Newsletter Vol.16 No.3 - ADEA

Editorial Volume 16, Number 3Secondary Education:the Missing LinkFromthe African PressAEJA 2004: TheWinning ArticleSecondary education is the poor cousin of theAfrican education system, receiving only 15%of total public spending on education. With aGER of 26.8%, compared to an average of 56.6%for developing countries as a whole, African secondaryeducation also lags far behind. The aim hereis not to challenge the priority given to universalprimary education (UPE) in achieving the EFA goals;rather, this fully justified choice should be a wakeup call to raise our heads and look at the probablefuture developments in African education. The factis, as the studies cited in this issue clearly show, thatif the expected progress toward UPE is achieved,and if efforts on the same scale are not invested inlower secondary education, primary-to-secondarytransition rates in Africa will plummet. Among themany consequences, I find two that are particularlycounter-productive for UPE.The increased harshness of the selection-eliminationprocess at the end of primary school willPhoto: UNESCO, Roger DominiqueJuly-September 2004throw millions of 11, 12 and 13 year-old childrenout of the system, with no real prospects for trainingor preparation to enter the workforce. Such anappalling situation may discourage both familiesand communities, and hence reduce their demandfor education.The second consequence, already observed insome countries, is the congestion at the end of theprimary level, where repetition rates are three timesthose observed in the early years. This reduces thealready low internal efficiency of primary educationand wastes enormous amounts of resources.In short, progress toward UPE would seem todepend on removing the barriers to entering secondaryeducation or on broadening access to thelower secondary level. There is strong pressure totake such action, originating in increased demandfor secondary education by families and nationalgovernments. These actors are increasingly concernedthat UPE will not suffice to drive economicgrowth and fight poverty, since the sustainabilityof growth and poverty reduction will depend onsuccessful integration of graduates into a globalizedeconomy through knowledge and the informationsociety.But at this point we run into problems of feasibility:how can African countries cope with thechallenge of UPE and at the same time expandsecondary education?Domestic and external resources currentlymobilized in Africa remain far below what is requiredto finance UPE by 2015. African unit costsfor secondary education are 3 to 5 times higher onaverage than those for primary level [see article onpage 14, and Keith Lewin, page 8]. Furthermore, it isestimated that the number of primary school completerswill triple by 2015. Most African countrieswill not even be able to maintain, let alone increase,their current primary-to-secondary transitionrates—unless drastic reform can achieve substantialreductions in unit expenditure by cutting thecosts of school construction, equipment, textbooks,learning materials and staff. It will also be necessaryto increase efficiency through substantial reductionin repetitions (15% on average) and in all othersources of waste and inefficiency, as well as to raiseFocusSecondaryeducationin AfricaMinisterialConferences• Education before,during and afterconflicts• Integrating ICTsCountryExperiencesCurriculareform in ChiliHIV/AIDSIIEP’sClearinghouseon HIV/AIDSNew Publications• Technologicalinfrastructureand use of ICTs• Financingsecondary education

FocusSecondary Education From the African PressAn Award for Education Journalism .... 32004 Award:1 st prize for Articlesin English ......................................... 4 FocusEditorial........................................... 1The Time for Reform is Now ............... 5New Goals, New Curricula ............... 7Anticipation and Planning ................. 8Six Reasons for Investing in SecondaryEducation......................................... 9Statistics for Secondary Education..... 11Overview of Participationin Secondary Education in Africa...... 12Expansion:How Can It Be Financed? ................ 14Lessons from Chile........................... 16ADEA and Post-Primary Education..... 17 AIDSIIEP’s Clearinghouseon HIV/AIDS .................................. 18 BriefsBriefs............................................. 19 ConferencesMinisterial Conference on Educationin Countries in Crisis or Post-ConflictSituations ....................................... 21Ministerial Conference onthe Integration of ICTs in Educationin Western Africa ............................ 22 BooksTechnological Infrastructure and Useof ICT in Education in Africa:An Overview.................................. 23Financing Secondary Educationin Developing Countries................... 23 CalendarMeetings and activities ..................... 24fresh budgetary and extra-budgetaryresources. When contemplating theseapparently insurmountable obstacles,which are nonetheless essential to theachievement of UPE in many Africancountries, one is tempted to wonderwhether those who are not capable ofthe lesser task will be capable of thegreater one.Expanding secondary educationraises tremendous problems of financialviability [see article on page 14] that canbe resolved only by bold innovations capableof mobilizing the latent resourcesof the education system and society andtransforming them efficiently into results:decentralization and participation,public-private partnerships, outsourcing,diversification and integration of educationalstreams, use of ICTs, reliance ondistance education and open learning,more efficient use of staff and system inputs,external support as a catalyst for reformand an anchor in the face of deficitsthat domestic efforts cannot meet. Thoseinnovative approaches must promotesecondary education that is adapted tolocal resources and the needs of Africancountries, in the light of challenges faced.Thus, bringing outdated goals, targetsand curriculum content up to date is animportant task [see Pai Obanya, page 7,and Jacob Bregman, page 5]. It will alsobe necessary, however, to broaden viewsof secondary education so that it is nolonger regarded simply as a transitionallevel that prepares students for highereducation. The types of instruction offeredby the secondary education systemmust also satisfy the demand of communitiesand families, formal- and informalsectorbusinesses, the state and society.It must prepare young people to face thechallenges of their time and place, by developingtheir ability for critical thinking,scientific and technological knowledge,lifelong learning and adaptability, senseof democratic citizenship, and life skillsthey need concerning health (AIDS),nutrition, hygiene, environment, andpopulation.Efforts to reform the curricula thusface a number of tensions—internationalstandards vs. local/national needsand situations, basic skills vs. vocationalskills, core curriculum vs. diversificationof streams, scientific and technical educationvs. the humanities, developmentof cognitive structures vs. knowledgeaccumulation—in which the policymixes adopted and the types of balancessought will depend on individualcontexts.In defining curriculum content andmeaningful goals, these innovative approachesto secondary education willneed to address two issues:• Giving informed consideration togovernments’ formulation of the goalsand programs of secondary education,to skills, and generally to the qualityand quantity of human resourcesneeded for faster develop-ment, inrelation to each country’s specificpotential and growth sectors;• Promoting educational processesand procedures that give meaning toschool-based learning by establishingan interactive link to actual socialpractice, so as to shed light on howschool subjects should be understood,their utility and their use.The challenges involved in the development—asopposed to the mereexpansion—of secondary educationwill not stop there. The diversity of situations,and hence of educational demand,calls for similar diversification of methodsof delivery: formal or non-formal, inschool or in a business setting, face-tofaceor distance. Research will have toaccompany and at times precede thechanges introduced. The great variety ofsituations found in African countries necessitatescontext-specific analyses, buteffective secondary education policiesand practices are not yet documented.Thus far, research on the respective costsand benefits of secondary education andits impact on countries’ economic andsocial development has yet to settle thedebate.These questions have led ADEA’sSteering Committee to establish an adhoc group on post-primary education,not merely as a secondary stage in educationbut also as a stage for developingvocational skills. The group’s task: toinform policy dialogue through exploratoryanalysis of issues that are criticalto decision-making. And why not also,to draw up guidelines for the developmentof post-primary education in Africa,similar to the framework establishedfor UPE?▼Mamadou NdoyeExecutive Secretary, ADEA2 ADEA Newsletter July - September 2004

