Challenges of Quality Education in Sub-Saharan African Countries

Challenges of Quality Education in Sub-Saharan African Countries

Author: D. N. Sifuna

Publisher:

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Quality is at the heart of all education systems as good quality teaching and learning environments ensure effective learning outcomes. Quality influences what students learn, how well they learn and what benefits they draw from their education. The quest to ensure that students achieve decent learning outcomes and acquire values and skills that help them play a positive role in their societies is an issue on the policy agenda of nearly every country. As many world governments struggle to expand particularly basic education, they also face the challenge of ensuring that students stay in school long enough to acquire the knowledge they need to cope in a rapidly changing world. The purpose of this book is therefore to profile some aspects of education quality in the African education systems and highlight key policies for improving the teaching and learning outcomes. The book is also intended to provide basic information to scholars who are interested in studying education in the Sub-Saharan African region. To enable users understand and appreciate developments, trends and changes that have taken place in the education systems, for most chapters, the book deliberately adopts a historical approach which leads to some focus on developments which date back to the colonial period in Africa.


Leapfrogging Inequality

Leapfrogging Inequality

Author: Rebecca Winthrop

Publisher: Brookings Institution Press

Published: 2018-05-15

Total Pages: 146

ISBN-13: 0815735715

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Exemplary stories of innovation from around the world In an age of rising inequality, getting a good education increasingly separates the haves from the have nots. In countries like the United States, getting a good education is one of the most promising routes to upper-middle-class status, even more so than family wealth. Experts predict that by 2030, 825 million children will reach adulthood without basic secondary-level skills, and it will take a century for the most marginalized youth to achieve the educational levels that the wealthiest enjoy today. But these figures do not even account for the range of skills and competencies needed to thrive today in work, citizenship, and life. In a world where the ability to manipulate knowledge and information, think critically, and collaboratively solve problems are essential to thrive, access to a quality education is crucial for all young people. In Leapfrogging Inequality, researchers chart a new path for global education by examining the possibility of leapfrogging—harnessing innovation to rapidly accelerate educational progress—to ensure that all young people develop the skills they need for a fast-changing world. Analyzing a catalog of nearly 3,000 global education innovations, the largest such collection to date, researchers explore the potential of current practices to enable such a leap. As part of this analysis, the book presents an evidence-based framework for getting ahead in education, which it grounds in the here-and-now by narrating exemplary stories of innovation from around the world. Together, these stories and resources will inspire educators, investors, leaders of nongovernmental organizations, and policymakers alike to rally around a new vision of educational progress—one that ensures we do not leave yet another generation of young people behind.


Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author: Kirsten Majgaard

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2012-06-26

Total Pages: 266

ISBN-13: 0821388908

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Comparative Analysis takes stock of education in Sub-Saharan Africa by drawing on the collective knowledge gained through the preparation of Country Status Reports for more than 30 countries.


Reaching Out to Africa's Orphans

Reaching Out to Africa's Orphans

Author: K. Subbarao

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2004-01-01

Total Pages: 184

ISBN-13: 9780821358573

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This title makes a substantial contribution to our understanding of the many risks and vulnerability faced by orphans and the ameliorating role played by the actions of governments and donors.


Education, Social Progress, and Marginalized Children in Sub-Saharan Africa

Education, Social Progress, and Marginalized Children in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author: Obed Mfum-Mensah

