Newsletter Vol.16 No.3 - ADEA

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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 <strong>ADEA</strong> <strong>Newsletter</strong> 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.
Page 1 and 2: Editorial Volume 16, Number 3Second
Page 4 and 5: From the African PressAkintola Fato
Page 6 and 7: Secondary Educationconstrained and
Page 11 and 12: Statistics forSecondaryEducationby
Page 13 and 14: secondary level. The primary school
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Page 17 and 18: Table 1. Enrollments in secondary e
Page 19 and 20: ADEA BriefsAd hoc WG on HIV/AIDSADE
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Page 23 and 24: Technological Infrastructure and Us

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