ADEA 2008 Biennale on Education in Africa Beyond

ADEA 2008 Biennale on Education in Africa Beyond Primary Education: Challenges and Approaches to Expanding Learning Opportunities in Africa Session 3. 2: theme 1 synthesis Towards 9 -10 years of “Basic” Education for All: promising practices and strategies Jacob Bregman, ADEA theme 1 technical coordinator and lead education specialist, Africa Human Development, WB Presented at ADEA biennale, 6 May 2008, Maputo, Mozambique

“Basic Education for All” makes socio-economic sense African countries: policies / plans to reform and expand primary and junior secondary education into Basic Education for All Growing labor market demand for skilled graduates: necessary for sustainable socio-economic growth Public Funding constraints: private providers growing and demand for cost-efficient “balanced” expansion Diversity between countries: political, economic, income-social, capacity, enrolment, service-delivery, and efficiency Huge social pay-offs of improved quality and expanded access in basic and secondary education Growing demand for 2 nd chance opportunities ADEA 2008 Biennale on Education in Africa Beyond Primary: Challenges and Approaches to Expanding Learning Opportunities in Africa

Country level: moving towards “balanced” implementation strategies for basic education A. B. C. D. Africa: good progress on primary EFA goals Looking for improved quality & relevance of graduates Most graduates enter the labor market Pressure points: 1. modernization of Curriculum & Assessment 2. certification vs selection raises complex issues E. Enrolment pressure and resource constraints F. Trends: (i) diversifying funding sources; (ii) use S&T tools, (iii) better resource allocation & use; (iv) improve school performance monitoring; and (v) affordable, relevant “core” curricula G. Piloting better Accountability, Equity, and Quality monitoring ADEA 2008 Biennale on Education in Africa Beyond Primary: Challenges and Approaches to Expanding Learning Opportunities in Africa

Countries’ promising practices & strategies (1) 1. Structure diversity: Madagascar changing from 5 to 7 -year Primary (Kenya 8+4; Mauritius 6+5+2). 2. Southern Africa: “Life Sciences” / Integrated Science 3. Botswana, Ghana, SA and Uganda: school-based results amount count in JSE examination marks (20 -30%) 4. SA, Uganda, Gambia: Reducing # of subjects and content overload and adapting assessment mechanisms 5. Gambia, Mauretania, Burundi: integrating “Madrassa” schools, promoting “community schools”, Scholarship trust funds 6. Zimbabwe (1990 s): Zim. Sci kits, Zintec teacher courses, per capita Grants to schools, “free” textbooks, core curriculum established, cluster primary schools (upper-top classes) ADEA 2008 Biennale on Education in Africa Beyond Primary: Challenges and Approaches to Expanding Learning Opportunities in Africa

Countries’ promising practices & strategies (2) 7. Uganda, Burundi: Local community schools (80% of JSE enrolment in Burundi and 37% of all SE in Uganda) 8. Botswana, Namibia, Zambia, Mozambique: Open & Distance Learning 9. Burkina Faso: incentives and support to private providers (operational and infrastructure costs) 10. Namibia, Botswana and Ghana: teacher resource centers in science, maths, and tech. education 11. Nigeria: local production learning & teaching materials by Nigeria Teacher Association (STAN) 12. East-Africa: SMASSE project for teacher training ADEA 2008 Biennale on Education in Africa Beyond Primary: Challenges and Approaches to Expanding Learning Opportunities in Africa

21 st Century challenges in Africa Basic Education (1) 1. How to move fast into a Basic Education for All strategy at country level (high quality and sustainable)? 2. “Africanize” Basic Education? How to make learning & teaching more relevant to country priorities? 3. How to absorb / apply international trends and satisfy better accountability? Asia and OECD best practices? 4. Min. Fin requires more efficient service delivery (reduced wastage and lower overall unit costs) 5. Prevention is best, but growing demand for improved equity and “second chance” opportunities 6. How can the “Certification vs Selection” challenge be addressed: the quality conundrum? ADEA 2008 Biennale on Education in Africa Beyond Primary: Challenges and Approaches to Expanding Learning Opportunities in Africa

Continued 21 st Century “Basic” Challenges (2) 7. Can teaching quality be improved rapidly? 8. School Environment (school grants, infrastructure & maintenance, learning-teaching materials, health) 9. How to pilot and facilitate non-public providers (PPP)? 10. How to rapidly integrate new Science & Tech subjects in a basic education “core” curriculum? 11. How can donor and stakeholder consensus on basic education expansion and reform principles be reached? 12. “Quality should never be sacrificed for quantity”. But how? ADEA 2008 Biennale on Education in Africa Beyond Primary: Challenges and Approaches to Expanding Learning Opportunities in Africa

Thank you ADEA 2008 Biennale on Education in Africa Beyond Primary: Challenges and Approaches to Expanding Learning Opportunities in Africa