continent in which we can celebrate our differences and our similarities. Education, although only one of the prerequisites for human development, is a key player in managing change.
The Deputy Minister then reminded participants that African Heads of State had reaffirmed their commitment to a decade of education in Africa. This commitment entails:
• A substantial increase in the proportion of the GNP allocated to education from lows of 2% to at least 6 _ 8%;
• The development of cost-effective modes of educational delivery;
• The provision of education relevant to State goals in economic development.
These commitments must be translated into action, he stressed. Government cannot do so alone, and Ministers of Education must encourage the participation of both civil society and the donor community. The donor community can play a positive or negative role in educational development: negative roles include dispensing large sums of money with negligible impact, because of an over-emphasis on physical construction and a lack of emphasis on building capacity in African institutions. In the coming century, more emphasis should be placed on innovative educational approaches. There is a need for learners who are able to apply their knowledge to entrepreneurship. Cognitive skills should be developed: children must learn to love reading; and we should also consider the affective domain and try to teach children to appreciate what they learn. Finally, education must be made more accessible to those who are now excluded, using technologies that facilitate distance learning.
Donor investment in developing African expertise education has been inadequate. Publishing organizations and similar enterprises also deserve development support. African scholarship must be strengthened and the ADEA Working Group on Books and Learning materials has done considerable work in this field.
Minister Ndlovu warned that it is necessary to move fast if the new millennium is to show a marked improvement over the past; we cannot afford to repeat our mistakes. We must achieve primary education for all in the next 5 years. For the past 10 years we have "rhetorised" over the need to provide quality and equity in education for girls: and it is to our shame that this meeting confirms we still have not closed the gender gap, particularly at secondary and tertiary levels. In some countries women constitute less than 10% of tertiary education students. Women are also under-represented in educational ministries and in decision-making positions. We should all re-dedicate ourselves to the improvement of education in the next millennium.
Hon. Jon Lilletun, Minister of Education from Norway, then took the floor to offer his congratulations to conference participants for adopting a positive approach to the challenges of education by looking at examples of success. The sharing of both experiences and dreams is one of the best ways to achieve development, he suggests, and there is a Nordic tradition of cooperation which has played an important role in educational development. One of the results of globalization is that international borders are less insulating than they were before, and the decrease in insularity is reflected in the increased availability of knowledge and skills for industries which are themselves becoming more knowledge and information-based. The development of information technology has contributed to the globalization of economies, education, cultures and other areas of activity, providing opportunities for long-distance cooperation in education and developing global networks.
Partnership is the key word, but cooperation takes time and money. The Norwegian Ministry is developing a policy of cooperation through national development agencies and through building links with sister ministries in the South. North-South networks will be beneficial, especially in sector programs. He closed his remarks with a rousing appeal: "Let us make Africa a better place to live; to bring up children—God bless Africa!"
Mr. Eduardo A. Doryan, Vice-President, Human Development Network, World Bank, began by saying that the choices we make today will determine whether Africa will claim the next century or will become peripheral to the world economy. Countries which invest in education should experience growth; and education skills, knowledge and technology will be increasingly important in the next century. The average adult in sub-Saharan Africa has had less than 3 years of education, while 70% of the population will be school children within the next 20 years. He confirmed that support for the education of children and adults will remain a priority of the World Bank.
Mr. Doryan said the World Bank wishes to learn from African experience and it recognizes the importance of a balanced approach to education, of strengthening education at all levels and affording an increased priority to higher education. Results of the ADEA Prospective, Stocktaking Exercise highlight many indigenous solutions which can contribute to global knowledge: it is important to transform isolated cases of success into continental solutions. The debt reduction initiative means that prospects for development are better than they have been in the past; high debt levels act as a brake on sustained development. Countries have therefore to develop poverty reduction strategies and keep education at the core of development. There is also an urgent need for reliable and comprehensive databases to monitor impact and evaluate progress: the World Bank has developed "toolkits" for countries on how these may be prepared.
HIV/AIDS is not merely a health problem; it is a serious development problem. Nine of the ten countries with the highest numbers of children living with HIV/AIDS are in sub-Saharan Africa. Schools are key places for health education and for stemming the spread of this disease. Contrary to the belief of many parents, sex education does not lead to increased sexual activity, he said. Education has a crucial role to play in dispelling the stigma which surrounds this epidemic; and ADEA is uniquely placed to help Africa with this task.
ADEA is therefore important in maintaining the balance between political support, policy, and research in education. The World Bank supports the Education for All initiative which gives highest priority to education and is ready to fund programs aimed at improving the quality of education and addressing the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
The last speaker at this opening session was Hon. Prof. Kader Asmal, Minister of Education of South Africa. He began by commenting on what he regarded as the brilliant but daunting stroke of holding both ADEA and EFA meetings concurrently.
He said that over the next few days the ADEA meeting would be inviting participants to consider African solutions to African problems—and how strange that we should need such reminders! Participants should not be beguiled by the comfortable atmosphere; there is an urgent need to get down to business. The EFA assessment meetings would consider a continent-wide assessment. We cannot move unless we speak the truth among ourselves, he reminded his audience. Although there is a place for pride in our achievements, there is no place for complacency.
Professor Asmal then enumerated the issues and "realities" that would be confronting participants during their four days of deliberation.
• The effects of HIV/AIDS on African communities: the educational system could be decimated. We must learn how to manage a society living with HIV/AIDS.
• Parts of the continent have been living with civil wars; these have affected the schooling of thousands of learners who have been recruited as child soldiers or have become victims of landmines. The sanctity of the school environment has been violated.
• Most countries have now recognized the notion of fundamental human rights in education, especially those of the girl child.
• There is a revival of racism and ethnic chauvinism in some donor countries. This must be eradicated from schools in both donor and African countries.
• Most countries now recognize the importance of education for citizenship, for establishing the common values of democratic citizenship and respect for the human rights of all citizens.
• There is an urgent need to create a gender-sensitive education environment.
• Information Technology—educational TV, radio and interactive distance learning can increase access to education. The technological revolution has been constrained by underdevelopment of infrastructure and monopolistic practices, sometimes by groups outside the African continent. Nevertheless, "We have to be a bit modest about our expectations. We must get our basics right!"
• Constraints on budgetary allocations—structural adjustment packages—have not been the solution to Africa's problems. Many countries are crippled by debt.
• The challenges are daunting, but must be addressed.
Minister Asmal concluded with the call, "Forward to the greater impetus of future delivery and implementation!"
Organization of the Sessions
The opening ceremony was followed by eight sessions in which general themes related to the national case studies were explored. During these sessions, the Chair often made opening observations, then invited the panelists to present their views and experiences; then, the Chair interacted with the panelists, asking questions or soliciting additional information. Then, the discussions were opened to all participants on an informal basis of give and take.
After these plenary sessions, one afternoon was devoted to small group discussions (breakaway groups) that examined specific topics. At the same time, the Caucus of Ministers met in a closed meeting. The last day was devoted to a final wrap-up session and to the closing remarks.
Throughout the four days, the approach was informal, with panel presentations and comments from the Chair aimed more at stimulating reflection and debate through the sharing of experience, than at presenting expert views. The account that follows is not exhaustive, Rather, it gives an overview of the highlights and flavor of the exchanges.
Session 1 was chaired by Mr. Mamadou Ndoye, Coordinator of the United nations Special Initiative for Africa (UNSIA), World Bank and former Minister of Education, Senegal. Mr. Ndoye explained that the first session would be devoted to the Prospective, Stock-Taking Exercise of Education in Africa on which the Biennial Meeting was grounded. He invited Ms Mmantsetsa Marope, Lead specialist of the technical team for the Prospective, Stock-Taking Study and presently at the World Bank, to present the process by which the exercise was conducted, as well as the major findings and lessons learned.
In her opening remarks, Ms Mmantsetsa Marope, lead specialist of the ADEA Technical Team thanked the country teams and ADEA working groups who prepared the Prospective, Stocktaking Review. The Review, she explained, was based on the premise that Africa not only faces many educational challenges, but also possesses considerable experience in dealing with them. The report highlights success and plays down the constraints: Africa should not be preoccupied with problematic areas only. Although constraints cannot be ignored, they should be considered within the broader context. The customary focus on constraints has undermined Africa's self-confidence, with the result that solutions have been sought outside of Africa. She said the report had been organized to address three questions:
What we did. The project began with a review of African interventions which appear to have been successful, or hold promise, for addressing the challenges of educational development in terms of equitable access, improvement of relevant good-quality education, and the enhancement of capacity to deliver. Emphasis has been placed on factual evidence: success must be demonstrated. However, country teams frequently lacked the records required to produce such evidence, which clearly demonstrates the need for continuing evaluation of the successful interventions. Country teams had been asked to describe the methods which they followed to develop each case study; because there are fundamental lessons in taking stock of how success is achieved. Team members had to teach one another, to "build" the capacity of their colleagues. The reviews themselves were located within the Ministries of Education, which seemed the most appropriate place. It was hoped that the exercise would encourage more reflection within Government.
How we did it. ADEA established the Review framework in the course of two seminars. The process required the full commitment of participants, whose participation itself was mandated directly by their respective Ministers. The Review carries the clear imprint of the actors and activities that it encompassed, including this Biennial meeting.
What we learned. Details of each case study are contained in country reports which have been summarized in the Prospective Stocktaking Review _ Draft Synthesis Report, a document distributed to all participants. Among those factors identified as helping to ensure the success of various initiatives are:
• Democratization and the norm of equality: macro-political contexts which nurture equity are the most conducive to educational development (the Zimbabwe Science Project is an example). In post-independence Africa, however, the immediate focus has often been on inequality; with the result that in many cases these or other inequalities re-established themselves, even several years after independence.
• Political vision, conviction and commitment: the Uganda case study, for example, reveals a commitment to provision of primary education. Such success requires champions who are highly placed.
• Readiness to develop "as you go": planning must not be allowed to delay implementation; refinement can be achieved en route.
• Consultative and inclusive policy development and programming: plans need a broad consensus for success, as has been demonstrated, for example, in the Madagascar "dina" schools. Broad-based support had to be garnered through consultation.
• Perceived relevance and sensitivity to real and perceived needs: the willingness, especially that of very poor communities, to invest in the improvement of education depends upon their understanding and appreciation of its value for them.
• Decentralization of management and control of education: After independence we took schools away from local communities, made them government schools and almost completely de-skilled communities of what they knew best. Now we have a new basis for decentralized responsibility.
• Information and analysis-based policy and programming: many successful cases have benefited from having a data and analytical research base. The Namibian EMIS intervention is an example.
• A holistic multifaceted approach: success cannot be ascribed to any single measure: successful interventions are usually multifaceted. The Uganda-UPE policy implementation is a good example.
• Cost-effective resource utilization: success may stem from innovative cost-saving, as in the case of the double-shift system in Gambia, or from the use of non-civil-service teachers in Senegal.
• Networking and the development of pan-African professional communities: the ADEA Working Groups offer a striking example of this principle.
Hon. Amanya Mushega, Minister of Public Service from Uganda, former long-time Minister of Education and Chair of the ADEA Bureau of Ministers when the framework for the studies was developed, reiterated how the study was provoked by the now commonplace catalogue of failures of the African continent. There is a tendency to focus on the negative aspects of interventions, he lamented. For example, even though a substantial increase in the number of classrooms was reported, any praise was lost in the din about a possible decrease in quality. Studies have also tended to focus on educational developments and improvements happening in Western and Northern countries instead of inquiring what lessons might be learned from other African countries. There is much to be learned from Africa. The answer to the question of whether the results fulfill the expectations of the Steering Committee is yes; it has been a collective effort and the Committee is happy both with the process and the outcome.
The Chair then asked the other participants for questions and comments. Here is a brief summary:
• How do countries deal with the challenge of community participation in curriculum involvement?
• Under-qualified teachers present a huge challenge to the education system. Communities have often recruited teachers who had taught effectively in their schools, but the Government would be dissatisfied, believing the teachers to be inadequately trained and not orientated to subject content.
• What criteria were employed to assess the successes related in the case studies? There did not seem to be many indicators for outcomes in the research report. How were successes evaluated?
• Inequalities tend to reappear after a time. Even when a problem seemed to be solved, it would be allowed to creep back in. What was being done with this recurring problem? Are we getting anywhere?
• Success stories constitute our only hope. We should be happy that solutions can be found within Africa. "This study helped to formulate education policy in my country. We have a rich experience and we ought to make use of it. The study has allowed me to reduce costs, even in the area of looking for expertise. It has allowed me to take measures and realize that they can be successful. If we wish to know about national languages, we look to Mali and Niger. If we wish to know about nomadic tribes, we look to Nigeria."
In her response, Ms Marope observed that there was not yet a very strong culture of monitoring interventions. Some of the cases reported were five to ten years old. The indicators of success were often not specified at the start of an intervention. Researchers had often to rely on subjective feelings and data. Countries need first to prove to themselves that a given intervention has been a success, and should engage in more systematic monitoring of what they did. The Oxfam report indicated that access to education had expanded rapidly, then lost ground, but was again on the rise. South Africa and Zimbabwe were examples of countries in which democratization provided the stimulus to expand access. Thus, momentum and commitment had to be maintained.
At this point, the Chair asked for a clarification of ADEA's raison d'être and how the theme of the Biennale fit into the overall perspective of ADEA. Mr. Richard Sack, ADEA Executive Secretary, described how ADEA had changed over the years. It started as a "donor's club", but subsequently became more concerned about partnerships and about cooperating more closely with Ministers of Education. The 1997 ADEA Biennial Meeting took up that challenge. The theme of that meeting was "Partnerships for Capacity-Building and Quality Improvements in Education". The background documentation and the discussions of the meeting explored the theory and practice of partnerships that characterize the work of all the ADEA constituents. The role of relevant knowledge—how it is defined, developed, used and controlled—appeared to be central to the practice of effective partnerships. With the theme of "What Works and What's New in Education: Africa Speaks!", the 1999 Biennial Meeting took the next logical step. It focused on the knowledge bases for viable policies and partnerships. The starting point was an understanding that effective and enduring partnerships are based on clear understandings of each partner's assets—not on one partner's assets and the other's deficits. That is why the ADEA Steering Committee commissioned the Prospective, Stocktaking Review of Education in Africa. Through this exercise, 25 countries volunteered to present case studies on what works and has paid dividends in tackling issues of access, quality and capacity building. A basic premise of this exercise was that the knowledge needed for education policy formulation must, first and foremost, emerge from the experience of those most directly concerned. To prepare for the 1999 Biennial Meeting, ADEA took up this challenge and, in turn, challenged all African education ministries to identify and analyze interventions that have paid such dividends.
Mr. Adriaan Verspoor, Lead Education Specialist from the World Bank responded to the question about how agencies would see this review by stating that it would affect Bank strategies and assistance. Rather than revise the 1988 regional strategy paper, the Bank had decided to wait until the ADEA findings were available. This study would affect assistance packages as the new strategy will go beyond providing financial assistance, to focus on capacity building and the utilization of existing resources. The findings will also provide incentive to change project design and implementation. Countries should be more collaborative and inclusive and should broaden participation in their project design. An enormous task lies ahead in working with African planners to improve monitoring and evaluation. Although processes are reasonably well documented in the Review, it is nevertheless weak in assessing concrete outcomes and cost factors. A strategy for monitoring, evaluation and regular data collection is urgently required. While there is a need for more case studies, the quality of data collection should also be improved.
The Chair solicited further discussion and a participant commented that, following independence, many countries had had initial successes in educational reform. Although problems changed during the post-independence period the solutions stayed the same. Some such problems are associated with the slow development of African economies, and there has been no educational planning for economic development.
A UNESCO representative commented from the floor that the evidence of capacity building at institutional level is an impressive feature of the case studies. Although UNESCO was aware of obstacles to planning in Africa, it is important to know that solutions nevertheless existed. UNESCO has a medium term strategy which ends in 2001 and the ADEA document could provide a useful reference tool in preparing UNESCO's next strategy.
Mr. Pierre Jacquemot from France suggested that we ought carefully to consider the extent to which the reviews could be sustained and generalized; these should remain at the national level until we have evidence that results can be consistently reproduced. The development of internal expertise is an important outcome of the project.
The Minister from the Seychelles then questioned whether the timeframes adopted for the study were sufficient. He asked whether the methodology was the best and most suitable. The process has highlighted certain points which suggest that African ministers need to reconsider. One such point is the need to strengthen Ministries with better evaluation and monitoring units which conduct research to provide Ministries with information. This information could also be used by donors and other African ministers. The questions must be asked: Was the process correct? Do we really believe in it? Do we believe that the process should continue?
The Chair then called on Mr. Djibril Debourou, member of the ADEA Technical Team, who observed that there were many themes which had not been raised in the report. He hoped that the research would be extended, and that the meeting would make suggestions in this regard. The document had missed some success stories and he hoped that more countries would participate in the next round.
Hon. Wurie from Sierra Leone explained that his country had not participated because of war, but that the study was very valuable and served to provide others with useful lessons. There is a need to develop yardsticks for comparing programs.
A participant from the Congo said that the situation in his country was very difficult because there was a lack of stability, a lack of leadership for various projects and a lack of trained personnel.
The USAID advisor, Mr. Ash Hartwell, expressed the general consensus by saying that much work in education development in Africa had been deficit-focused. The project had achieved a cognitive shift to focusing on assets. The result was cathartic and therapeutic.
Ms Mmantsetsa Marope from the ADEA Technical Team was asked by the Chair to respond to some of the comments. She stressed that the cases were necessarily limited by the input of participating countries. The Working Group on Education Sector Analysis would in future address issues of internal synergies while the Zimbabwe case study would deal with issues of external efficiency. It is important not to make premature generalizations from the studies, she said. Trends, rather than conclusions, were being presented. There is no reason to assume that solutions will work in different places without appropriate modification to suit local circumstances.
The Chair closed the session by remarking that although questions about method and the validity of results were certainly important, in this study the process was more significant than the results. African problems must attract African solutions; this is the fundamental message of the Prospective, Stocktaking Review. We must learn from our own success stories and from others; only in this way will we develop African capacities. The partnerships that ADEA wants to develop should be directed toward and anchored in internal work; otherwise external relationships will lack foundation. There must be a re-orientation before we engage in externally-focused activities, and this means that an institutional culture must be developed as a matter of urgency.
The session was chaired by Hon. Edward Khiddu Makubuya, Minister of Education and Sports, Uganda. He briefly introduced the panelists, then invited each of them to summarize their case studies and to answer questions.
Ms Felicity Leburu-Sianga, Chief Education Officer, Ministry of Education in Botswana was the first speaker. She reported on a strategy to expand secondary education in Botswana. This strategy is part of Botswana's policy of accelerated training of local personnel to service the country's economy. Its success is underscored by the fact that Botswana has reached virtual self-sufficiency in hiring most of the high level personnel required by the Ministry of Education. As in the case of Universal Primary Education (UPE) in Uganda, this policy is the outcome of having a clearly articulated political will at a time when many considered the goal unattainable. By 1999, Botswana nationals accounted for 99.7% of all staff in primary school, 82% of all secondary school teaching posts, and 74% of lecturers in Colleges of Education (all six of which are headed by nationals); the number of special education teachers has risen from four to 82; and the proportion of trained primary school teachers has increased from 62% in 1976 to 92% in 1999.
According to Ms Leburu-Sianga, Botswana has achieved this through institutional capacity building and by means of planning processes that obliged it both to prioritize issues and to monitor and evaluate results. We have learned that training must be responsive to needs, she stated, and that inputs alone cannot determine high quality outputs. Realistic targets should be set, the environment should be conducive to change, and policies should support change. Joint agenda-setting with partners is an important factor. Retention of staff has been a major problem and incentives had to be provided to persuade them to stay. New staff had to be trained to combat attrition. Botswana has learned a great deal from the process by reflecting on what has been done previously.
The Chair then opened the floor for questions and comments: A participant from Zambia noted that in many countries head teachers were often appointed without any special training. What had Botswana done with respect to the training of head teachers? Another participant asked how teachers were selected, while a third from Sudan wanted to know how qualified teachers could be retained in a decentralized context such as existed in his country. He also asked how teachers should be deployed and wondered if efficiency might not be sacrificed with so much emphasis on quality.
Ms. Leburu-Sianga replied that in Botswana untrained teachers are not allowed to be head teachers. Current limitations of head teachers have been identified; and teacher advisors are being trained to provide head teachers with managerial support. The cascade model of training has been adopted. Secondary school head teachers are trained in school management. The project is being institutionalized within the university. Botswana initially selected teachers in possession of Standard 7 level; this criterion was progressively raised to Senior Certificate and then to General Certificate of Education. The certification format was changed and diplomas are now awarded.
The Chair then asked the second panelist Mr. Amani Yao, Research Officer in the Ministry of Education in Côte d'Ivoire, to present his case study. Mr. Yao described the development of a management information system for secondary school students in Côte d'Ivoire. He said it was designed:
• to give a clear view of student flow patterns and include information needed to prevent multiple or illicit enrollments;
• to improve planning for teachers, equipment and other budgetary requirements; and
• to rationalize the organization of examinations.
This involved compiling information on 600,000 students (each of whom was allocated an identification number) into a single database. Data inputting is now be regionalized. The system can be used to monitor the educational careers of students and to provide detailed statistical analyses. This project was developed in conjunction with an external partner and was initiated with three-year (1995 - 1998) pilot programs in two districts.
Implementation began with a communication strategy which included distribution of posters and information leaflets, countrywide meetings between representatives from all involved parties, and an information campaign conducted through print, radio and television media. Training local technicians in computer and organizational techniques was a central part of the implementation strategy, and a ministry department was created for this specific purpose. The principal results have been the simplification of student enrollment, easier administration of national exams, simplification in recording student careers and grades and faster retrieval of the statistical data which permits analysis of trends.
A participant asked how these new approaches had been welcomed and how the system would be generalized. How would costs and logistics be dealt with, he wanted to know?
Mr. Yao said that administrators had welcomed the first phase of the project. Feedback was sought from the system users; they reported that it had reduced the time needed to capture information and said that the system was more reliable. With respect to the generalization of the project, discussions between all departments using the software had taken place and the members of the project team had been retained. There has been some concern about the operation of the team after the funding period ended. A seminar to identify different options to sustain the operation was held and it appears that money will be allocated from the national budget for this purpose.
The Chair then introduced the third panelist, Mr. Jan Alberts, Education Specialist, Ministry of Basic Education and Culture, Namibia. Mr. Alberts reported on three areas: curriculum reform, Education Management Information System (EMIS), and examination and assessment. The stimulus for introduction of EMIS was a perceived need to redress inequalities following independence. The development of EMIS was motivated by a need, identified by senior policy makers in the Ministry, advisors and external partners, for a comprehensive information system which might guide them in making decisions. Key users identified were: management and staff of the Education Ministry, academic institutions, the private sector, international agencies, researchers and the general public. The forms in which data is displayed—whether tables, graphs or maps—are now based on user needs. A comprehensive Geographical Information Services (GIS) system links the geographic coordinates of all schools with EMIS data, population census data, and relevant geographical features. At present the system is used principally for school mapping, whereas other applications are under-utilized because of staff shortages. Having adequate staff is essential to the maintenance of EMIS. The EMIS Division has only five professional staff members; this is insufficient to address the needs and continued development of both EMIS and GIS.
What are the major lessons learned? That once senior managers have experienced a need for information, they will support the development of a suitable system; that user needs must be determined; that the purpose and use of the information should be established; that management support in compiling the data required should be encouraged; and that the content and final presentation of the data collected should be decided early on.
The major challenges posed were:
• the need to develop additional capacity in order to maintain the system;
• how best to collect financial and adult education information;
• how to routinely include information concerning both quality and external efficiency in EMIS; and
• how to increase the accessibility of available information.
Namibia has also developed a National Examinations and Assessment System which is linked to the EMIS system. The main components of this examinations system are: the development of a new philosophy to guide assessment policies and practices; the establishment of efficient structures for the governance and administration of examinations; the development of administrative and professional procedures for efficient and secure administration of national examinations; and the development of a computerized information system for processing examinations.
The next panelist was Ms Lene Buchert from UNESCO and the Coordinator of the ADEA Working Group on Education Sector Analysis. She outlined the main findings of her Group's study of the perceptions of policy-makers in education ministries in Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Mozambique. The study found that there is a strong degree of commonality among the three countries in their understanding of the sector-wide approach and of its differences from traditional project assistance. However, this commonality is not uniform: there is sometimes a wide gap between the general understanding of the approach and understanding how to put it into practice. The sector-wide approach is understood to be based on partnerships between national governments and international funding and technical assistance agencies, including non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders in the education sector, often referred to as "development partners". This partnership is perceived as mutually beneficial, and one in which partners are equals, with the shared aim of ensuring national ownership of the development process. Strong leadership from the national government and adherence to government priorities and government-developed policy frameworks by the development partners is, therefore, expected.
While it is too early to categorize as "success stories" any of the three cases involving partnerships between Ministries of Education and international agencies in implementing sector-wide approaches, the following conclusions have been reached: government leadership is essential; the configuration of a country's external partners plays a role; institution and capacity development are critical; equal partnerships based on mutual understanding depend on open dialogue, continuous communication and equal access to necessary information; and values, ethics, and moral codes are important. The constellation of agencies in countries seems to affect impact. Agencies are not all the same—differences between personalities and personal capacities affect the process. Finally, promoting sector development programs is a process in-the-making, and not a blueprint.
A participant asked from the floor how donors
could agree on processes and coordinate their inputs.
Ms Buchert replied that donors are under pressure
both from the countries they support and from their
own governments. It is up to government and local
stakeholders to agree on plans and priorities, because
donors lack the ability to coordinate efforts by
themselves. She pointed out that the European Community
has published guidelines on sector analysis in an effort
to make coordination easier.
The next panelist was Mr. Bill Saint, Education Specialist in the World Bank and Coordinator of the ADEA Working Group on Higher Education. Mr. Saint reported that his Group had identified three successful efforts in higher education reform. The first focused on institutional reforms within a single university in Mozambique. The second analyzed a system-wide program of higher education reform which had been introduced by the Government of Cameroon during the 1990s. The third described an innovation in regional cooperation for graduate training and research. The Working Group stressed the importance of institutional planning which, while placing emphasis on stakeholder participation, could nevertheless be driven by a small group of managers with a vision of the value of the process. In stakeholder planning, many groups adopt a wait-and-see approach. Only when they realize that they can make a significant contribution and that it is in their interest to participate do they become more active. This type of participation requires considerable management skill, as conflict mediation, public education and negotiation become increasingly necessary. The study underscores the importance of good process: what is done and the manner in which it is done. In conclusion Mr. Saint pointed out that it might also be worthwhile conducting similar surveys that would identify successes among donor agencies.
The Chair concluded the session by opening the floor for discussion: One participant requested information concerning the development of teacher capacity and capacity development, while another wished to know how to get donors to coordinate their efforts. Another participant commented that coordination of donor efforts can only be achieved by means of pressure from national and home country stakeholders, but that the European Union guidelines could also help. Finally, the Minister from Gambia informed the meeting that she would like to implement the Namibian system in her country and hoped for the opportunity to visit Namibia for a first-hand look.
The third session was chaired by Mr. Pierre Jacquemot, Director for Development and Technical Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, France. Mr. Jacquemot introduced each panelist and presented the theme that would be discussed. He said discussions would focus on access for all to school and university from the angle of democratisation. He indicated that the question of access for girls would not be specifically discussed during this session. He also pointed out that three themes emerged clearly in the reports and would come out in the panel discussions: (i) national policies aiming at broadening access; (ii) access to early childhood education and the role of communities; and, (iii)equity and democratization related to access to higher education. Experiences from Uganda, Seychelles, Equatorial Guinea, Zanzibar and South Africa will illustrate these different themes. Mr. Jacquemot invited Mr. Ko-Chih Tung to present the situation in Africa in terms of access to education on the basis of activities he had conducted within the ADEA Statistics Working Group.
The first to speak was Mr. Ko-Chih Tung from UNESCO who is the Coordinator of the Working Group on Education Statistics. Mr. Tung said that planning is not possible without statistics and, therefore, his Working Group had set about constructing an African network on educational statistics. Although it is difficult to generalize about the situation in Africa, since the continent is full of contrasts, there is a fairly clear picture of access to primary education. In general, enrollments grew to about 60% in 1980, declined by the mid-nineties, but regained their 1980 level by the end of the decade.
According to Mr. Tung, enrollments have increased in countries which are not at war, but they have declined in areas affected by civil strife. Rapid population growth has adversely affected access to education as governments have had difficulty in keeping pace with the need for provision. Africa is going through the early stage of industrialization: rural areas are becoming more and more depopulated while towns and cities are growing. Squatter settlements around cities are also growing. As a result of the rapid population growth, 40 million primary school children are out of school, and this figure is increasing. Africa is the only continent in the world in which the population is growing rapidly; this puts Africa perpetually in the position of having to catch up. In terms of gender equity there is still a 10% difference in enrollments between girls and boys, although there have been steady improvements in East and Southern Africa.
Access must be analyzed in terms of the ecological context, he said. In towns and cities which developed early, school choice is large and administrative capitals possess a variety of elite, private and general schools; this is not the case in sparsely-populated rural areas. Mining towns, where there are few family units, also lack schools. In emigrant areas there are many women and children: they have a higher female enrollment as boys leave to work in the mines. There is a great deal of population movement in the continent, and this is largely responsible for different access patterns.
EFA targets presented enrollment data in terms of age sets, but it is also important to consider ecological challenges, he said. The access opportunities of a girl living in the city are very different from those of a girl on the plantations, in arid regions, or in generally rural areas. This raises the question of what interventions are most appropriate for specific ecological target areas: this is the central planning issue.
The second panelist, Ms Florence Malinga, Commissioner for Education Planning, Ministry of Education and Sports, explained how Uganda has embarked on an ambitious, all-encompassing policy to achieve Universal Primary Education (UPE) by 2003. UPE had been recommended in the findings of a presidential commission and the policy was also expected to address such policy issues as access, equity, relevance, equality and capacity development. The President himself launched the program, promising to provide free education for 4 children per family. The policy will give priority to 2 girls per family and to children with disabilities. Accompanying this policy are reforms in the areas of teacher development and management, the primary school curriculum, the examination system, instructional materials, and national assessments and monitoring.
In order to achieve the UPE objectives the Ugandan government has committed itself to providing textbooks, basic physical facilities in the form of classrooms, laboratories, libraries and teachers' houses. This has been done by providing roofing sheets, cement, timber and nails. Local authorities and communities are expected to supply additional inputs, especially labor for construction. Government has also committed itself to the payment of teachers' salaries, and the training of teachers.
Ms. Malinga confirmed that the evidence of success is clear. From 1996 to 1997, enrollments increased by 73%, the number of pupils entering first grade almost tripled, and the Gross Enrollment Rate (GER) increased from 77% to 137%. The impact on access for girls, however, has been less dramatic; the percentage of female enrollment only increased from 45% in 1995 to 47% in 1999.
The first lesson learned has been that a realistic vision and plan, together with widespread consultation and participation of all stakeholders, is required for success. However, it is not necessary for everything to be in place in order to start implementation. Although some innovations are best introduced in phases, it is necessary to move forward continuously (even if very slowly) in order to maintain momentum. Also, It is more efficient to locate the administration and the management of education systems as near as possible to the schools themselves. Finally, factors related to values, ethics and moral codes must be borne in mind. This implies that:
• governments should provide a genuine response to the needs of people and be willing to act in accordance with that response
• transparency and democracy are necessary at all levels of the system, particularly the top.
• Uganda's external partners including the World Bank, USAID, DfID, Irish Aid, the Netherlands and NGOs have played a positive role because they coordinated their efforts. An institutional framework now exists to coordinate donor funding and to encourage common supervision of project and sector-wide initiatives.
The establishment of a teacher EMIS system formed part of the primary education reforms, Ms. Malinga said. An outreach program, by means of which teachers were trained, was established in a number of teacher training colleges. Districts were also asked to recruit unemployed and retired teachers to assist in teaching children at the start of UPE, and multi-grade and double-shift teaching were encouraged.
The Chair then opened the floor for comments. One person inquired about the average family size in Uganda and how children were selected to participate in the program. What happens to those who are not selected, he wondered? Another asked how Uganda plans to keep down the cost of textbooks. Someone else observed that the sustainability of universal primary education is ultimately dependent on political will and suggested that all political parties be made to sign a memorandum committing them to implementing basic education for all. In Ghana, for example, this right is enshrined in the Ghanaian constitution.
Ms Malinga responded by explaining that the Ugandan President had pledged to educate four children per family; this was in part a plan to control population growth. Parents would be expected to pay for any additional children. During the first enrollment, 6% of parents paid fees. Uganda had also formulated a national textbook plan, which reduced ratios due to massive investment. Some 2.8% of the recurrent primary education budget has therefore been committed to textbook replacement. There is also provision in medium-term policy to support textbooks.
Mr. Tung, the first panelist, added that textbooks were traditionally the most important educational resource. However, Africa has poor statistics in this regard. Textbook shortage is a difficult problem to resolve. Many countries have no printing or paper production industry. Alternatives to pulp-based paper should be found; in East Asia paper is made from rice and bamboo pulp. The lesson here is that learning materials can only be produced on a sustained basis from globally-available materials.
The next panelist introduced was Mr. Jones Belmont, Director, Resource Planning Project Development, Ministry of Education, Seychelles. The Seychelles is a small group of islands with a population of 80, 000. The country is focusing on universal primary education (UPE). Seychelles has a strong national identity despite its diversities of culture, language and faith. It has a dual system of private and government schools, characterized by much disparity. Government schools provide education to a lower grade and children rarely remain literate after leaving school. The government elected in 1997 decided that an aggressive strategy for the provision of education to all must be instituted. It also agreed to work with a range of partners as GDP is $1 500 per capita.
The program has proved very successful, Mr. Belmont concluded. In 1960, 70% of twelve-year-old children in Seychelles and 25% of fifteen-year-old children attended schools. But by 1991, enrollment rates had risen considerably at the pre-school, primary and secondary levels. Several factors have contributed toward these results. The first is a clear policy making the initial nine years of free, compulsory education for all a top priority. Other factors include fusion of the two previously parallel school systems and the subsequent abolition of private schools, and a zoning policy which requires that all children attend school within their local residential districts. Further contributing factors include free provision by the schools of education materials, including uniforms and meals. The introduction of a National Youth Service (which lasted for 18 years and has now been disbanded) also helped to prepare students for the world of work and service. Finally, there has been considerable financial support from external partners.
The fourth panelist was Mr. Abdulla M. Abdulla, Education Policy, Planning and Project Officer in the Ministry of Education in Zanzibar. He explained that Zanzibar consists of two main islands with a population of 850 000 comprising an African, Indian and Arab population of whom 98% are Muslim. As a result of the development of partnerships between Government, religious authorities who controlled Koranic education, and an external partner, Zanzibar increased its gross enrollment ratio for early childhood education (ECE) from 2.8% in 1988 to 86.2% in 1998. A significant result of this experience was that more girls than boys were enrolled in ECE; the GER for girls was 93% compared to 79% for boys.
The rapid growth in early childhood education has been facilitated by several factors. The first of these is the revision of pre-school education policy in 1991, which sensitized the community to the importance of early childhood education. A second factor is the use of pre-school education for screening admission into Standard 1; this was necessitated by a shortage of school places and the awareness of parents that pre-school education increased their children's chances of success in primary school. A third factor is the changing socio-economic environment which has resulted in many mothers finding full-time work outside their homes. The decision to include Koranic schools as providers of ECE by encouraging them to offer both secular and religious education has been a crucial factor. Finally, the participation of the community in building and running pre-schools helped to improve local knowledge and to impart an understanding of the benefits of ECE.
The Chair then asked what effect the intervention at ECE level had had on the results in primary and secondary sectors. Mr. Abdulla replied that performance in primary grades had improved. The principal reason for establishing pre-school education was to ensure readiness for primary education. Those who have attended pre-school show a marked difference in reading, writing and numeracy skills from those who have not. Children who lack pre-school education do not cope as well as those with pre-school experience and it has been necessary to establish special classes for them. Later in the school career, differences between them are not as marked.
A participant noted that the provision of pre-school education often falls outside the mandate of the Ministry of Education and that to provide early childhood education is sometimes considered an "elitist, middle-class phenomenon". Malnutrition, which affects cognitive development, often occurs at the critical age of about eighteen months, long before basic education level. How does this bear on ECE, and at what age levels? Mr. Abdulla replied that pre-school starts between the ages of 4 to 6 years. He agreed with the comment on nutritional status as a determinant of development. For these reasons, healthy nutrition is now included in the pre-school curriculum. "We collaborate with Ministries of Health and Women and Children to address issues of home care of children aged 1-3 years," he said.
Someone else commented that even with 100% enrollment, little may be achieved in the absence of explicit policies for retention. Mr. Tung replied that it may be crucial to review retention in addition to enrollment. Mauritius and Senegal, for instance, had high retention rates. Yet in some countries, only 4% of these students survived beyond grade 4. The main reasons for this were civil strife and poor opportunity prospects, such as, for example, the need to work in the mines.
Ms Marope asked what had been done to ensure that the gap between pre-school and non-pre-school primary performance was narrowed. Were the gains described due to the fact that primary schools have brought all children down to the lowest common denominator? What have the Koranic schools taught other primary schools? Mr. Abdulla explained that not all the approaches had been piloted in formal schools. There has been a focus on communication of health issues by older children to younger children. Those who attend the Koranic schools already possess reading and writing abilities when they join the formal education system and are therefore more advanced. Allocation of children who can and cannot read to different classes is in the interests of better classroom management and it allows learners to develop at their own pace.
At this point, the Chair introduced the fifth panelist, Mr. Santiago Bivini Mangue, Director General for Planning, Ministry of Education, Science and Francophonie in Equatorial Guinea. He described how, in 1990, Equatorial Guinea decided to intervene in the pre-primary sector to improve access to pre-primary schools. The goal was to address the development needs of children aged 3-6 years, to improve their health, and to respond to community needs. Guinea had to find additional funding; the Government paid teachers' salaries and UNICEF provided for the agents in charge of the programs. NGOs participated in the development of programs with communities helping to build new schools. A mid-term review was conducted in 1995 to assess the situation and determine whether objectives had been met; it also considered introducing new activities to see whether beneficiaries were satisfied, examined ways to deal with the challenges which had emerged and made recommendations for future programs. One issue that emerged was that politicians and ideologies posed a problem; people, logistical support and communities had become financially over-committed. Some centers had not been properly set up due to a lack of regulation in 1994 _ 1996. Among the major lessons learned, Mr. Mangue cited: development efforts must be made at national level; that the sensitization campaign had been very successful; that the training of qualified staff is crucial and that communities must be sensitized to a project's importance and purpose. To date, Guinea has not monitored the results of those who took part in the program, but it hopes to do so.
The final panelist was Ms Hanlie Griesel, Senior Researcher Quality Promotion Unit, University of Natal, South Africa. She opened her presentation by stating that the notion of access to higher education raises questions of who should have access and to what they should have access. Access for all is not a foregone conclusion. Five years after apartheid the most dramatic achievements in South Africa have been gender parity and a dramatic change in the racial profile, which has resulted in an increased participation of those previously denied access. The proportion of black African (i.e. in terms of race group classification) students in higher education institutions (universities and technikons) increased from 29% in 1988 to 41% in 1993 and then to 57% in 1998. From 1988 to 1993 total enrollments increased by 45%. There was an 11% increase in black African enrollments from 1993 to 1998. During the apartheid era most institutions of higher education were segregated, and the "historically-advantaged" (i.e., predominantly white) institutions were of generally higher quality. It is therefore particularly significant to note that the proportion of African students in these institutions has risen from 4% in 1988 to 14% in 1993 and to 40% in 1998.
Institutions of higher education have used a variety of strategies and approaches to increase access, she reported. The case study singles out six dimensions to illustrate improved access: systems management; regional partnerships; access to key fields of study; new modes of delivery; curriculum change; and testing. Taken together, the six dimensions constitute examples of good management and achievement of increased access across the higher education sector. Nevertheless, two challenges remain: to respond to the fall in retention rates, and to respond to the increasing impact that provision of private higher education is having on enrollment rates.
One important strategy for increasing access is to apply the testing program developed at the University of Cape Town, which is now being used by 22 other institutions. This program has implemented a system of testing applicants who do not meet the entry requirements of particular faculties. Since 1990, this program has admitted 1,806 students who have a completion rate of about 75%. Several reasons have been given for the achievement and sustainability of this testing system. These include institutional support based on both the perceived need for testing and the performance of the students admitted; the structural location of the program within the institution's Centre for Higher Education Development, which has enabled interaction with educational and curriculum development activities; participation in research and national policy initiatives; and strong management capacity in the implementation of the testing system. Using such testing as an approach to increasing access presents a particular challenge: how to achieve fairness and accuracy, rather than allowing testing to serve as a "gatekeeping" device that runs counter to the principle of equity.
The Chair then asked for comments and questions, which are summarized below. The Minister of Education from Malawi remarked on the use of the term "African", which he felt had made students seem so foreign. Ms. Griesel replied that sometimes, in the interests of redress, one has to use past racial terminology. Race must be taken into account in order to abolish racial inequalities; institutions in South Africa must institute corrective action to deal with a "historically-ordained pathology".
The Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research from Sudan felt that access and merit should be balanced. In Sudan there was lower female participation in higher education in the past, but the country has now equalized enrollment and female participation stands at 60%. The establishment of universities in different provinces promotes access. 20% of the enrollment intake is reserved for those who have completed all their schooling in the region in which the university is located; this enables access to different faculties. In Sudan a distinction is drawn between governmental and private institutions, where board members are often members of the community. At present there are two international universities and 19 non-governmental colleges. Institutions must find ways of avoiding "admission without merit" and the over-commercialization of higher education. He then asked how merit is assessed in South Africa. Ms. Griesel said that there is a trend for the elite to attend private institutions; however, no figures on the actual numbers are available. This has particularly affected historically Black Institutions. There had been an inevitable lag between the establishment and the implementation of policy. Written policy has defined the parameters for operation, but in the future, funding formulas will have to take into account measures introduced to promote access and related issues.
Building on this discussion, the Hon. Prof. Asmal, Minister of Education from South Africa added that "Education should service the public good." There has been large-scale foreign investment, he said, in higher education; in fact, some of these institutions were listed on the Stock Exchange. The problem is that they do not form part of the national vision for higher education and they pillage resources from the public sector. These institutions recruit students both from South Africa and from the rest of Southern Africa. Many black parents are moving away from the public sector and going to private institutions. The relationship between fees charged and the delivery offered should be examined. Then the public sector could be made more competitive and better able to match what is offered by private sector institutions. He said that public institutions must compete as equals, and not with "our feet tied together and one hand behind our back."
Continuing the discussion on access and equity, another participant commented that it was always good to have policies established from the outset, but follow-up policies might also be necessary to address subsequent problems, such as the many students who failed to complete their education as a result of socio-economic problems and who dropped out. The problems of transfer from one level of education to another must be solved. Policies should be sensitive to the special needs of deprived areas and recognize that those attending secondary schools often came from the middle class.
Mr. Tung was given an opportunity to comment on a number of issues raised by the other speakers. Africa, he said, is the continent which has the greatest incidence of malnutrition. The role of the state in education is being transformed: the notion of the all-powerful, all-providing state is giving way to a more diversified concept. Education is influenced by politics: it is often said that when governments change we have to start afresh. Decentralization can render education less vulnerable to the vagaries of politics in the capital city. The student population has more than doubled, and teachers are needed to teach them. The qualification and distribution of teachers are two problems facing African education. It is difficult to induce teachers to work in remote areas. Disparities between well- and poorly-developed regions in countries translate into disparities in provision of education. Salaries in the public service sector have decreased and teachers find that they can no longer live on their salaries.
In concluding the session, Mr. Jacquemot, the Chair, noted the new emphasis on monitoring and on complementing access with a focus on student retention and a better quality of education. He suggested that new partnerships should be forged to help expand access to education. However, the presentations and comments made during Session 3 showed clearly that a wide range of solutions is already available.
This session was chaired by Ms. Aïcha Bah-Diallo, Director of Basic Education, UNESCO. She opened the session by saying that we have seen that governments acting on their own cannot provide formal education to all the children of a country. To do so, it is necessary to establish partnerships with communities. Communities can assist, for instance, by building schools, and recruiting and paying teachers. There is a trend towards devolution of power to communities. But is it fair, she wondered, to ask communities to contribute to their educational needs? Is it sustainable? Is it not merely a way of asking the poor to pay more for their education? How is appropriation of the school by the community demonstrated? What are the problems encountered? She asked the panelists to address these questions.
The first panelist to speak was Mr. Maurice Tilahimena, Technical Advisor, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Madagascar. He observed that although communities have started to own and build schools, this practice has its inherent limitations. He then outlined the salient aspects of the Madagascar experience, whose great innovation is the development of a contractual approach which links government, school and community. The program was introduced in 1994 and focuses on primary education. Contracts were signed between schools and communities, the terms of which were negotiated with the communities. The contracts address issues of access, quality and teacher development. In 1998 an educational program designed to strengthen and consolidate the evolving structures was adopted. During implementation it became evident that the results were not those desired and, consequently, the strategy was redirected. A major change was the decision of the Ministry to intervene directly in the communities. This resulted in two concurrent approaches; one is from the bottom up, in which schools forged partnership with the local community and local stakeholders; the other is from the top down, in which the Ministry is the principal agent. In each case a formal contract is adopted which links different groups through consensus.
The initial goals of the contractual approach were to facilitate access and retention, provide teachers and to distribute textbooks to the poorest children. The Government's commitment was to provide funds for materials, while communities provided local materials and agreed to promote enrollment and retention. The program was supported by UNICEF and the World Bank and involved 38 out of 111 school districts; 40% of schools participated. The communities hired and remunerated teachers, built new classrooms and set aside money for school maintenance. This experiment increased independent action and community self-reliance. However, the project was unable to recruit sufficient teachers or attain an acceptable teacher/pupil ratio; rates of enrollment nevertheless increased.
The next panelist was Mr. Mohamed Jallow, Director of Information Technology and Human Resources, Department of State for Education in Gambia. Mr. Jallow reported that 95% of the population of Gambia are Muslim; children are expected to attend the religious schools (madressahs) at the Darras (learning centers). The madressahs are an alternative to the formal school system. Most girls who are not in the formal system attend them. Some schools are totally owned by communities and their enrollment rate is nearly 100%. They are located close to the communities, which reduces the distance that learners have to travel. The Education Act specifies the responsibilities for the management of schools, stipulating as a priority that all schools must have a parent-teacher association, a bank account, a PTA chairperson and a treasurer. The main lesson from Gambia is that community involvement in school management impacts positively on enrollment.
The next person to speak was Mr. Aaron Barutwanayo, the Director General for Higher Education and Scientific Research, Ministry of Education in Burundi who remarked that many countries have successfully established access to primary education, but there is often a bottle-neck at secondary school level. In Burundi, there are few public secondary schools and only 5% of children have access to them. Government wishes to increase secondary school participation but, lacking sufficient funds, has had to pursue the route of community school partnership. Under this arrangement, communities were asked to build the schools, to provide teacher accommodation and to purchase school equipment, while Government was responsible for deploying and remunerating teachers and for the provision of teaching materials.
The result has been an increase in enrollment rate. The retention rate between primary and secondary school has increased over 9 years from 5% to 25%. The program has resulted in a leveling-out of regional differences; each town has one or two locally-managed schools. A total of 327 schools have been established, 237 of which are community schools. Boarding school facilities at public schools have been converted into classrooms and the number of girls in secondary schools has increased by 50%. Clearly, the experience has been successful, yet some challenges remain: the shortage of good teachers has raised concerns over the quality of education. Progress has been achieved under very difficult conditions and in the face of continual socio-political crises.
The next speaker was Mr. Amadé Badani, Director General of the École Normale Supérieure in Koudougou, Burkina Faso. He said that in his country community involvement is aimed at improving both access and quality. The government has identified communities where several basic conditions suggest that greater local involvement would be possible. These conditions include:
• the absence of any school within a 3-kilometer radius of a community;
• adequate population density;
• the existence of a school management committee;
• a formal request made by the village;
• the existence of a local water supply.
In Burkina Faso, communities are expected to promote access, recruitment, female participation and to organize the school itself. Management committees have been established in villages and mechanisms developed to reduce dropouts, particularly among girls. Mothers also play an important role in promoting girls' participation in education. Finally, it is the government's responsibility to provide school books, teaching equipment and support infrastructure such as health clinics. There are still challenges facing the program, however. These include the need to ensure sustainability of structures; the need to ensure that mechanisms exist to enable communities to play their allotted roles; and the need to improve quality of community involvement through training.
At this point in the session, The Chair invited questions and comments from the floor. One person wondered if there was too much emphasis placed on building schools and not enough on curriculum and textbooks. Another asked: How does one involve the community in the preparation of the curriculum? How much money does the community contribute? What is the difference between programs which depend on community contributions and those funded by donor aid? A final remark concerned the notion of participation. The speaker noted that `community participation' was a concept used mainly for poor communities that have very little materially to contribute. Consequently, quality and sustainability were invariably sacrificed. He concluded that donors promote `community partnerships' as a means of reducing their own level of support.
The next panelist was Mr. Gidado Tahir, Professor and Executive Secretary, National Commission for Nomadic Education, Nigeria. He reported on a Nigerian program to bring basic education to nomadic children. There are 12_13 million people in nomadic communities in Nigeria. The national nomadic education program started in 1986, and in 1989 an institution was created to pursue this initiative. Prior to this some provincial governments had embarked on various initiatives that had failed. A National Commission and four university centers across the country conducted research into the needs of the several nomadic communities to establish their number, and the number and ages of their children. One university center was assigned responsibility for curriculum development and examined the national curriculum to see how it could be adapted to the circumstances of the nomadic groups. At first materials were developed in the language of the individual nomadic group, but English was used for levels higher than Grade 3.
Teachers were recruited from the existing cohort of teachers who had attended National Certificate of Education College. They had been trained to teach in conventional schools and had had no special training in teaching nomads. Now the university provides continuous training to teachers servicing the nomadic communities because it is important that they understand something about those they will teaching. Government has also had to offer additional incentives—such as financial incentives, bicycles and transport from towns to nomadic homesteads—to teachers assigned to teach in nomadic communities. To achieve sustainability it has been necessary to build capacity. Nomadic adults are trained so that they are able to "modernize" their societies. Radio is used to mobilize communities to set up schools of their own.
Several lessons can be drawn from this program, the speaker suggested. The first step towards success came with recognition of the need for change, together with recognition of the fact that the formal education system does not reach the nomads. The second was the holistic nature of the intervention and its process, together with a strategy for the continuous mobilization of stakeholders. This was particularly important in view of the initial skepticism of the nomadic communities. To overcome this, a combination of approaches was adopted, including face-to-face meetings, working with veterinary extension agents; meetings with community leaders; use of radio and posters; and the decentralization of the decision-making processes through devolution to units and stakeholders involved in the program.
At this point a participant from Cameroon interjected that in her country the nomadic population had been encouraged to settle in more permanent homes which had been provided for them. Mothers stayed at home so that the children could go to school. She said this had contributed to the success of nomad schooling.
The Chair then introduced the next panelist,
Mr. Cream Wright, Head of the Education
Department, Commonwealth Secretariat, and Coordinator of
the ADEA Working Group on Nonformal Education. Mr. Wright asked what possibilities exist for establishing
an interface between formal and non-formal
education? How can we better equip communities to
manage schools? Success is only one-third of the
picture, he pointed out; there is also a need to understand why
communities became involved in education. Why is it
that only the rural poor communities are involved? Is it
because they are seeking what has been denied to
them? How can we develop a responsive curriculum?
We should devote more effort to defining community
needs and determining which needs should be met. It is
necessary to make a conceptual shift to understand
that education centers on learning rather than on
schooling. Governments must facilitate, finance, and promote
learning wherever it takes place. Communities should be
offered options, opportunities and choices; and they
need a voice in educational policy and in the allocation
and distribution of resources. It is paradoxical that
before communities can do this they must be empowered.
Financing community options is a challenge because
there must be some sense of equity in user costs and
financing, rather than an expectation that communities be
fully responsible for costs. Subsidies must be better
targeted if the poor are to benefit.
The Chair then asked the other participants to join in the discussion. A brief summary of their comments and questions follows:
• What successes can your group report?
• What should the role of communities be in formulating education policy? Are there examples where this has occurred?
• How does one solve the transport problem in situations where students travel to school from different areas?
• Peasant communities are in fact not always poor. "States make us poor". Resources get allocated to items such as vehicles and armaments, whereas the communities receive nothing. Sometimes communities are actually wealthy, and many build schools during periods of crisis. "We had to think about the reallocation of resources. Three primary schools can be built for the cost of a single luxury vehicle."
• PTAs (Parent Teacher Associations) contribute a great deal to schools. Parents are seen as part of government in determining policies, but they cannot be asked to design programs as they lack the expertise. Burundi experiences problems with the qualification of teachers. There is a serious need to encourage South-South cooperation and to send teachers to qualification centers in neighboring countries.
• Community participation is not merely a matter of finance, but also a means of getting communities to accept control of their schools.
• Community participation in education is indispensable. It is crucial for attaining the goals of universal education. It is necessary that this participation be organized. The government must create a synergy between the state and the community. Power and resources have been transferred to communities; this has created an incentive to participate.
In closing, the Chair asked Ms Joyce Moock of the Rockefeller Foundation what lessons she thought the session had brought to the fore. Ms Moock said the prime issue is the importance of having checks and balances if participation is to succeed. She enumerated them as:
• the importance of defining legitimate communities and legitimate decision-making processes;
• equalizing finance to compensate for inequitable tax bases;
• the necessity of capacity building for planning;
• the viable division of labor, both central and local;
• teacher training and teacher upgrading;
• quality control; and
• the importance of transparency in expenditure to enable parents to understand how funds are utilized.
The fifth session was chaired by Hon. Mame Bounama Sall, Minister of Basic Education and National Languages, Senegal, who opened the discussion by pointing out that girls are victims of discrimination: even if they have access to the educational system, there are other constraints which adversely affect them and their participation in the system. Of the 25 countries targeted by the study, there are few which do not give pride of place to the education of girls. He then invited panelists and participants to present some of the strategies which have proved successful in promoting girls' access to schooling.
First to speak was Mr. Aimé Gnimadi, Director of Studies and Programming of the National Centre for Research, Benin who said that the aim in Benin is to improve basic educational opportunities for girls in two ways: one is through the formal school system; the other is a community development project that provides basic education for "over-age", out-of-school girls. Both programs strive to increase the enrollment and retention rate of girls and have been developed and implemented in collaboration with Benin's external partners. Both are also based on diagnostic analyses which indicate that girls' absences from school are related to cultural factors and are aggravated by early pregnancies and curricular content which, according to parents, are not compatible with their expectations for their daughters.
The Benin program included affirmative action which: exempted girls in rural areas from payment of fees; established a girls' schooling network composed of community authorities, NGOs, parents, teachers and students; established boarding facilities; and developed school feeding programs in rural areas. The results have been very encouraging. From 1992/93 to 1997/98, the primary school GER for girls increased from 44% to 59% and the percentage of girls in total primary school enrollments rose from 34% to 38%. In three provinces, the girls' GER increased by over 60%. In secondary education, there has been a significant increase in girls' attendance from 1995/96 to 1997/98. During this period, girls' enrollments increased by 35%, compared to 30% for boys; in three provinces, girls' enrollments increased by over 50%.
What lessons could be drawn from this experience? The effectiveness of the school fee exemption policy was one; the need for it to be extended into urban areas was another. Benin tries to treat problems globally, to conduct awareness campaigns and to sensitize teachers to the necessity of education for girls: and also tries to increase community participation in running schools. As a result, more women have participated in management at village level and in pedagogical innovations.
During the discussions following the presentations, the Hon. Damien Zinsou Alahassa, Minister for Education and Scientific Research of Benin, reiterated that the government in Benin exempted girls from school fees. This, however, resulted in financial losses for the government which it was obliged to recover. The needed assistance was obtained through USAID.
The next speaker was Ms Nesta Sekwao, Assistant Commissioner for Educational Planning, Ministry of Education and Culture, Tanzania. In Tanzania the focus has historically been on basic education, she explained. In the 1970s, UPE campaigns resulted in increased enrollment in primary education, which closed the gender gap; there is now a 50/50 distribution in access. The present report describes a program which was initiated with the support of external partners, to enable academically capable girls from poor households in nine districts to attend and complete secondary school education. Government introduced a cost-sharing program in which parents are expected to contribute towards school fees, according to their means. Government identified two regions in which to pilot the project. The primary schools, together with their committees and teachers, selected six girls per school, of whom the government approved three. If they were high performers, the girls were then sent to government secondary schools; otherwise they were sent to non-government secondary schools. Fees were paid by the government. Uniforms, pocket money, books and accommodation fees were also provided. This project was community-based in that the community participated in the selection of girls.
The program supported 1,325 girls enrolled in 58 secondary schools. The drop-out rate for these girls was only 4.1% compared with the national figure of 32.6%. An evaluation has indicated that their performance is improving; it is higher than that of girls who have not benefited from this program. This program has also led to a heightened awareness of the importance of secondary education for girls.
A participant from USAID in Benin asked how sustainable a scholarship program based on donor support could be. Ms. Sekwao responded that the budgetary allocation to education has increased, and Government has borrowed money. "In future we shall have to find ways to empower communities to contribute to education," she said.
The Minister of Education from Zambia wished to know from Tanzania why the girls who did not do well were sent to non-governmental schools, while those who performed well were sent to government schools. Ms. Sekwao replied that placement of learners is dependent on the number of places available at Government and non-Government schools.
The Minister of Education from Lesotho explained that in his country the situation was different: there were more girls than boys in schools and universities. The Lesotho Government was becoming increasingly worried about the boy child. Government had to ensure that boy children enrolled in, and stayed in, school.
The Chair then gave the floor to Mr. Alndinglaouel Nebe, Coordinator of the Education and Vocational Training Unit, Ministry of Basic, Secondary Education and Literacy, Chad. Mr. Nebe said that two studies had been undertaken to identify those factors which exert a negative effect on school attendance of girls. Some of these are socio-cultural: for example, the position of women in society; early marriage; the economic exploitation of girls in agriculture; and the perception, which stems from the practice of exchange of dowries, of girls as economic commodities. The girl child must contend with factors which impede her progress, including a school environment which is not conducive to females and a male-orientated school curriculum which does not make provision for the fact that in reality, girls' needs are different from those of boys.
The new program, designed to encourage the enrollment of girls in Chad, includes the following measures: a large-scale sensitization campaign involving public and private media, forums, meetings, and workshops; training of teachers and facilitators; provision of school supplies, textbooks and a school uniform to each girl; payment of subsidies to communities to enable income-generating activities and to alleviate typical feminine work; provision of food rations through the World Food Program (WFP); elimination of school fees for girls; relaxation of age restrictions for girls; creation of early childhood care so that girls who were traditionally responsible for this kind of work are now able to attend school; the inclusion of household matters (home economics) in the curriculum; and the establishment of quotas for the recruitment of female teachers.
According to Mr. Nebe, four years after the program's establishment, results are encouraging: the number of girls in school has increased by 23% and their percentage of the overall school population has risen from 34.9% to 37.6%. This progress has not been without problems, mostly related to socio-cultural and economic issues. Furthermore, technical and logistical problems make it difficult to generalize this experience.
The Minister of Education from Côte d'Ivoire commented that he was wary of a quota system such as Chad's, since this made low female enrollments a female problem, which it was not. In his view, it was a combination of social and institutional problems which should be addressed in targeted ways, such as merit-based scholarships and girls' boarding schools. Levels of quality and effort had to be raised, and not merely enrollments. Mr. Nebe replied that women in general are under-represented in employment; one needs to consider the recruitment of more female teachers. Chad wishes to have 50% female teachers in schools, but there are insufficient trained female teachers to fill these posts.
Commenting on Chad's quota system, Mr. Mayatula said that South Africa, by virtue of its Labour Equity Act, had in effect a quota system supported by law. Mr. Nebe responded by saying that Chad had considered implementing legislative measures to support the education of married girls and the education of girls that had interrupted school because of pregnancies. He added that encouraging the enrolment of girls did not have a negative impact on boy's enrolment.
The next panelist was Ms Penina Mlama, Executive Director of FAWE and Coordinator of the Working Group on Female Participation. Ms. Mlama said that her Group's task was to evaluate the work being done by FAWE, which has chapters all over Africa and promotes the education of girls. The study first examines bursary schemes. It has become apparent that there is a very high demand from girls for fee support. Many children are orphaned as a result of conflict and HIV/AIDS, and girls are more likely than boys to drop out of school. Girls also suffer more when families select which children should be educated. Twelve FAWE chapters have started small schemes to provide bursaries which will provide needy girls with school access. In Ghana, for example, 15 girls have been subsidized. Although this number is small, this is an independent activity to which women contribute directly from their own earnings. Sixty girls are being assisted in Kenya; the numbers for Uganda are 90 in primary schools and 4 in secondary schools. This demonstrates that progress can be made even with modest resources. FAWE is currently approaching governments to see whether they can upgrade the programs. It has also recommended the programs be extended to Burkina Faso and Guinea.
The study also examined empowerment schemes. In Tanzania the FAWE chapter has developed a program named Tuseme ("let us speak out") which aims at empowering girls to speak out, express their concerns, identify solutions, and take action to solve problems which hinder their social and academic development. According to most of the teachers in the participating schools, Tuseme has improved the assertiveness, the confidence, and the academic and social performance of the girls.
Another feature reported on concerns instances where the girls themselves have contributed to solving problems of sexual harassment in schools, of lazy teachers who do not come to class, and of school management systems which do not give girls a voice. It has also increased their self-confidence and ability to perform in certain subjects, including mathematics and science. In another instance, girls have researched problems which impede their academic progress, and then reported on the problems through different media, such as plays and poetry. Girls' clubs, which try to solve these problems, have been established in schools. Ms. Mlama concluded with an appeal to ministers of education to scale up successes of these projects and activities initiated by FAWE.
The Chair then asked for questions and comments from participants. Discussions concerned the following points:
• Early marriage and pregnancy. In Cameroon, pregnant girls were suspended for a year but could be readmitted after delivery. Young girls in early marriages could still attend school provided that their husbands did not attend the same school.
• Why the gaps between girls and boys in Chad and Benin were not closing. Could it be possible that programs directed at girls actually gave an advantage to boys?
• Meetings should not simply pay lip service to the education of girls. Could not Biennale participants, for example, pledge a small part of their earnings, be it only 50 cents per month, towards the education of girls? A substantial amount could be raised from the salaries of civil servants alone. By January next year, half of the girls in the rural areas in Gambia would be financially provided for.
• How did people in Tanzania react when scholarships were given only to girls. For example, was it not difficult to deny scholarships to families where all the children were boys?
In responding to some of the remarks, Ms Mlama noted that despite early access to education the percentage of girls participating in the education system drops dramatically in later years of schooling. Girls face problems of sexual harassment and a lack of female role models. She noted that Benin has introduced a program named "Equity in the Classroom" which monitors gender-sensitive teaching practices. The speaker also noted a need to change sociocultural attitudes towards the education of girls. In particular, Ministers of Education were asked to consider instituting policies whereby girls would be allowed to return to school after pregnancy.
The discussion continued with the Minister of Education from Sudan commenting that the problem was more one of retention rather than one of access. If a school is located far from the community more girls than boys will drop out, discouraged by the irrelevance of the curriculum, early marriage, parental attitudes to coeducation, and the costs. In Sudan , the government provides free education to all and there are single-sex schools. The curriculum has been reformed, and currently 25% of study time is allocated to practical subjects.
A lively debate ensued. Ms Marope said that we should regard access to quality education as a starting point only. Education of girls is emphasized because of its emancipatory effects and the resultant socio-economic benefits to society as a whole.
Ms Schnuttgen from UNESCO reiterated that the main reasons for girls' lack of access to education were culturally-related. A community partnership approach is effective in increasing girls' participation in education and in sustaining their employment opportunities after school.
Mr. Byll-Cataria from Switzerland agreed, saying that the problem of girls' and women's education is not only one of access; the challenges which girls must meet today are also contributory factors. A gender-awareness policy is needed for working with communities and for training teachers. He wondered whether FAWE possessed documents which could help point the way.
A participant from the Commonwealth Secretariat said that he was excited by the FAWE report, as it targeted retention and empowerment and issues of quality. Such projects deserved further investment, and he urged Government ministers to adopt them.
In closing, the Chair thanked the panel and participants for their many fascinating contributions. The Cameroon example of allowing girls to re-enroll after pregnancy had been very interesting to learn about; in Senegal, he noted pregnant girls were not allowed re-entry into schools. This policy existed to ensure that girls finished school before becoming mothers, although clearly it does not work. He also re-emphasized the prime importance of strong political will in dealing with the gender gap.
The 6th session was chaired by Ms Julie Owen-Rea, Education and Training Officer, USAID. She opened the session by remarking that one of the greatest challenges of African education is the huge demand for, coupled with the small supply of, teachers. There are classrooms with over a hundred learners and only one teacher; elsewhere, teachers cannot teach properly because they cannot speak the right language. In other places still, teachers are available, but not where they are most needed. What can be done about this? Questions like these, she said, would be the session's focus.
The first person to speak was Mr. Papa Madéfall Gueye, Director of Literacy and Basic Education, Ministry of Basic Education and National Languages, Senegal, who discussed his country's `volunteer' teacher policy. This program was initiated to reverse the trend of a decline in numbers of teachers despite the ever-stronger demand for education. The viability of the volunteer teacher scheme was affected by several factors: thousands of classrooms were being built by communities, NGOs, and parents, but there were no teachers to teach in them; government's budget was too small to support the cost of increases in the numbers of Civil Service teachers; and there was a large number of unemployed university and secondary school graduates. Gaining acceptance of the volunteer teacher policy required intensive consultative efforts which included meetings with teacher unions, parent groups, and community associations, and also the use of mass media to inform and interact with the general public. Open dialogue helped to dispel many misunderstandings. Political will was required to surmount sectional interests (i.e. those of the teacher unions). The volunteer teachers in Senegal have come to be accepted as an essential link in a chain of solidarity which includes internationa