From the African PressAkintola Fatoyinbo Africa Education Journalism Award1 st Prize - 2004 Edition - Articles in EnglishThe blackboardsanctuaryBy Nkgakga Monare, Sunday Times, August24, 2003Faced with a growing number of AIDSorphans, a Pretoria school has come up with amodel support scheme, writes MOSHOESHOEMONAREKHANYI Mothutsi is a bubbly, talkative andsmart 15 year-old pupil at Bokgoni TechnicalHigh in Atteridgeville, outside Pretoria.“Hi, I understand you are looking for me,” shesays, with a twang in her voice that is mockedby her peers as a prod uct of her schooling at aformer white suburban school.But behind her lively, broad smile lies a traumaticloss. Her nine-month-old brother, father andmother died last year of a “mysterious illness”.And her name is not Khanyi Mothutsi, but that iswhat we are calling her to pro tect her.The girl’s life-orientation teacher, SithokozisoBlom, says Mothutsi is putting on a brave face,but inside she is emotionally hurt.“She seems okay on the surface but deep downshe is deeply traumatised by what has happenedin her family,” Blom says. “She needs emotionalsupport.”Mothutsi says she is well looked af ter by a relative,but adds: “I miss my mom. I wish I couldtalk to someone.”Her teachers say her performance at school,once above average, has dete riorated since thedeaths.Blom says a number of pupils at Bokgoni areexperiencing emotional break downs due to theloss of their parents.“They are often teased by other heartless children,especially on Moth er’s Day about who arethey going to give gifts to,” Blom says.Mothutsi is one of the 32 orphans at BokgoniHigh; 17 parents have died since January dueto what the school community euphemisticallyterms “mysterious illness”.And the number is rising. This week alone, twodeaths were reported.George Sono, a teacher, says the pat tern of deathsand the nature of ailments suggest the true realityof Aids. “It’s dif ficult for children to open up,but we talk to them and we get a sense of what’shappening in their homes,” he says.Deputy principal Vivian Bopape says: “We justannounce at the assembly that they [the parents]have died due to ill ness. As long as children don’tdisclose [the cause] we don’t inquire, becausethere is a stigma attached to Aids.”The situation has turned teachers in to socialworkers and the school into a charity organization.The government’s nutritional scheme has not yetreached secondary schools, but Bokgoni did notwait for a govern ment intervention programme.Instead, the school started a tuck shop, makingand selling sephatlo, Pretoria’s street sandwich(loosely translated as ‘half’).This is a quarter of a loaf of bread filled withchips, cheese, polony and mango atjar, explainsteacher Violet Raphiri.“We give [sephatlo] to the orphans free of charge.We noticed they were hungry most of the timeand couldn’t afford to buy something to eat. Thisaffects their attention span and perfor mance inclass,” says Raphiri.Orphans such as Kedib one Rakgotso (not herreal name), 16, who lost her parents this year,benefit from the school’s feeding scheme. Sheand her brother live with an aunt who earns R320a month. And while there is enough money forfood for about two weeks, she has come to relyon the school’s sephatlo.“Our aunt just buys us cake flour and we are ableto bake dumplings. But if the flour is finished,there’s no money to buy bread,” says Rakgotso.But some pupils tease her. “Some orphans endup not going to get their free lunch, but we oftenintervene and talk to them,” sighs Blom. “Someof these children can be cruel, you know.”Ignatius Jacobs, Gauteng Education MEC, sayshis department, along with the social welfaredepartment, are investigating the extent ofthe problem and the number of orphans in theprovince.“We are going to introduce a smart card that willgive orphans free access to basics such as foodand clothes,” Jacobs says.Elsewhere in South Africa, similar situationsexist. There are 25 000 orphans in schools inLimpopo Province and Mandla Msibi, spokesmanfor KwaZulu-Natal’s Education Department,says a major challenge is to train teachers to dealwith orphans.Mpumalanga also has what educa tion spokesmanThomas Msiza calls a “serious problem” withAids orphans. “We don’t have programmes forma terial support as yet,” he says.Apart from food, many of Bokgoni’s pupils haveother needs that need to be met. Bopape saysthe school’s alumni donate uniforms. “We alsoask our teachers to donate their clothes, whichwe give to some of the pupils for the matricdance. They don’t feel out of place and lonelythat way.”But the most daunting challenge to teachersis meeting the orphans’ emo tional needs. “Weare faced with traumatised learners who need[psychological] counselling and understanding.These are realities in our communities. Aidsis threatening our education system,” Bopapesays.Blom is Bokgoni’s only life-orientation andguidance teacher. Although she is not a qualifiedcounsellor, she holds sessions with pupils.“If I sense some emotional breakdown and otherproblems, I refer them to the commu nity socialworkers as we don’t have educational psychologistsaround.”Blom admits that she cannot cope alone. “It isnot easy to attend to the emotional needs of allof them as I also have to attend to 400 childrenin my classes, I have to mark their work andmonthly tests.”Nevertheless, Bokgoni has grown in to a beaconfor 1307 pupils from Atteridgeville and surroundinginformal settlements. Its tenaciousoptimism has seen pupils flocking to the school,previously spurned as a low-class handicraft college.(It now offers mathematics and science ascompulsory subjects.) Pupil numbers grew from130 in 1997 to more than 1 307 this year. As a result,teachers have been forced to use classroomsat two neighbouring schools.Bokgoni’s results have also im proved dramatically.In 1994, the 18 matriculants who wrote thefinal exams all failed. Last year, 88% of the 34matriculants passed.However, like at any other South African school,keeping quality teachers is a huge problem. Theschool is feeling the effects of the Gauteng Departmentof Education’s strategy of making mostposts temporary. Out of Bokgoni’s 40 teachers,only 17 are permanent. The rest are employed ona three-month contract basis.Still, after realising the true impact of HIV/Aidson their school, pupils have decided to bond togetherand form a “front” to deal with preventivemeasures and educational campaigns.“We have realised the only way to deal withthese problems is to encourage learners to getinvolved,” says. Raphiri. The school has selected18 pupils to form a “cabinet”, with each learnerallocated a “ministry” or portfolio. These includethe ministries of environment, education, health,sports and welfare.“As minister of health my responsibility is tocome up with a plan that will help us to spreadthe Aids message to the school, youth and thecommunity,” says Kholofelo Mokwena, 16, aGrade 10 pupil.“I would want my mother to talk more to me aboutAids and sexuality, but she doesn’t. Hence I amleading this campaign to get more Aids educationand parental involvement,” Mokwena says.Chairman of the cabinet, Kgaohelo Ramohwebo,16, says their biggest struggle is to raise moneyto fund programmes and help orphans.“We came up with a plan to donate at least R1a month, but it is difficult to get money frompupils because most of us are from poor families,”he says.The pupils have formed a Sepedi dancing groupas part of their fundraising efforts. The group’scolourful costumes and heartfelt performancesstand for strength, hope and determination toovercome the social hardships facing their classmatesand their school.At Bokgoni, teachers and pupils have managedto turn a centre of learning into a compassionatehome for pupils living with pain and emotionalemptiness. ▼Nkgakga MONARE4 ADEA Newsletter July - September 2004

Secondary EducationThe Timefor Reform is NowBy Jacob Bregman, Lead Education Specialist, Africa Region,World BankIn most African countries, secondary education systems have remained virtuallyunchanged over the past 20 to 30 years. It is time to initiate sweeping reform,with a clear definition of competencies as the key to success.In 2002 the World Bank’s AfricaHuman Development Department(AFTHD) began a regional study,Secondary Education in Africa (SEIA).This multi-year study (2002-2005) is beingundertaken with sub-Saharan Africancountries and public and private Africaneducators and stakeholders. SEIA studyoutcomes have been presented at regionalconferences attended by some 40African countries and representatives ofNGOs, governments,civil society and developmentagencies.The first conferencewas organized bythe AFTHD SEIAcore team, ADEA,the World BankInstitute (WBIHD),and the Academyfor EducationalDevelopment (AED).The second conferencewas held inDakar, Senegal, inJune 2004 and wasorganized by the AFTHD SEIA coreteam, ADEA and WBI. A final regionalconference is planned for next year.It is intended to mobilize politiciansand stakeholder organizations. SEIAactivities are financed by the WorldBank and by trust funds managed by theWorld Bank from Norway (NorwegianEducation Trust Fund), Ireland (IrishEducation Trust Fund), France and theNetherlands.The messages from these events havebeen clear: Although primary Educationfor All (EFA) remains top priority, it isnot enough to respond to the need foreconomic and social growth in Africa.As most countries are struggling withserious shortages of qualified teachers,achieving the goals for primary EFA requiresreinforcing secondary educationas the last step before teacher training.Reform is essentialThe time has come for sub-SaharanAfrica to renew its secondary educationprograms and to create the critical massof skilled workers and youth necessaryfor the continent’s economic and socialdevelopment. Education for All at theprimary level should remain the priority,but it is not enough. Enlarging the focusto include secondary education willrequire national debates, intensifiedregional cooperation, and a fundamentalrestructuring of current systems.OECD countries are continuouslyreforming their education systems.The pace of thesereforms is rapid, sinceeconomic changes,increasing globalizationof labor markets(which causes increasingcompetitionfor quality and efficiencyin all aspects)and demands for asecondary educationcurriculum that relatesto these changes forcecountries to face up tomore flexibility andhigher quality and relevanceof outcomes.Africa cannot stay behind.Secondary education systems in Africahave remained virtually unchanged overthe past 20 to 30 years, and secondarycompletion rates are low. Old syllabi arestill in effect. National norms and standards,expressed through curriculumgoals and targets, have not been developed.Both junior and senior secondaryeducation programs are overloaded,because most changes have been simplyto add more content. New subjects,including ICT and civic awareness, mustbe introduced. Education systems incountries successfully approaching EFAgoals are unable to deal with the flood ofprimary graduates knocking at the doors.Regulating access into secondary schoolthrough a selection process at the end ofprimary is incompatible with the goalof having all children complete primaryeducation. In some countries (SouthAfrica, Uganda and Tanzania) there are“waking up” signs, but a crisis is brewingin most countries.Donors are part of the problem.Many continue to hammer exclusivelyon primary-level EFA, without recognizingthe need for access to secondaryschool. One might ask how donor agenciesof countries where systems havenine to ten years of compulsory schoolingare reluctant to fund a reasonableexpansion of secondary education inAfrica. In some cases donors even agreeto fund higher education activities butnot secondary.Including junior secondary educationin the definition of basic educationis a logical step, but it may requirerestructuring the post-primary tiers ofthe education system and adding to thegrade levels that aim to reach universalenrolment. Education systems cannot beexpanded on their current inefficient basis.High repetition and drop out rates, inefficientuse of the allocated school timerates, comparatively short time-on-task,convoluted syllabi and overloaded programs,ill-equipped teachers, and weakmanagement capacity and communicationall contribute to the weak and costlysector performance. Public financing is2nd SEIA Regional Conference poster.ADEA Newsletter July - September 20045

Secondary Educationconstrained and will remain so for manyyears to come.Many countries have not yet abandonedthe practice of selection in favorof certification. The move from selectingprimary graduates based on norms ratherthan on competence has taken placein Asia and Latin America. Why shouldthe majority of African youth fail theirjunior secondary school exams, whiletheir counterparts in OECD countriessucceed at the rate of over 60 to 70 %?Review the programs,build a new modelWhat are the goals of secondary education,and why is the public investing in it?Stakeholders include not only communitiesand parents, but also enterprises andindustry. NGOs, churches and specialinterest groups representing non-religiouscultural, ethnic and scientificinterests also have a stake in secondaryeducation.Sub-Saharan Africa needs a modelof sustainable primary and junior secondaryeducation. A high-quality juniorsecondary education should includesubjects in four areas of knowledge andskills: science and mathematics; social,life, and “geo-world” skills; ICT and technology;and language and communication.At the senior secondary educationlevel the picture becomes more complex,and a menu of demand-driven provisionsneeds to be established. Lessons fromSouth Korea, Chile, Scotland, Denmark,and the Netherlands can be applied tothe African context. In these countriesvocational and technical education andtraining have merged into flexible pathways,where the student can choose anorientation based on emerging job orprofessional needs and interests. Theconcept of key skills or competenciesis now generally accepted in OECDcountries. These countries have alsoanswered the question of “what degreeof vocational orientation?” Junior secondaryeducation should allow studentsto master general pre-vocational skills.Training for specific jobs should takeplace later and be directed by employersand enterprises. Senior secondary schoolshould be close to the world of work andprepare youngsters for the transition. Butthis is not identical to “job-training.”This debate has just started in Africa,and there is a need to adapt the OECDmodel of secondary education to thespecific needs of the region. Africansecondary schools should begin by makingmore flexible the transitions betweenlevels and by developing structured andrelevant curricula. International trendsindicate the need for vocational andtechnical options, using modern andcost-saving ICT technologies. Thesechanges will have a significant impacton the market for textbooks and learningmaterials and equipment in Africa.Promote nationalconsultations and debateInstituting these reforms will require nationaldebate and training and supportfor teachers, school managers and nonteachingstaff. They will not succeed ifteachers and parents have not boughtinto the change. Africans will need torethink their approach to education anddisconnect from traditional post-colonialsystems. This is no easy task. Forexample, achieving scientific and technologicalliteracy requires more thanunderstanding concepts and processesof science and technology. Studentsneed to gain an understanding of howscience and technology shape theirenvironment and life. This means thatthese subjects should be learned in differentways. Simple memorization andfactual learning do not lead to scientificand technological literacy. The mostcommon approach in OECD countriesis to focus on science- and technologyrelatedsocial and economic problems,such as environmentally sustainablestrategies, healthy lifestyles, HIV/AIDSand disease risks, public resource use,and population growth. This includes ageneral understanding of the nature andhistory of science and technology.The physical school environmentrequires our specific attention as well.Most boarding facilities in Africa’s secondaryschools are neglected. When adolescentslive in undignified conditions,it is unlikely they will gain self-respectand respect for others, develop healthylife styles, and make a smooth transitionto the world of work.There is also a need to institute newteaching and learning mechanisms forthe large proportion of sub-SaharanAfrica’s out-of-school youth, who requirealternative pathways to productive lives.The time has come for sub-SaharanAfrica to renew its secondary educationprograms and to create the critical massof skilled workers and youth necessaryfor the continent’s economic and socialdevelopment. Education for All at theprimary level should remain the priority,but it is not enough. Enlarging the focusto include secondary education willrequire national debates, intensifiedregional cooperation, and a fundamentalrestructuring of current systems. Itwill also require all African countriesto revisit their systems’ cost-efficiency,quality, and relevance of output. Thesereforms will take time, probably no lessthan eight to ten years. Therefore wemust start now and not wait until thenumbers of primary graduates swelleven more.The SEIA study aims to help thisprocess and to stimulate the dialoguebetween African stakeholders and thedonor community. ▼For more information on SEIA:www.worldbank.org/afr/seia6 ADEA Newsletter July - September 2004

New Goals,New Curriculaby Pai Obanya, Education ConsultantWhat is secondary education’s ultimate goal? To prepare studentsfor life? For higher education? Contemporary reality clearly callsfor a complete overhaul of both the objectives and the content.Until now the goal of secondaryeducation has been simplypreparation for tertiary education,which in the minds of most peoplemeans strictly a university education.Even though most of the post-independencereforms of education in Africarecognized the need to move away fromthe grammar school type of secondaryeducation to something more comprehensive,caring for the diversified needsof more learners and supported by a differentiatedcurriculum, not much realchange was effected.Contemporary realities, includingthe on-going focus on primary education(in the context of EFA), the need toprovide secondary education for a greaternumber of adolescents, the changingprofile of the African adolescent population,the dynamic nature of the world ofwork, new demands on higher education,and the exigencies of globalizationcall for a radical redirection of secondaryeducation in Africa, both in its goalsand in the learning opportunities that itoffers to Africa’s youth.Within the overall context of “lifelongand life-wide education,” secondaryeducation in Africa will continue toprepare adolescents for further education.The only difference is that “further”education will no longer be limited toformal university education. Secondaryeducation should address the three “P’s”identified at the first conference on secondaryeducation in Africa (SEIA), heldin Kampala in June 2003.The three Ps are:Personality development; Preparation for life; Preparation for formal tertiaryeducation.These goals are notmutually exclusive. Takentogether they ensure thatadolescents who havebenefited from secondaryeducation can continuethe process of self-developmentand self-directedlearning. They can also be better preparedto adapt to life’s challenges. If theydo continue on, they should becomeprepared for the intellectual and otherdemands of higher education.A new curriculumIn the coming years, with most Africancountries adopting a nine-year basiceducation cycle, there will be the needto devote the lower secondary years toconsolidating the basic life skills so dearto the Jomtien and Dakar EFA declarations.This would require a broad-basedcurriculum, with due emphasis on liferelatedskills and basic competences, inthe following distinct but closely interwovenareas: Intra-personal skills: Self- knowledge,self-awareness, assertiveness and confidence-building;Inter-personal skills: Team spirit, developedthrough group activities as amethod of teaching and learning, nota distinct subject area;Language and communication: Stressingthe communication dimensions ofexisting language programs; Quantitative reasoning: Emphasison the reasoning aspects of existingmathematics programs, with teachingand learning closer to life situations; Technical aptitude development:An awareness-raising program, not atechnical specialization program;The major challenge forthe immediate future ishow best to effect a shift inattitudes—how to ensurethat stakeholders realize theneed for new curricular goalsthat respect today’s realitiesand prepare adolescents forcontemporary and futurechallenges and opportunities. IT-fluency: Familiarity with andinterest in the workings of IT; Social sense: Learning to survivein the social milieu; Scientific literacy: emphasis onthe ways and methods of scientificenquiry, closely related to life situations; Physical development andpersonal health.Upper secondaryschool should continueto reinforce these skillsat the same time as itlays the foundations for“academic” studies. WorldBank-sponsored studiesin Nigeria have drawnattention to the need fornon-academic alternativecurricula to cater to theneeds of students whomay not be academicallyinclined. This does notnecessarily mean a vocationally-orientedcurriculum for “those who cannot.” Itsimply means a judicious combinationof the following: A less overloaded curriculum,in terms of the sheer number of subjectsand topics to be studied; A more integrated and broadlybased curriculum organization; A more active curriculum, interms of the range of activities; An assessment method that emphasizeswhat is most needed today:creativity, adaptability, team spirit,analytical skill, open-mindedness,and communicative competence; A stronger emphasis on developingthe person, through improvedpersonal counseling; Doing away with specializationat the secondary level.Challenges aheadThe major curriculum challenge for theimmediate future is how best to effecta shift in attitudes—how to ensure thatstakeholders realize the need for newcurricular goals that respect today’srealities and prepare adolescents forcontemporary and future challengesand opportunities. Then all stakeholdersshould join forces in translating thenew goals of secondary education intoschool, community, and classroom“ do-ables,” a hard but ultimately arewarding task.▼ADEA Newsletter July - September 20047

Secondary EducationAnticipation andPlanning 1By Keith M. LewinThe challenges are daunting. What are the options available to African countriesfaced with budgetary constraints?Secondary education in sub-SaharanAfrica faces several challenges.First, as primary schooling is universalized,the demand for access increasesdramatically. Secondly, achievementof the Dakar and MillenniumDevelopment Goals depends in part onthe ability to expand secondary systems.And finally, because economic growth iswidely believed to be related to knowledgeand skills above the levels providedby basic education alone, greater attentionmust be paid to the content of secondaryeducation.Increased access and participationat the secondary level is unattainablewith current cost structures (Lewin andCaillods, 2001). The basic arithmetic ofthe dilemma is simple. Typical nationalbudgeting patterns in low enrolmentcountries in sub-Saharan Africa allocaterelatively small amounts of publicexpenditure to secondary education.Often this is less than 15% and sometimesless than 10%. By comparison65% or more of the budget may beallocated to primary school. Forsecondary enrolment rates to rise,these small allocations will haveto grow substantially. The numbersleaving primary school systems areset to double or more over the nextfive years. If they do, and if transitionrates are not to fall, then budgetshares will have to be realigned.Where there are EFA and Fast Trackcommitments to protect allocationsto primary this will place pressure ontertiary budgets.Public expenditure per pupil atsecondary level across sub-SaharanAfrican countries averages aboutfive times that at primary and is ashigh as eight to ten times in someof the lowest enrolment cases. Thisfact alone means that substantialincreases in access will be difficult tofinance in a sustainable way. Unit costswill have to fall if the development gainsassociated with expanded secondary areto be achieved.There are several options. First, thereis scope to increase the proportion ofpublic expenditure allocated to secondarywhere this is exceptionally low.Where total allocations for secondaryare less than those for the tertiary level(the case in several sub-Saharan Africancountries) investment patterns may appearunbalanced. Allocations of morethan 60% to primary also raise questionsabout what is foregone.Second, efficiency gains could contributeconsiderably to increased access.Pupil-teacher ratios can be below 15.1in sub-Saharan Africa, and teacherworkloads may be as little as 30% oftimetable teaching time. Where classteacher ratios exceed 2:1, more couldbe enrolled with more efficient workingpractices.Third, selective cost recovery, withappropriate safeguards to protect theparticipation of the poor, can ease thefinancial burden of expansion.Fourth, several low-enrolmentcountries have seen a rapid growthin non-state providers, though muchof this growth has been concentratedin low-cost, low-quality schools (SeeChimombo et al, 2003 in particular).The possibilities for the continuedexpansion of the non-state sector areuncertain and differ between countries.However, it is likely that the sector willgrow to the point where demand softensfor reasons of affordability.In sum, secondary education isan area of policy neglect. PovertyReduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs)are being developed for the poorestcountries. An analysis of 28 PRSPs fromSSA indicates that policy on secondaryis often an afterthought and a residualconsideration. More than half thesePRSPs devote little or no attention tosecondary-level issues and identify notargets for secondary. About 25% referto needs to expand secondary and improvequality but do so without linkingdevelopments at the secondary level tothe competing demands of other levelsor their resource implications. The remainderincludes some targets relatedto secondary, most often for increasedFigure 1. Transition rates from primary to secondary in sub-SaharanAfrica (total, male/female, and urban/rural) for four cohorts (15-19year-olds, 20-29 year olds, 30-39 year olds, 40-49 year-olds)TotalMaleFemaleUrbanRural40-4930-39Cohorts20-2915-19 Continued on page 100,90,850,80,750,70,650,60,550,5Transition Proportions SSA(Average) by CohortSource: Mapping the Missing Link – An Overview of Key Issues for Secondary Education in Africaand Their Implications for Resource Allocation and Finance, Keith Lewin, 2004.8 ADEA Newsletter July - September 2004

Six Reasons*for Investing in Secondary EducationThere are at least six reasons to revisit the issues that surround investment in secondary education in Africa.1. Programs to universalize primary education have increased demandAccess to secondary school will become a major political and social preoccupation in those countries with low secondaryenrolment rates and successful universal primary education (UPE) programs. Over the last decade secondary enrolment rateshave not increased substantially in many of the poorest countries. Access remains highly unequally distributed geographicallyand in terms of the socio-economic backgrounds of those who participate. Transition rates from primary to secondary appearto have been falling in Sub-Saharan Africa.2. Achieving the two most cited Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) can onlyhappen if there is expanded post-primary enrolmentTo attain the first goal of universalizing primary access and completion, countries must maintain or increase their transitionrates to secondary: if they fall dramatically, retention in upper primary will decrease as it becomes clear that for many therewill be no progression to higher education levels. Universalizing primary access and completion also depends on an adequatesupply of qualified primary teachers. Quality, achievement and persistence at the primary level will suffer without adequatenumbers of students successfully completing secondary schooling and electing to train as teachers, and pupil teacher ratioswill remain stubbornly high.To attain the second goal of gender equity at primary and secondary levels also requires greater enrolments at secondary level.Few countries in sub-Saharan Africa having gross enrolment rates at secondary (GER2) of less than 50% approach genderparity or have more girls than boys enrolled. On the other hand, most of those countries with GER2 greater than 50% haveachieved parity or better.3. Secondary education has a responsibility in the battle against HIV/AIDSThe consequences of HIV/AIDS permeate all aspects of educational development: increased morbidity and mortality amongteachers, unprecedented numbers of orphans, and impact on the labor force.Secondary schooling has special roles to play in influencing informed choice related to sexual behavior, increasing toleranceand support for those infected. A reduced risk of HIV/AIDS is associated with higher levels of education and children in schoolare less at risk than those out of school.4. Poverty reduction has direct links with investment and participationat the secondary levelAs primary schooling becomes universalized, participation at the secondary level will become a major determinant of lifechances and a major source of subsequent inequity. Access to and success in secondary will continue to be highly correlatedwith subsequent employment and income distribution patterns. Many groups are marginalized from attending secondaryschool. This marginalization will be increased, not reduced, if competition for scarce places in secondary increases.5. National competitiveness depends on the knowledge and skills of its citizens;in high value-added sectors these are acquired in secondary school.There is much evidence to suggest that those with secondary schooling acquire useful skills and increase their chances offormal sector employment and informal sector livelihoods and that export- led growth is associated more with investment atthe post-primary than at the primary level6. Investment in secondary education is especially criticalin post-confl ict situationsWhere a generation or more has missed out on secondary schooling, the labor force will be short on members with more thana basic education. Positions in government and productive enterprises, which require analytic skills, will be filled with thoselacking formal education and training to an appropriate level. Demobilized militia left with unfulfilled promises of opportunitiesfor employment and livelihoods may well feel excluded and betrayed, with adverse social consequences. ▼KEITH LEWIN* Text based on extracts from Mapping the Missing Link – An overview of Key Issues for Secondary Education in Africa and Their Implicationsfor Resource Allocation and Finance, presented at the SEIA Conference in Dakar, June 6-9, 2004.

Statistics forSecondaryEducationby Khadim Sylla, Program Specialist, IIEPAccurate statistics are absolutely essential for proper management of educationsystems. What is the situation for secondary education in Africa?The question of how the variouseducational levels should bestbe linked is being asked with increasedurgency today. Although thepriority given to basic education is notbeing challenged, it is gradually beingintegrated into a more comprehensiveview that focuses greater attention onthe way that different educational levelscomplement each other. Those holdingthis viewpoint face a major obstacle,however: the inadequacy of availablestatistics on the secondary level.Situations vary from countryto countryThe term “secondary education” correspondsto different educational levels indifferent countries 1 . In some countries,it designates either the lower or the uppersecondary level, while in others itencompasses all post-primary studiesexcept for higher education.In countries where the lower secondarylevel is included in basic orfundamental education, statistics aregenerally available for this level as longas the information system functions satisfactorily.In other cases, the scarcity ofindicators is quite troubling.A situation in strong contrastwith that of basic educationOwing to the mobilization of governmentsand the international communityfor the development of basic education,funding and other resources have beenconcentrated at this level. At the sametime, statistical departments havebeen strengthened in order to build thecapacity to produce statistical information,with the particular aim of measuringprogress in school enrollments andassessing the internal movements ofthe education system. Although somecountries still experience difficulties inproducing national statistics regularlyand to deadline, in most cases the effortinvested now provides a wide range ofinformation about basic education.Although substantial improvementsare still required, the situation in basic educationstands in strong contrast to that ofsecondary education, where virtually nostatistics are available. Questions relatingto access, particularly in rural areas, toteacher profiles (qualifications, experience,training, actual teaching load inhours), to the breakdown of instructiontime by subject, to unit costs and toequipment, which is particularly importantfor technical and vocational schools,go largely unanswered.A framework forinformation systemsin secondary educationAccumulated experience in settingup and using statistical informationsystems at the basic educational leveland the need for a comprehensive viewof the education system as a whole, incorporatingthe concerns of each level,lead us to propose a general frameworkfor implementing statistical informationsystems at the secondary level. The guidingprinciples could be: To move toward gradual integrationof the databases for the varioustypes of secondary education (general,technical and vocational). Thisapproach, which is currently beingtried out in Mali, offers particularlyuseful analytical prospects in termsof cross-checking information, optimizationof resource allocationprocedures and reduction of implementationcosts. To give special attention to theinformation collection system, fromthe source (the school) to the administrativeprocessing centers. The trendtoward decentralization/devolutionin educational administrations mustbe taken into account, particularlyregarding the distribution of tasks andthe linkages between entities.To give preference, to the extent possible,to the “pupil database” approach,in which information is based on theindividual pupil, over the approachbased on traditional questionnaires,in which the data undergo a first levelof aggregation. IIEP’s analysis of thesecondary education informationsystem in Mali showed that schoolprincipals had a clear preferencefor the former approach. The valueof this approach lies in the wealthof information contained in the database:in addition to providing thesame statistics as the questionnaires,it can be used for administrativemanagement of schools (to processmarks, absences, monitoring of individualpupils). This double utility is avital factor in harmonizing exchangesof information between schools andadministrative centers for informationmanagement (regional education authorities,planning departments): theformer value it as a tool for internalmanagement, while the latter canderive their broader statistics fromthe same tool.In sum, if we are to succeed in overcomingthe statistical lag concerningsecondary education and avoiding thepitfalls already encountered at the basiceducation level, we will do so by organizingeducational information systemson the basis of the relevance of the informationto be collected, the process ofinformation exchange (between schoolsand administrative oversight bodies) andthe technical procedures for organizingand processing information.▼1. The International Standard Classification ofEducation (ISCED) breaks down secondaryeducation into two levels: lower secondaryeducation, or ISCED 2, and uppersecondary education, or ISCED 3.ADEA Newsletter July - September 200411

Secondary EducationOverviewof Participationin SecondaryEducationin Africa 1In a great many developing countriesonly a minority of childrenever complete their secondaryeducation. In Africa today, justone child in five completesjunior secondary school. Howdoes this compare with otherparts of the world?In 2001, gross enrollmentrates (GERs) at the primarylevel were over 80% in most countriesin the world, with the exception ofsub-Saharan Africa, South and WestAsia, and the Arab states.At the secondary level, there is muchmore contrast in the global situation:the secondary GER for developingcountries is only 57% (median value), orabout half that for developed countries(106%). This is due to the fact that inmost developing countries a high proportionof primary school completers donot continue their education beyond theprimary level.Regional trends at the secondary levelfollow those found at the primary level,but the differences are more stronglymarked (see Table 1: Participation insecondary education – comparison byregion). Universal secondary school enrollmenthas been achieved in nearly allthe industrialized countries of WesternEurope and North America, which haveGERs exceeding 100% and net enrollmentrates (NERs) greater than 90%. It isalso close to being achieved in EasternThe situation regardingsecondary educationin sub-Saharan Africamay be summed up asfollows: the vast majorityof young people in theregion do not have accessto secondary education.and Central Europe, where nationalNERs range from 80% to 100%. Suchlevels have also beenreached by some countriesin East Asia and thePacific, Latin Americaand the Caribbean, andthe Arab countries, butthese regions also includemany countrieswhose NERs fluctuatearound 60%.The situation in sub-Saharan Africa varieswidely from country tocountry, but a high proportion of countrieshave NERs below 40%. It should benoted, moreover, that apart from SouthAfrica, all the sub-Saharan African countrieswith high NERs are countries withsmall populations (e.g. the Seychelles).The situation regarding secondary educationin sub-Saharan Africa may thus besummed up as follows: the vast majorityof young people in the region do nothave access to secondary education.The situation is similar in West and SouthAsia, where high-population countriessuch as Bangladesh, India and Pakistanhave NERs ranging from 24% to 50%.A huge lag to be made upTable 1 shows that Africa has a tremendouslag to make up. Of the 90 millionchildren of secondary school age inAfrica, only 23 million (less than onethird)are in school. The gross enrollmentrate is the lowest of any region (25%),and far behind that of other developingregions (46% for South Asia, 59% for theArab states, 66% for East Asia and thePacific, 72% for Latin America and theCaribbean).Strong contrasts betweencountries in the regionIn the 28 countries of sub-SaharanAfrica for which the UNESCO Institutefor Statistics can provide data for the2000-2002 period, the secondary GERis estimated at 30.4% for junior secondaryeducation and 13.5% for the seniorTable 1: Participation in secondary education – comparison by region* Secondary school age varies with the country, the youngest age group (all countries considered) being 11-yeaRegionSchool-ageSecondary enrollment Gross enrollmpopulation*(000)1998 2001 1998(2001) Total (000) % F Total (000) % F Total (F/World 752,008 424,925 46 477,586 47 60.2 0Transition countries 34,524 ... ... 31,272 49 ...Developed countries 84,628 87,210 49 85,816 49 103.5 1Developing countries 632,856 311,079 45 358,392 46 52.5 0Arab states 38,975 21,997 46 24,823 46 59.3 0Central and Eastern Europe 43,829 37,881 49 38,288 48 ...Central Asia 11,946 5,754 49 10,406 49 85.5 0East Asia and Pacific 217,947 137,952 ... 149,732 47 66.5Latin America and Caribbean 66,291 41,871 51 57,159 51 71.9 1North America and Western Europe 61,486 63,630 49 63,508 50 105.4 1South and West Asia 221,771 95,750 41 107,017 42 45.6 0Sub-Saharan Africa 89,764 20,358 44 24,073 44 24.6 0.Source: Data extracted from Table 8: Participation in secondary and post-secondary (non-tertiary) education, UN** Estimates from the UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS)***Weighted average12 ADEA Newsletter July - September 2004

secondary level. The primary schoolcompletion rate is estimated at 48.3%,and the rate of transition from the lastprimary year to the first secondary yearat 59.6%.These regional averages mask substantialvariations at the country level:the completion rate ranges from 21% to96% from one country to another, andthe primary-secondary transition ratefrom 20% to 90%.These variations (for both the completionrate and the transition rate) explainthe highly contrasting situations ofAfrican countries at the secondary level(see Graph 1. Gross secondary schoolenrollment rates, 1998 and 2001).The secondary school GER is below20% in 15 countries and below 50%in 37 countries. The countrieswith the lowest GERs(6% to 15%) are BurkinaFaso, Burundi, Madagascar,Mozambique, Niger, theCentral African Republic,Tanzania, Chad and Rwanda.At the other end of the scale,those with the highest GERs(61% to 110%) are SouthAfrica, Botswana, CapeVerde, Mauritius, Namibiaand the Seychelles.It is also interesting tonote that most of the 63 millionchildren excluded froment rate (GER) (%)*** Net enrollment rate (NER) (%)***Internal efficiency 2(% of repeaters ingeneral secondaryPrimary- secondaryeducation) transition rate 3 (%)2001 1998 2001 2000 2001 1999 2000M) Total (F/M) Total (F/M) Total (F/M).91 63.7 0.92 51.3 ... 54.9** 0.89 5.1 4.4 90.3 90.8... 90.6 0.99 ... ... 85.0 1.00 1.1 0.3 97.5 98.0.01 105.9 1.02 87.9 1.00 90.0 1.01 .... ... ... 98.9.87 56.6 0.89 ... ... 48.5** 0.85 7.8 7.4 84.3 84.0.88 63.7 0.90 50.8 0.90 55.3 0.92 8.5 8.3 87.7 88.3... 90.1 0.96 ... ... 82.7 0.98 1.4 1.1 97.5 98.3.98 87.1 0.98 81.6 0.98 83.6 0.97 0.3 0.3 97.5 98.0... 68.7 0.93 ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 87.7.09 86.2 1.07 52.9 1.09 63.8 1.06 4.7 4.2 81.5 90.8.01 107.6 1.03 89.4 1.00 89.2 1.01 ... ... ... 99.3.74 48.3 0.79 ... ... ... ... 7.8 ... ... 84.180 26.8 0.79 18.0 0.83 21.3 0.84 15.6 ... 60.4 63.9SCO, 2004, Global EFA Monitoring Report 2005.-olds and the oldest (all countries considered) being 19-year-olds.the education systemare to be found in thepoorest countries,which have verylarge populations.Just 19 countries,having an averageper capita GDPbelow US $400,account for 87% ofthis out-of-schoolpopulation. Fourcountries – Nigeria,Ethiopia, DemocraticRepublic of Congoand Tanzania– accounted for 46%(nearly half) of allchildren actually attendingsecondaryschool.Most of the 63 millionchildren excluded fromthe education system areto be found in the poorestcountries, which have verylarge populations. Just19 countries, having anaverage per capita GDPbelow US$400, account for87% of this out-of-schoolpopulation.Graph 1. Gross secondary school enrollmentrates, in selected sub-Saharan African countries,1998 and 2001Gross enrollment rates120.00100.0080.0060.0040.0020.000.00Low transitionratesRépublic of TanzaniaNigerBurundiBurkina FasoThe average transitionrate between primaryand junior secondaryeducation (63.9% in2000) is substantiallylower than in other regionsof the world. Herealso, however, there arenoteworthy differencesRwandaMozambiqueUgandaChadEthiopiaAngolaZambiaBeninCôte d’IvoireEritreaComorosKenyaLiberiaGambiaLesothoTogoMalawiGhana1998 2001GabonSwazilandNamibiaCape VerdeSource: UNESCO 2004. Figure 3.14, P. 103, Global EFAMonitoring Report 2005.between countries. Some countries arebelow 33% (Burkina Faso, Burundi andCameroon), while others record ratesof over 80% (South Africa, Botswana,Congo, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia,Ghana, Namibia, Seychelles).The problem of internalefficiencyMauritiusBotswanaSouth AfricaSeychellesFor many countries, the data are notavailable. However, the regional averagepercentage of repeaters is, at 15.6%of pupils, much higher than in otherregions, with detrimental effects onnumbers of pupils and on the cost ofsecondary education.▼1. Article based on excerpts from the GlobalEFA Monitoring Report 2005, UNESCO,2004.2. Internal efficiency: The internal efficiency ofsecondary education is not easy to evaluate.The fact that there are a number of differentstreams at this level makes it difficult tofollow the movement of a cohort from oneschool year to the next. As a result, theonly aspect of educational efficiency thatcan be analyzed, on the basis of data fromthe UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS),is the percentage of repeaters in generalsecondary education.3. Rate of transition to secondary education:the number of pupils admitted to the firstyear of secondary education during agiven school year, as a percentage of thenumber of pupils enrolled in the last yearof primary education the previous year.ADEA Newsletter July - September 2004 13

Secondary EducationExpanding SecondaryEducation: HowCan It Be Financed?Estimates say that by 2015 three times as many students will be knocking at thedoors of secondary education as completed primary school in 2000. Countries mustbe prepared to meet this demand, which will have financial consequences and animpact on enrolment rates.In order to assess the financial sustainabilityof different patterns ofexpansion for secondary educationin sub-Saharan Africa, we need first tomake two broad sets of assumptions.One concerns available financing, thatis, the likely amount of national publicresources that could be mobilized at agiven time; and the other concerns totalcosts, which depend on the coverage ofthe system in this period and the level ofpublic spending per student.Available resourcesGiven the low fiscal base (publicrevenues represent between 8 and16% of GDP in most countries) andthe keen competition from all sectorson public resources, it is unlikely thatmany countries will be able to mobilizemore than 20% of their public domesticresources for education.Consequently, publicfunding for educationwill in most instancesrepresent less than4.0% of a country’s GDP.Besides, the indicativeframework suggests thathalf of it will be allocatedto primary education. In2001, general secondaryeducation received onaverage about 0.83% ofGDP while technical and higher education,along with preschool, receivedon average 0.94%. Since there willundoubtedly be continuing pressurefrom these sub-sectors to receive additionalresources, it will be difficult toincrease the amount of public spendingAssuming that universalprimary school completion isreached in 2015, for manycountries even to maintainthe present transition ratesfrom primary to secondary isa considerable challenge.for general secondary education as ashare of GDP.A range of expansion modelsExpansion of secondary education maymean very different things in differentcountries. For example, the GER for lowersecondary education for low-incomeAfrican countries is on average 30.5%but it is below 15% in Niger, Burundiand Chad, around 30% in Benin, Côted’Ivoire or Senegal, and above 60% inGhana, Togo or Zimbabwe.The different targets that countriesmay set for coverage of secondary educationin 2015, for example, will havevery different consequences accordingto choices made. Many policy optionsare possible, but we will limit ourselvesto just three: Scenario 1: assumes that accessto lower secondarybecomes universal in2015 and that the transitionrate between thetwo cycles of secondaryeducation remainsat its 2001 level.Scenario 2: merelytries to maintain thetransition rates – bothbetween primary andsecondary educationand between the two cycles ofsecondary education – at their 2001level.Scenario 3: is based on the sameenrolment pattern as scenario 2but anticipates about a one-thirdreduction of unit costs for secondaryeducation.In weighing the consequences it isimportant also to consider the type ofsecondary education envisioned andits unit cost.Secondary education costs aboutthree times as much as primary educationdue to lower pupil teacher ratios andhigher levels of teacher remuneration.The average unit costs are estimated atabout 12 and 38% of the per capita GDP.Nevertheless, per student spending varieswidely from country to country. Forexample, in lower secondary, unit costsvary from 13 to 64% of per capita GDP(from 1 to 5), while at upper secondarylevel it ranges from 22 to 157% of percapita GDP (this is from 1 to 7). It istherefore important to understand thereasons behind the variations in order toidentify to what extent they correspondto variations in quality, in content, or incost and efficiency.How sustainable arethe different models?In assessing the sustainability of the differentmodels, the following assumptionswere made:About public resources: the costingsbelow provide an estimate ofresources needed to reach EFA by2015 and what is left after 50% isused for primary education. Fromthe remaining 50% we have subtractedthe same proportion of GDPgoing to preschool, vocational andhigher education. We thus arrive atthe amount of public resources thatcould reasonably be made availablefor general secondary education.About spending: we have estimatedcosts for scenarios 1 and 2 describedabove (see “A range of expansionmodels”). Both these models arebased on the assumption that allcountries are to achieve universalprimary completion by 2015. Asfor unit costs, the first assumes perstudent spending (in per capita GDPterms) in both cycles of secondarywill remain in each country as in2001; the second factors in a unitcost reduction of about 30% if variousinefficiencies were eliminated.We have in hand fairly up to dateeducation finance simulation modelsfor the whole sector for a sampleof ten countries: Benin, Cameroon,Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania,14 ADEA Newsletter July - September 2004

Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegaland Togo.The results appear in the table below.The first two lines provide data on thecost and financing figures for primaryeducation in the 10 countries, using theparameters of the Fast-Track Initiative.They offer some idea of the magnitude ofthe effort required to achieve the targetassumed for the development of secondaryeducation.Scenario 1, the most ambitious,which foresees a 100% transition fromprimary to secondary, would requirespending an estimated US $ 3.0 billion in2015, leaving a financing gap of US $ 2.5billion. This is about 4 times the amountof foreign aid required to help thesecountries achieve universal primarycompletion in 2015. Without externalaid, these countries would have to useon average 44% of their public domesticresources to cover the costs.Scenario 2, which is a little less ambitiousbecause it assumes that transitionrates from primary to secondary aremaintained at 2001 levels, is much lesscostly. It would require US $1,291 millionin 2015, or about half that requiredin scenario 1. However, these costs arestill about twice as high as the requirementof the Fast-Track external fundingfor primary education.Scenario 3, is based on the samecoverage assumptions as scenario 2 butdiffers in the unit costsof secondary education,which are muchlower. The impact ofthis reduction is significantbecause the financinggap for 2015 dropsfrom US $1.2 billionwith scenario 2 to US$750. Even so, the gapis still substantial sinceit exceeds the amountof external fundingforeseen for financingprimary education.What can we concludefrom this? Assuming thatuniversal primaryschool completion isreached in 2015, formany countries evento maintain the presenttransition ratesfrom primary to secondaryis a considerablechallenge. Efficiency in servicedelivery is animportant elementto consider and anumber of countrieswill have to find ways to contain unitcosts without reducing the quality ofservice.The conditions vary substantiallyEstimates of Spending, Domestic Resources and Financing Gap in 2015 for Primaryand Secondary Education according to Alternative Assumptions for the Developmentof Secondary Education (million US $ of 2001 for the sample of 10 countries)Level of SchoolingTotal Domestic Financingand ScenarioSpending ResourcesGapPrimary EducationRecurrent (million US $ of 2001)according to Fast-1766 1049 636Track parameters Capital (million US $ of 2001) 215 0 215General 1 Primary-Secondary Transition Recurrent (million US $ of 3039 498 2541SecondaryEducationRate = 100 % in 2015Lower-Upper Secondary Transition2001)% of public resources for - 44% 0Rate = 2001Unit cost = 2001the sector necessary toclose the recurrent gap withdomestic resourcesCapital (million US $ of 307 0 3072 Primary-Secondary TransitionRate = 2001Lower-Upper Secondary TransitionRate = 2001Unit cost = 20013 Primary-Secondary TransitionRate = 2001Lower-Upper Secondary TransitionRate = 2001Unit cost = lower third of thedistribution of 20012001)Recurrent (million US $ of2001)Recurrent (million US $ of2001)Source: Table from "Summary"* Benin, Cameroon, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritania, Mozambique, Niger, Rwanda, Senegal, Togo.1789 498 12911248 498 750across countries. Therefore, it will benecessary to mobilize the relevantdocumentation for all of them, toincrease awareness of the magnitudeof the challenge ahead, and toenter a well documented policydialogue. It is urgent that thedevelopment partners enterinto a constructive policy dialoguewith governments to helpthem address the many serioussocial, financial, economic andequity issues that demand pressureson secondary educationare likely to create.▼1. Article based on Alain Mingat’spaper “Issues of financialsustainability in the developmentof secondary education in Africa(SEIA)," presented at the SEIA donorconference at the Vrije UniversiteitAmsterdam, Netherlands, in October2004.The full text is available at:http://www.worldbank.org/afr/seia/donors_meet_10_04.htmADEA Newsletter July - September 200415

Secondary EducationLessons from ChileCristián Cox, Ministry of Education of ChileIn 1970, Chile had enrollment coverage for secondary education that resembledthat of many African countries today. Thirty years later it has doubled thesefigures and totally revamped its curriculum.with specialized education. In theacademic (or humanistic-scientific)mode approximately two-thirds of thetime is spent on general education: language,math, history and social sciences,philosophy and psychology, science,technology, physical education, artand religion. Conversely, in the professional-technicalmode about two-thirdsof the time is devoted to specializedChile achieved universal coverageof primary education through theeighth grade in the early 1970s,and the expansion of enrollments in secondaryeducation (years nine to twelve)has been a consistent trend throughoutthe 1980s and the 1990s.As shown in Table 1, enrollmentrates in secondary education increased15 percentage points during the 1970-1982 period, 12 points in the next eightyears, and 8 percentage points duringthe 1990s. These three decades sawChilean education policies go from asocialist orientation (1970-73) througha mix of authoritarian and neo-liberalpolicies (1980s) to a new combination ofstate and market mechanisms in a democraticpolitical context (1990s).Secondary education expanded inthe 1980s, when public expenditure ineducation dropped, and kept expandingduring the 1990s, when expendituresin education tripled. In the restrictedbudget period, secondary education’sexpansion was not a priority for the government.How did it happen? Its expansionwas driven by the demand of familiesand a scheme of public funding—aper capita subsidy—which made it possiblefor private providers to set up newschools financed by the newly enrolledstudents, each one using the public subsidy.During the 1990s, expenditure ineducation tripled, allowing both for expansionof enrollments and substantiveimprovements in teachers’ salaries andconditions for learning, as school hourswere extended and instructional inputssignificantly upgraded.The reform of the secondary educationcurriculum, which took place between1998 and 2002, was an answerto two requirements that are typical ofsecondary education in developing contexts.One requirement was the need torespond to a differentiated student body,which was aresult of thesustainedexpansionof coverage.The other wasthe demandfrom highereducation,families andlabor marketsto adoptdifferentand higherstandards, asrequired bythe secularPhoto: UNESCO, Roger, Dominiqueforces ofglobalizationand knowledge-intensive societies.Defining a curricular structure that respondedto these requirements was thecritical challenge for the reformers.When mass education arrived at thesecondary level, Chile’s reform faced aclassic decision about curricular structures:when and how to establish theboundaries between general and vocationaleducation. They chose to narrowthe gap between these boundaries andto redefine the content of each mode ofeducation.The difference between the length ofthe two modes was reduced from four totwo years. The grade level at which thecurriculum became differentiated waspostponed, from grade nine to gradeeleven (from age 14 to 16). In the firsttwo years of secondary school (gradesnine and ten), the new structure hasa common curriculum, regardless ofwhether a student attends an academic(general) or vocational education institution(in Chile labeled “technical-professional”education). During the finaltwo years (grades 11 and 12) in both theacademic and vocational modes thecurricula combine general educationeducation, comprising 46 different specialties(reduced from more than the 400specialties available prior to the reform)organized into 14 economic sectors oroccupational groupings: administrationand commerce, metalworking, electricity,chemicals, construction, logging,mining, graphics, food technician, garmentindustry, social projects, hotels andtourism, farming, fisheries.The content and focusof subjectsWithin subjects, the reform changed orientationand content in accordance withthree criteria: change from an emphasison content to one on skills or competencies;updating and enrichment of subjectsand higher standards of achievement;and relevance of the curriculumto students’ lives. To meet the needs ofan information and knowledge-intensivesociety, the skills emphasized in the newcurriculum include abstraction, systemicthought, experimentation and learningto learn, communication and co-operativework, problem resolution, managinguncertainty and adapting to change.The new curriculum also promotes16 ADEA Newsletter July - September 2004

Table 1. Enrollments in secondary education in Chile, 1970-2002EnrollmentsRateAverage years of schoolingof age 15 + population1970 306 064 49.7 4.31982 565 745 65.0 7.71990 719 819 77.0 8.62000 822 946 85.0 10.22002 896 470 87.0 ------Source: Ministerio de Educación, Compendio de Información Estadística, 1991, 2000, 2002.the development of civic habits andattitudes that build on the values of democracyand human rights. It underlinesthe importance of the inherent tensionbetween values that almost by definitionpull in opposite directions: rightsand obligations, solidarity and competition,loyalty and skepticism, order andcriticism, openness to globalization andidentity. An education that ignores orsubordinates one of the values in eachset would fail to develop students’ moralsensibilities and understandings thatshould serve them once they leave theschool grounds.Consultation and participatoryprocesses in curriculumelaborationChile’s curriculum reform process insecondary education was marked bya strong emphasis on consultation andparticipatory processes, which in aniterative way allowed many people todiscuss, amend or redefine the Ministryof Education’s proposals.To determine what knowledge andwhat innovations were required in thecurriculum, the ministry combined cutting-edgeknowledge in the disciplines,teachers’ views and definitions, andsociety’s demands. Further, in technical-professionaleducation it gave muchweight to industries’ views on competenciesrequired.The most important phase of theparticipatory process was a NationalConsultation held from May to August1997, which included a solicitation ofresponses from the following:A national sample of teachers of eachdiscipline (330 teachers)A survey of 189 institutions, of which60 reported back to the ministryEvery secondary school in the country,each of which was asked to havedepartments evaluate the relevantproposed subject curriculum usinga survey that included openendedquestions (31,614 teachersparticipated).The improvements in the progressionof versions of the curriculumwere twofold: in substantive terms,the document became more relevantto students’ lives and sharper in form;in political terms, it became more familiarto and accepted by wideningcircles of stake-holders and users.Of all the changes implied bythe new framework, only one haddirect impact on teaching hours:the change in the balance betweengeneral and specialized curriculum,which affected teachers in the technical-professionalmode. Indeed, themajority of these teachers rejectedthe proposed new structure. Theiropposition to the allocation of only41% of instructional time to technical-professionalsubjects was supportedby the main business corporationsrunning technical "liceos." Theministry responded by setting-up anad-hoc commission and eventuallytook its recommendation to increasethe time for technical-professionalsubjects from 41% to 62% of the lasttwo years of secondary education.Is there a lesson in Chile’s experiencewith curriculum reform? Wewant to underline one that concernsthe participatory strategy. Theministry’s initial proposal was moreradical in terms of innovation thanthe curriculum finally approved. Yetthe loss in innovation was a gain inthe framework’s legitimacy and thefeasibility of its implementation. Inour view, the resolution of the tradeoffbetween innovation and teachers’views is at the core of transforminga desired curriculum into one that isimplemented.▼ADEA Newsletter July - September 200417

HIV/AIDSIIEP’s Clearinghouseon HIV/AIDSIn June 2004 representatives fromADEA and the International Institutefor Educational Planning (IIEP)participated in a three-day regionalworkshop in Bamako on EducationResearch Responses to HIV/AIDS inWest and Central Africa organized bythe Educational Research Network forWest and Central Africa (ERNWACA)and IIEP. This workshop provided an opportunityfor ERNWACA researchers tocome together with ministerial officials,teacher union representatives, membersof the Mobile Task Team on Educationand HIV/AIDS (West) and the SouthernAfrican Development Community toidentify knowledge gaps and researchpriorities for the region.Working in thematic sub-groupsparticipants identified four major areaswhere research is needed: The role of local partners insupporting responses to HIV/AIDS inschools; The situation of infected andaffected children; The impact of HIV/AIDS on teachersand education support staff; and The impact of curriculum responsesto HIV/AIDS on knowledge,attitudes and behavior.In addition, the workshop highlightedthe need for hard data andeffective sharing of information as keyfactors necessary for understanding andcontrolling the impact of the disease onthe education sector.Effective information sharing anddissemination is the key mission of theIIEP HIV/AIDS Impact on EducationClearinghouse, which strives to provideup-to-date and quality informationto stakeholders. The Clearinghousewebsite provides access to some 600downloadable documents organizedinto key thematic areas reflecting themain concerns of ministries, donors,researchers and local actors.Maintaining the effectiveness anduniqueness of the collection also relieson contributions of knowledge and experiencesof these same key partners inthe hope that by sharing research, experiencesof what works and why, as well aswhat programs and projects have beenimplemented, where, by whom, withwhat successes and lessons learned,both human and financial resourcesmay be streamlined and effective responsesto management of the epidemicin education found.In addition to the contributionof material from its community, theClearinghouse is also collaborating withregional partners both to ensure more effectivecollection of quality informationand more effective dissemination of thisinformation. Clearinghouse partnershipsand collaborations include: A document collection andcapacity building project with ERN-WACA which provided access tohard-to-find, unpublished literaturefrom West and Central Africa andstrengthened the ERNWACA capacityto undertake research on HIV/AIDSand education; Partnership with the Centre forthe Study of AIDS at the University ofPretoria to ensure that quality informationon HIV/AIDS and educationfrom the Centre and its national andregional partners is made availableto researchers and practitionersthroughout the region; An online bibliography andCD-ROM on the impact of HIV/AIDSon higher education and the highereducation response with the Associationof African Universities andthe South African Vice Chancellors’Association.The Clearinghouse is more thana database of documents. Some 300members have become part of this communityenabling them to post their informationdirectly onto the site, receiveour monthly electronic newsletter andnetwork with fellow members. In additionto the collection and disseminationof material the Clearinghouse can helprespond to your information needs by offeringliterature searches and CD-ROMsfor those with limited internet access.Hundreds of on-linedocumentsThe Clearinghouse allows access to awide range of materials: HIV/AIDS national and educationsector policies and strategies; Country studies; Impact studies and effectiveresponses; and Conference proceedings.Everyone is invited to send in herstudies on the impact of HIV/AIDS, herprojection models, reports of countryinterventions, and information on forthcomingworkshops and meetings.Join our communityYou are also invited to: Receive the Clearinghousemonthly newsletter; Create your personal web pagesand add your content to the site; Participate in online discussions;and Fill out an online business cardand network with fellow members▼For more information visit the Clearinghouse at: http://hivaidsclearinghouse.unesco.org;or contact Lynne Sergeant or Lucy Teasdale at: hiv-aids-clearinghouse@iiep.unesco.org18 ADEA Newsletter July - September 2004

ADEA BriefsAd hoc WG on HIV/AIDSADEA organized a workshop in Libreville, June 2-4, 2004, tohelp Gabon’s Ministry of Education finalize its education sectorstrategy and an HIV/AIDS action plan. The workshop receivedtechnical assistance from the UNDP project on HIV/AIDS andregional development (South Africa). It was attended by some25 people: offi cials from education and health ministries(national anti-AIDS programs) and representatives of teachers’unions, not-for-profit associations of people living with HIV/AIDS, NGOs and news media organizations.WG on Early Childhood DevelopmentThe first meeting of the Steering Committee of the ADEA WGon Early Childhood Development (WGECD) was held fromJune 14-16, 2004 in Accra (Ghana). It was attended byministers or ministers’ delegates from Ghana, Malawi andSenegal and by representatives of the World Bank, the EarlyChildhood Development Virtual University (ECDVU), the SouthAfrican NGO Early Learning Resource Unit (ELRU), UNESCOand UNICEF.The discussions focused on three broad topics: political leaders’commitment to ECD; partnerships for ECD (at the international,national and local levels); and the resources allocated to ECD.Two specific actions were also discussed: preparation for thethird international African conference on ECD, to be heldin Accra from 31 May to 2 June 2005, and the process ofdrawing up a policy paper for NEPAD.WG on the Teaching ProfessionThe Steering Committee of the Working Group on the TeachingProfession (WGTP) met in London May 6-7 2004. The mergerbetween the anglophone and francophone sections of the WGhas been completed and the meeting provided the opportunityto bring together all the regional coordinators for the first time.Five new WGTP regional coordinators have been appointed:Mrs. Margaret Nsereko (Uganda), for East Africa; Mr. YoussoufAdam (Central African Republic), for Central Africa; Mr. Jean-Bah Adotevi (Togo), for West Africa; Mr. Geoffrey Tambulukani(Zambia), for Southern Africa; Mrs. Jean Simeon (Seychelles),for the Indian Ocean. In addition, the CommonwealthSecretariat appointed the new WGTP coordinator, Mr. VirgilioZacarias Juvane (Mozambique).The meeting dealt with some key issues for the WG: prioritiesfor 2004 and 2005, cooperation with the initiative in support oflinkages among teachers’ colleges in West Africa, and follow-upactivities to the consultative meeting on education in Angolaand their implications for the WGTP.Africa Education Journalism AwardAs part of their prize for winning the Akintola Fatoyinbo AfricaEducation Journalism Award, the prize winners for 2004 andtheir editors-in-chief took part in a study trip and training seminarin Paris and London.During their European stay, the journalists took training moduleson education and visited major news media organizations(Libération and RFI in Paris, the Times Education Supplementand the BBC in London). The trip concluded with an awardceremony at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The 2004 winnersfor the French-language press were from Mali and Côte d’Ivoire,and those for the English-language press from South Africa andNamibia.WG on Communication for Educationand DevelopmentThe Working Group on Communication for Education andDevelopment (WGCOMED) met for four days in Norway inlate September. On September 26-27, the Steering Committeereviewed the activities of the past year and discussedfuture activities, particularly those aimed at stimulating thedevelopment of education ministries’ internal and externalcommunication strategies.On September 28, a COMED delegation paid a visit to theNorwegian Ministry of Education for a meeting with colleaguesin the communication department.On September 29, the working group traveled to Bergen toparticipate in and organize media coverage of a workshopon educational quality organized by the World Bank and theNorwegian Education Trust Fund.WG on Higher EducationThe ADEA Working Group on Higher Education (WGHE)organized a forum on private higher education in Africa. Themeeting was held November 3-4, 2004, in Accra (Ghana).The rapid rise of private higher education and the proliferationof private providers have aroused considerable interest amongADEA Newsletter July - September 200419

ADEA Briefsthe parties concerned. The main purpose of the forum was tooffer those involved—public and private educational institutions,policy-makers, higher education specialists and countries—theopportunity to share their experiences and to discuss a varietyof issues: the problems raised by the sudden expansion ofprivate higher education, relations between the public andprivate sectors and between profi t-seeking institutions andother providers, problems relating to standards and programaccreditation, research (or lack thereof), the effectiveness ofregulatory bodies in the countries concerned, cross-borderprovision. Some 50 delegates took part in the forum, includingparticipants from Benin, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal,South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.WG on Non-Formal EducationThe Working Group on Non-Formal Education (WGNFE) hasestablished an electronic discussion group on the challengesfacing non-formal education in Africa. The forum started onOctober 20, 2004, and will continue through early 2005. Itsmain purpose is to examine policies and practice concerningnon-formal education in the light of developments in theeducation sector and socio-economic change. WGNFE hopesthat the forum will give it a better understanding of the challengesfacing non-formal education in the context of Education forAll (EFA) and thus help it contribute to the renewal of basiceducation so as to respond more effectively to the interests andneeds of learners and their communities. WGNFE also expectsthat the priorities for its work program will emerge from thediscussions on the forum.development partners in this field. Eighteen countries of sub-Saharan Africa took part in the conference. The meetingaddressed two paramount issues: on the one hand, costs andfinancial viability; and on the other, the quality and relevanceof educational provision at the secondary level.Events within the ADEA networkMr. Virgilio Juvane was appointed coordinator of the ADEAWorking Group on the Teaching Profession (WGTP). Hesucceeds Mr. Henry Kaluba, who has joined the CommonwealthSecretariat as deputy director and head of the educationdepartment. Mr. Juvane, a Mozambique national, workedfor the Ministry of Education of Mozambique for 25 years,holding the posts of head of the planning department andsubsequently national planning director for all education subsectors.As director of planning, Mr. Juvane was also responsiblefor relations with international cooperation bodies. We wishMr. Kaluba and Mr. Juvane all possible success in their newposts.In August 2004, Sabine Ayeh joined the ADEA Secretariatas budget, administration and finance officer. Prior to joiningADEA, Mrs. Ayeh was administrative officer at UNESCO’sInternational Center for Technical and Vocational Educationand Training (UNEVOC), based in Bonn, Germany.▼Conference on secondary educationThe Second Regional Conference on Secondary Education inAfrica was held in Dakar on June 6-9, 2004. The aim of theconference, organized by the SEIA team of the World Bank’sAfrica region and the World Bank Institute, in collaborationwith ADEA, was to promote the exchange of information onsecondary education, particularly as regards education policy,and to strengthen the linkages between decision-makers andA DEA's monthly news bulletinADEA distributes a monthly news bulletin. Anyone interested is invited to consult the news "Briefs" on thewebsite at: www.adeanet.org20 ADEA Newsletter July - September 2004

Conferences...Conferences...Conferences...Conferences...Conferences...ConferencMinisterial conference on educationin countries in crisis or post-conflict situationsMombasa, Kenya, June 2-4, 2004ADEA, in collaboration with theCommonwealth Secretariat organizeda conference on ‘Educationin Countries in Crisis or Post-Conflict’June 2-4, 2004 in Mombasa, Kenya. Theconference brought together Ministersof Education and Training from conflicttorncountries to explore the challengesof delivering education in conflict andcrisis circumstances in Africa. In additionto the 21 representatives fromministries, representatives of developmentpartners such as the World Bank,UNICEF, UNESCO, INEE (Inter-AgencyNetwork for Education in Emergencies)as well as FAWE and the ADEA WorkingGroups on Higher Education andCommunication for Education andDevelopment attended the conference.Objectives of the conference were to: Foster awareness and commitmenton the part of key actors withrespect to the educational challengesarising from conflicts in Africa;Share what has been learned fromthe education strategies, programsand projects developed in conflictsituations, from the standpoint ofboth national policy and externalaid; andPromote partnerships in analyticalwork, capacity building, financingand project development in favor ofeducation in situations of crisis andconflict.Three major issues were discussedduring the conference, namely conflictprevention, education in emergenciesand rebuilding education systems afterconflict.Before: conflict preventionPrevention concerns education policiesat a fundamental level: that of their meaningand their purpose. Above and beyondthe cognitive concerns, education policiesand models should promote appropriatevalues, attitudes and behavior inthe social and affective domain. In otherwords, as was discussed during the presentationsand discussions, the challengeis to transform school management, theteaching/learning process and the curriculumand to set up skills-oriented peaceprograms. In South Africa for example,a so-called ‘Values, Democracy andEducation Initiative’ has been set in motion,which can be seen as a reminder ofthe kinds of values to which one aspiresand which would influence the attitudeand skills of the learners.During: emergencieseducationWhen a country is torn by conflict, withthe disastrous consequences describedabove, delivery of educational servicesbecomes a difficult task owing to thelack of security for both property andpeople, displaced populations andrefugees. This does not, however, justifythe suspension of the right to education,because the need for education is moreurgent than ever for children and youngadults facing grave psychological andsocial problems, serious risks to theirhealth and the vicious circle of hatred,vengeance and wanton acts of destruction.In this regard the Inter-AgencyNetwork for Education in Emergencieshas created a Working Group onMinimum Standards for Education inEmergencies that is facilitating the participationof a broad base of stakeholdersto develop standards that articulate theminimum level of educational serviceto be attained in emergencies, chroniccrises and early reconstruction.After: education reconstructionThis brings us to the challenge of rebuildingeducation systems in post-conflictsituations, something that came out ofa round table during the conference,and the importance of formulation andplanning of education policies througha national dialogue and with a view tosustainable development. The problemis not simply the shortage of financialand material resources, but also thatof technical and institutional capacity.Reconstruction of the education systemrequires a reform process affecting boththe structure, operation and managementof the system and the processesrelated to the attitudes and behavior ofstakeholders, as well as to their relationswith one another.At the end of the conference, theMinisters of Education signed theDeclaration of Mombasa, in which theyassert their strong will to use educationalsystems as institutions and forcesthat should strive for a world of peace,conflict prevention and resolution andconstructive nation-building.RecommendationsParticipants recommended that:Activities among all stakeholders,including civil society and donoragencies, should be coordinatedbetter;There should be more opportunitieslike the Mombasa conference for exchangingexperiences in the field.The following suggestions were alsomade:Set up a team of specialists in educationin emergencies and reconstruction.This should be a ‘soundingboard’, constituting a forum fordiscussion and exchange;Promote access to available informationvia website as well as printeddocuments;Conduct studies to document experienceswithin education in emergenciesand reconstruction; and Support an exchange programamongst African countries confrontedwith the same challenges.▼For more informationplease contact Joris van Bommel,Program specialist, ADEAj.vanbommel@iiep.unesco.orgThe Mombasa Declarationtogether with conferencedocuments can be downloadedfrom the ADEA website:www.adeanet.orgADEA Newsletter July - September 200421

nferences...Conferences...Conférences...Conferences...Conferences...ConferenceMinisterial conference on the integration of ICTs 1 ineducation in Western AfricaAbuja, Nigeria, July 28-30, 2004AMinisterial Conference on theIntegration of Information andCommunication Technologies(ICTs) in Education was held in Abuja,Nigeria from 28 to 30 July 2004. TheADEA-organized event was precededby a technical workshop.Ministers of Education from WesternFourteen Africa and other African countriesmet to discuss matters related to theuse of ICTs in the education sector andparticularly how to increase access to educationand improve quality. Countriesparticipating included: Angola, Benin,Burkina Faso, Congo Brazzaville, Côted’Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana,Guinea Bissau, Guinea, Kenya, Liberia,Mali, Mauritania, Mauritius, Niger,Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Togo.Also attending were private enterprisesspecializing in development and implementationof ICT solutions, that came toexhibit software tools and applicationsrelevant to education.Africa lags far behind other regions inthe world in the area of New Informationand Communication Technologies(NICTs). Only one African out of 160has access to the Internet, comparedto one out of two persons in the UnitedStates. Furthermore, NICTs are usedmostly in the business and commercesectors and only marginally within theeducation sector and in schools.During the conference, the ministersassessed the ICT situation in Africa, particularlyin Western Africa. They focusedon such crucial issues as financial implicationsand strategies for cost sharingand recovery; issues of equity to ensurethat ICTs are used to reduce discriminationand not to reinforce it; the need toconstitute a sustainable technical andpedagogical expertise and includeICTs in teacher training programs; theneed to formulate national and regionalpolicies supporting the development ofICTs and that of Distance Education andOpen Learning (DEOL). Also discussedwere issues related to the use of ICTsfor the professional development ofteachers and at the different levels of theeducation system, i.e. primary, secondary,higher, non-formal, technical andvocational education.After three days of debates, theMinisters agreed that the use of ICTsshould be promoted, but taking intoaccount the limits of traditional types ofeducation delivery to increase and providean efficient and quality education.They also mentioned the need to havetools to help them elaborate adequateICT and DEOL policies.Communiqué of the Ministersof EducationAt the end of the conference, theMinisters presented a communiqué inwhich they reaffirmed their commitmentto achieve the goal of Education forAll in their countries in order to meet thelearning needs of their people.The Ministers provided an overviewof what has been achieved in theeducation sector. They enumerated thechallenges involved in developing ICTsand distance and open learning (DEOL)in Africa.These include: the need for countriesto define clear objectives that would justifythe use of ICTs in the education system;to create institutions able to guideformulation of national and sub-regionalpolicies that support educational developmentthrough ICTs; to train and retainexperts in technical and educationalapplications of ICT; to establish partnershipsthat make cost-sharing easieramong governments, international agencies,the private sector and civil society,the media and press networks, and thatensure all stakeholders participate in thepolicy dialogue.The Ministers also drew up strategiesfor facing these various challenges sothat the best use possible might be madeof ICTs and DEOL in education.Conference recommendationsThe recommendations touched on alldomains linked to the use of ICTs ineducation: national policies; infrastructure;development of human resources;research and exchanges of experiencesthat might inform decision-making,guide implementation and assessment;and curriculum development thatintegrates ICTs into the school environment.Of particular note is the conferencerecommendation that policies for integratingICTs into the education systembe instituted during the next five yearsso as to move towards the EFA goals setfor 2015. Recommendations pertainingspecifically to the primary, secondarynon-formal, technical and vocationalsub-sectors of educations were alsoissued.▼For further informationplease contactM. Hamidou Boukary,Senior program specialist, ADEAh.boukary@iiep.unesco.org1. Information and communication technologiesFor further information or todownload any of the documentsfrom the conference,please consult the ADEA website: www.adeanet.org22 ADEA Newsletter July - September 2004

Technological Infrastructure and Use of ICTin Education in Africa: An overviewThe overview on existing technologicalinfrastructure and use ofICT (Information and communicationtechnologies) in education in sub-Saharan countries is intended to providedecision makers with useful insightsinto the major issues and challenges ofintroducing technology in education.This study, which is based on currentliterature, relies on research and analyticalwork that are relevant for informeddecision-making in education.The report underlines the importanceof well-costed projects and the selectionof pedagogically sound technologies inorder to optimize teaching and learning.It examines the various reasons that motivateembarking on distance educationprovision. In addition to the need forclarity in the definition or conception ofwhat is distance education, there is alsoa need to identify how ICT may be usedto support education.Understanding and usingnew technologiesAlthough the choice of ICT shouldequally take into account the widelyused “older” technologies such as print,radio and television, it is becoming moreand more evident that “leapfrogging”technologies, wherever possible, remainthe primary alternative for quickerresponse to the daunting challenge ofaccess and equity.In order to make advised choicesabout the educational use of technologies,it is therefore essential to developan understanding of the modes of communicationmost appropriate to teachingand learning. This overview emphasizesthe importance in being aware of therange of various educational technologiesavailable and provides structuredcomprehensive analyses of the variousmedia, technologies and their educationalapplications as a basis for reviewingthe context in which technology is usedfor educational purposes in Africa.For both technological and pedagogicalreasons, many African countriesare ready to adopt state of the art technologiesin order to leapfrog into thefuture. The former view that developingcountries should follow every stage inthe historical development of distanceeducation—from correspondencecourses to online learning—is no longerpredominant. Complementary andconvergent use of technologies for whateach can do best should be advocated.However, the major constraint of mostAfrican countries is limited access to newtechnology due to high cost of establishing,using and maintaining the necessaryinfrastructure, lack of adequate localexpertise and low computer literacy rateamong user groups.Issues of education and technologyin sub-Saharan Africa are inextricablylinked to the socio-economic context.General socio-economic indicatorsprovided in this overview, as well as educationindicators, highlight the diversityas well as the similarities between countries.It also sets the educational contextof ICT in education and ICT in developmentin the African infrastructure. Therate of 26% of secondary enrolment and3.9% of tertiary participation in Africa,for example, compares very unfavorablywith that of most developing countriesoutside Africa where it has reached up to51% and 10.9% respectively. One canonly acknowledge that this disparity is setto widen if no just-in-time and adequatemeasures are taken.Given these impeding factors,African initiatives to promote the useBooksBooksof ICT in educationwill depend, in alarge measure, oncreative partnerships between publicand private as well as local and regionalorganizations, in particular to lessencosts of operation. It is considered, forexample, that Africa can meet the challengeof improving the quality of mathematics,science and technology educationat secondary and tertiary levels,on the one hand, and increase access toprimary teacher education by subsidizingcosts of equipment and reducingcommunications tariffs for educationinstitutions through such collaborativeventures. Success and sustainability ofprojects will, however, be subject to incountrypolicy development and institutions’legislative framework.Finally, in addition to promoting theimportance of ICT for education, thisbook examines the impact of ICT at variouslevels of the traditional educationalpackage (primary, secondary, tertiary)but also looks at adult basic educationand teacher training, each of which arepunctuated with examples from countryexperiences. Financial and cost implicationsand policies for different types ofICTs are alsotaken into consideration.▼TechnologicalInfrastructureand Use of ICTin Educationin Africa: An Overview. By Neil Butcher.Published by ADEA Working Group onDistance Education and Open Learning, June2004. ISBN: 92-9178-043-XFinancing Secondary Education in Developing CountriesThis book explores the problemsand issues that surround the financingof secondary education.It outlines the rationale for expandingsecondary education, explains why suchinvestments are desirable and suggestsdifferent feasible and financially sustainablesolutions. The analysis coversseveral countries and groups of countriesin Africa, Latin America and Asia. At theend of the book the authors present variouspolitical options that could improveaccess without affecting the quality ofeducation at sustainable levels of costs.Three chapters look at secondaryschool financing in Malawi, Zimbabweand francophone countries of Africa.▼Financing SecondaryEducation inDevelopingCountries.By Keith Lewin andFrancoise Caillods.IIEP, 2001. ISBN:92-803-1199BooksBooksADEA Newsletter July - September 200423

ADEA ActivitiesOther ActivitiesDates and venues may change.For more information pleaseconsult the ADEA web site(www.adeanet.org)The views and opinions expressed in authoredarticles of the ADEA Newsletter are those of theauthors and should not be attributed to ADEA orto any other organization or individual.Quarterly Newsletter published by ADEAPlease address all correspondence to:The Editor, ADEA NewsletterAssociation for the Development ofEducation in Africa7-9 rue Eugène-Delacroix,75116 Paris, FranceTel: +33 (0)14503 7757Fax: +33 (0)14503 3965E-mail: adea@iiep.unesco.orgweb site: www.adeanet.org