A810Z-Community Participation in Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

March 20, 2008

Dr. Shirley Burchfield

Meeting Times

• Thursdays• 4:00 – 7:00 PM• March 20 – May 1• No class March 27

Sub-Saharan Africa

45+ countries Excludes Western Sahara, Morocco, Algeria, Tunesia, Libya, Egypt

Library Map Collection (2003) CIA

http: //www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/ africa.html

• Diverse • Vast resources/

limited resources• Political instability• High population

growth rates

In Sub-Saharan Africa:

• In 2004 41% of the population lived on less than $1 per day. UNESCO 2008)

• 89% of malaria-related deaths. (UNESCO 2008)

• Two thirds of those affected by HIV and AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa are women between 15 and 25 years old. (BBC News 2003)

Africa has been hard-hit by HIV/AIDS

• Worldwide, 15.2 million children had been orphaned as a result of AIDS by the end of 2005. (UNAIDS/WHO (December 2005), AIDS epidemic update )

• 63% of those infected with HIV/AIDS worldwide lived in sub-SaharanAfrica. (UNESCO 2008)

• 25.4 million people in sub-Saharan Africa lived in Africa in 2004.

• 90% of AIDS orphans (children of whom one or both parents died of AIDS) were in sub-Saharan Africa in 2001. (UNESCO (2001).

• In 1999, more than 860,000 children in sub-Saharan Africa lost teachers to AIDS.

• In Zimbabwe one study found that 19% of male teachers and close to 29% of female teachers were HIV positive. (Price-Smith A. and Daly J. (2004), ‘Downward Spiral HIV/AIDS, State Capacity, and Political Conflict in Zimbabwe’ )

Two Measures of Participation in Education:

• Gross enrollment ratio (GER) – Gross enrollment is the number of students enrolled in a level of education, whether or not they belong in the relevant age group for that level, as a percentage of the population in the relevant age group for that level.

• Net enrollment ratio (NER) – Net enrollment is the number of students enrolled in a level of education who belong in the relevant age group, as a percentage of the population in that age group.

Gross Enrollment Rates

• Can exceed 100% as a result of grade repetition and over age enrollment

• Most commonly available

• Can be misleading

Net Enrollment Rate

• Is a better measure of school access

• Data not always available

• Fails to take into account late entrants

Other Measures

• Net attendance - (school age who attend regularly)

• Ever attended - (school age who ever attended)

• School completion rate - (# of students successfully completing last year minus repeaters divided by total # of children at official graduation age in population

• Source: World Bank EdStats 2006.

Indicators of Inefficiency

• Repetition – Number of repeaters in a given grade in a given school year, expressed as a percentage of enrollment in that grade the previous school year.

• Dropout – Percentage of students who drop out from a given grade in a given school year. (Dropout rate=difference between 100% and the sum of the promotion rates.)

Source: World Bank EdStats 2006.

• Gender Parity Index (GPI) – Ratio female to male value of a given indicator. A GPI equal=1 indicates parity between sexes; a GPI < 1 means a disparity in favor of boys; a GPI >1 indicates a disparity in favor of girls.

In sub-Saharan Africa:

• The primary NER increased from 57% in 1999 (compared to a world average of 84%) to 70% in 2005.

Education For All (EFA)

– First launched in Jomtien, Thailand in 1990 to bring the benefits of education to “every citizen in every society”

– Reaffirmed in Dakar, Senegal in 2000

– Again in September 2000

6 EFA goals

By 2015:

• Expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care and education, especially for the most vulnerable and disadvantaged children. 

• Ensure that all children, particularly girls, those in difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities, have access to and complete, free and compulsory primary education of good quality.  

• Ensure that the learning needs of all young people and adults are met through equitable access to appropriate learning and life-skills programs. 

EFA goals:

• Achieve a 50% improvement in levels of adult literacy, especially for women, and equitable access to basic and continuing education for all adults. 

• Eliminate gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005.

• Achieve gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls' full and equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality. 

• Improve all aspects of the quality of education and ensure excellence of all so that recognized and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all, especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills (World Bank Group 2008).

Country indicators show a continued upward trend in primary school enrolments

• 47 out of 163 countries have achieved UPE, and an additional 20 countries are estimated to be “on track” to achieve the education Millennium Development Goals by 2015. 

• Substantial challenges remain with 44 countries, 23 of which are in sub-Saharan Africa, not likely to achieve the goal of UPE by 2015 unless efforts are accelerated substantially.

• (World Bank 2008)

EFA Index 2008

• Out of 129 countries for which data were available:– 51 were high achievers– 53 in intermediate position– 25 were far from achieving EFA goals (16 in

sub-Saharan Africa)

UNESCO. (March 2008). Institute for Global Statistics. Education for All Global Monitoring Report

African primary school enrollment and literacy rates

are among the lowest in the world.

• In sub-Saharan Africa about 33 million children were still out of school due to financial, social or physical barriers and pressures from high fertility rates, HIV/AIDS and conflict.