Publisher: Lexington Books

Published: 2017-05-04

Total Pages: 241

ISBN-13: 149854570X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book employs sociohistorical, narrative, and discourse frameworks to discuss the sociopolitical complexities and ambiguities of educating marginalized groups in sub-Saharan Africa since western education was introduced in the region. It outlines the systemic and structural challenges faced by marginalized children in the education system that prevent them from fully participating in the education process. This book focuses on how the props underlying Christian missionary education, colonial education, and early postcolonial educational enterprise all served to marginalize certain groups, including women, some geographical regions and/or communities, such as Islamic communities and people with disabilities, from the colonial and postcolonial economic discourses. This historical background provides the springboard for discussions on the complexities and ambiguities of educating marginalized groups in some communities in sub-Saharan Africa in the contemporary times. This book also highlights the challenges of the recent policies of policy makers and the strategies and initiatives of civic societies, non-governmental organizations, and local communities to promote marginalized children’s participation in education. This book elucidates the varied ways certain groups and communities continue to interrogate the structural and systemic challenges that marginalize them educationally. It argues that the level of marginalized groups’ participation in education in sub-Saharan African in the 21st century will determine the progress the region will make in the Education for All (EFA) initiative and the Millennium Development Goals (MDG). Furthermore, it argues that increasing educational participation in marginalized communities requires implementation of educational programs that address marginalized groups’ structural social arrangements and socioeconomic contexts.


Higher Education in Africa

Higher Education in Africa

Author: Anne Goujon

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2017-01-06

Total Pages: 350

ISBN-13: 1443862762

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The idea that developing all sectors of the educational palette is influential for socio-economic development was adopted later in Sub-Saharan Africa than in other world regions. Most efforts went primarily into developing the first stages of education, and rightly so, for many children could not access education at all. Today, all African governments recognize the importance of higher education and increasingly invest in it. They are facing two major, interlinked challenges: rapid population growth and decline in the quality of education. Indeed, despite fertility decline, the region has been confronted with substantial population growth, which will continue for many decades; as such, there is a necessity to increase investment in education. This, in a situation of limited resources, has been at the expense of the quality and the burgeoning of private institutions of higher education. The contributions here discuss the development, quality, and outcomes of higher education in Africa, with a specific focus on relations between Africa and Europe. Issues related to the mobility of African students and scholars are discussed in several national and international case studies.


Adult Literacy Programs in Uganda

Adult Literacy Programs in Uganda

Author: Anthony Okech

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2001-01-01

Total Pages: 148

ISBN-13: 9780821348826

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The policy of the World Bank has been to focus on universal primary education, rather than supporting adult literacy programmes. But slow progress in Sub-Saharan Africa has convinced the Bank that adult literacy, especially amongst women, is a key factor in promoting economic and social development. This study of programmes in Uganda shows that adult literacy programmes can be more effective than was previously thought; that government run programmes can be as effective as those run by non-governmental organisations and that there is a large, unsatisfied demand among Ugandan adults for more education.


Struggling to Make the Grade: A Review of the Causes and Consequences of the Weak Outcomes of South Africa’s Education System

Struggling to Make the Grade: A Review of the Causes and Consequences of the Weak Outcomes of South Africa’s Education System

Author: Mr.Montfort Mlachila

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2019-03-01

Total Pages: 61

ISBN-13: 1498301851

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

While South Africa has made significant improvements in basic and tertiary education enrollment, the country still suffers from significant challenges in the quality of educational achievement by almost any international metric. The paper finds that money is clearly not the main issue since the South Africa’s education budget is comparable to OECD countries as a percent of GDP and exceeds that of most peer sub-Saharan African countries in per capita terms. The main explanatory factors are complex and multifaceted, and are associated with insufficient subject knowledge of some teachers, history, race, language, geographic location, and socio-economic status. Low educational achievement contributes to low productivity growth, and high levels of poverty, unemployment, and inequality. Drawing on the literature, the paper sketches some policy considerations to guide the debate on what works and what does not.


Higher Education Quality Assurance in Sub-Saharan Africa

Higher Education Quality Assurance in Sub-Saharan Africa

Author: Peter Nicolas Materu

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 108

ISBN-13: 0821372734

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This report assesses the status and practice of higher education quality assurance in Sub - Sahara Africa, focusing on degree - granting tertiary institutions. A main finding is that structured national - level quality assurance processes in African higher education are a very recent phenomenon and that most countries face major capacity constrains. