The ADEA Intra-African Exchange Program
Launched in 1996 (1), the ADEA Intra African Exchange Program was
designed to facilitate the sharing of African expertise, to encourage
the development of regional capacities, and to capitalize on successful
and potentially "exportable" African experiences. It is
expected that the experiences brought to light by the Prospective
Stock-Taking Exercise will spur further interest. ADEA will support
requests coming from countries who want to know more about what other
countries have done and how they have done it.
Intra-African exchanges are a major component of African cooperation
and capacity-building. Launched in 1996, the ADEA Intra-African Exchange
Program was set up to encourage African Ministries of Education to
use existing regional capacities and capitalize on each other's experience
and expertise. ADEA encourages this by sponsoring exchanges which
enable applicants to receive advice or technical assistance from senior
African education professionals.
Who has access to the Intra-Africa Exchange Program?
The program mainly serves African ministries of education. It enables
interested ministries to be visited by a specialist or to send a staff
member to another country. The program facilitates: (i) study visits
by ministry officials; or (ii) consultation missions by an African
specialist/expert to a country where he or she consults with the authorities
on a specific policy issue identified by the host country.
Examples of exchanges under the program
Since its launching, ADEA's Intra-African Exchange Program has facilitated
the following exchanges:
Formulating education policy in São Tomé and Principe
In 1996, the government of São Tomé and Principe initiated
a nationwide consultation process geared towards the formulation of
a new education policy. The government contacted ADEA for help in
identifying a consultant that could assist them in the process. The
ADEA designated Mr. Djibril Débourou, who is the author of
a study on formulating education policy in Benin published by ADEA
in 1995 (2). Mr. Débourou is a professor at the National University
of Benin and a Member of Parliament in Benin. In 1995, he served as
a resource person during ADEA's Biennial Meeting which focused on
the formulation of education policies in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Upon the invitation of the government of São Tomé and
Principe, Mr. Débourou attended a National Forum held to reflect
on the problems afflicting the country's education system. He returned
to São Tomé several times and was later on invited to
support the National Commission in charge of implementing the Forum's
recommendations and developing an education policy.
Developing an approach for the redeployment of teachers in Togo
In April 1997, Togo's Ministry of Education received a visit from
Mr. Alamah Condé, Assistant Inspector-General at the Ministry
of Pre-University and Civic Education in Guinea. Mr. Condé
is the author of The Redeployment of Teachers in Guinea(3). His mission
was to lead a seminar on the redeployment of teachers. Guinea's hands-on
experience with redeploying teachers was studied as a starting point
for developing a Togolese approach. The advantages of redeploying
personnel were presented and emphasis was put on key considerations
in managing the redeployment process, identifying the prerequisites
that must be in place before the process begins.
Developing national book policies - participation of experts in
the Zimbabwe International Book Fair
Through the ADEA Working Group on Books and Learning Materials, the
Intra-African Exchange Program was used to bring two African experts
to participate in the 1996 "Indaba" at the Zimbabwe International
Book Fair (ZIBF) in Harare, Zimbabwe. The two experts were Mr. Ndoye,
then Minister of Basic Education and National Languages of Senegal,
and Mr. N'Golo Coulibaly, Technical Adviser for the Ministry of Basic
Education of Mali. The experts shared their views and experiences
on the role of the education sector in the development of a national
book policy.
Elaboration of a book policy in Botswana
Subsequent to the Indaba Book Fair, the government of Botswana invited
two experts on book policy formulation to support the Ministry of
Education of Botswana in developing a national book policy. Mr. Kalugula
(Tanzania) and Mr. Ngombe (Malawi) worked closely with the Botswana
Task Force set up to plan for the national consultation on the development
of a national book policy.
Planned activities
Two requests, one from Benin and the other from Rwanda, are expected
by the end of the year. The Ministry of Education of Benin is planning
to send a group of five senior officials to Guinea to study a successful
teacher incentive program. The Ministry of Higher Education of Rwanda
will hire an African consultant to carry out a needs assessment for
the reform of the University of Rwanda.
How does a Ministry access the Intra-African Exchange Program?
To take advantage of the ADEA Intra-African Exchange Program, Ministries
of Education should forward requests directly to the ADEA Secretariat
in Paris. Requests should be as detailed as possible in terms of the
specific activity to be undertaken and the budget needed to implement
it.
FOOTNOTES
(1) See ADEA Newsletter, Vol.9 No. 1, p.5 "ADEA's Intra-African
Exchange Program".
(2) This study is available in a book published by ADEA in 1996 entitled
"Formulating Education Policy: Lessons and Experiences from Sub-Saharan
Africa".
(3) "The Redeployment of Teachers in Guinea" by Alamah Condé,
DAE, 1995.
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