• In sub-Saharan Africa 54% of out of school children were girls, compared with 60% in Arab states and 66% in West Asia.

• World Bank 2008; UNESCO 2008

Gender Parity Worldwide

• 63% of countries at primary level• 37% at secondary level• 3% at tertiary level

UNESCO. Institute for Global Statistics. Education for All Global Monitoring Report (March 2008)

Gender Parity in Sub-Saharan Africa

• 35% of countries at primary level• 6% at secondary level• 3% at tertiary level

UNESCO. Institute for Global Statistics. Education for All Global Monitoring Report (March 2008)

Evolution of Community Role in Education in Africa

• Originally communities played key role

• Religious institutions• Served needs of

colonial powers• Geography factor• Cultural/historical

factors

Evolution of Community Role in Education in Africa

• Economic downturn• Droughts• Wars• Donor fiscal policies• Commitment to UPE

(Jomtein Conf.)• Decentralization• Emergence of NGOs

What do we mean by community participation?

Rose (2003)

• Genuine participation

• Pseudo participation

Continuum of Participation

Involvement Participation Partnership

Ladder of Citizen Participation

8. Citizen control

7. Delegated power Degrees of citizen power

6. Partnership

5. Placation

4. Consultation Degrees of tokenism

3. Informing

2. Therapy Non-participation

1. ManipulationArnstein (1969) in Bray (2001)

Mechanisms for Participation Citizen Power• Shared decision making

• Collaborative mechanisms

(committees, working groups)

• Empowering mechanisms

(capacity building; strengthening

financial or legal status) (Long, 2001)

Tokenism/Non-participation• Information sharing

• Consultative mtgs./joint assess.

Is civic involvement/community participation a means or an end?

(Long, 2001) 2 Points of View

• Instrumental or functional view -- Participation is a means to an end -- that participatory practices will result in better projects.

(Long, 2001)

• Transformational view -- Strengthening people’s ability to determine how to improve their economic & social conditions is the true essence of development. (An end in itself.)

(Long, 2001)

• Some define participation as a right of citizenship, as part and parcel of the process of democratization.

What is implied by partnership?

According to Bray (2001), partnerships have two levels of engagement:

1. Involvement

2. Participation

• Participation has an active role for the community, but

• Involvement implies more passive contributions

Why are partnerships formed?

The fundamental basis for all partnerships is self interest (Bray, 2001, p. 7).

Do you agree with that statement?

Some reasons for partnerships offered by Bray (2001)

• Shared experiences & expertise

• Mutual support• Division of labor• Increased resources• Increased sense of

ownership• Extended reach

• Increased effectiveness

• Evaluation & monitoring

What are the characteristics of effective partnerships?

Watt (2001), p. 18

Partnerships involving communities are likely to work best where:

• they are deliberately structured to achieve clearly articulated, common goals;

• responsibilities are clearly delineated and based on contractual obligations, and

• decentralization is supported by a strong central government.

Class Project/Proposal

Each project should describe the following:1. Name and responsibilities of team members2. Country/village context (problem to be solved)3. Rational for the program4. How were needs identified?5. Program design6. Timeframe7. Monitoring and evaluation plan8. How will activities be sustained after the funding

concludes?

Project Design

• What will be the central elements of the program (program plan?)

• How does this program address key needs identified?

• Who was involved in the program planning and design (may be hypothetical)?

• Who will administer it (Management plan)?• Who will be the partners?• What will be the role of each partner?

Design continued

• Who will fund the program?

• What contributions will be made by the community?

• What is the projected budget?

Characteristics of a Good Proposal

• Identifies the central problems to be addressed.

• Demonstrates and understanding of the cultural context, including barriers to implementation and how they will be addressed.

• Demonstrates the capability to carry out the proposal activities.

• Specifies objectives that are measurable and achievable.

A Good Proposal…

• Lays out how objectives will be achieved:– Who? Implementing organizations/partners– What? Proposal design– When? Timeline– Where? Geographic area of coverage– How? Strategy; budget

Characteristics of a Good Proposal

• Identifies the central problems to be addressed.

• Demonstrates and understanding of the cultural context, including barriers to implementation and how they will be addressed.

• Demonstrates the capability to carry out the proposal activities.

• Specifies objectives that are measurable and achievable.

• Specifies how objectives will be measured.– How will progress be monitored?– What will be indicators of success and how will

they be measured?

• Specifies how activities will be sustained after funding concludes.

Sources

Bray, Mark. (2001). Community partnerships in pducation: dimensions, variations and implications. In World Education Forum, Dakar, Senegal 26-28 April 2000, Education for All Assessment, Thematic Studies. Paris: UNESCO.

Long, Carolyn. (2001). Participation of the poor in development initiatives: Taking their rightful place. London: Earthscan.

Watt, P. (2001). Community support for basic education in sub-Saharan Africa. (Africa Region Human Development Working

Paper Series 23072). Washington, DC: The World Bank.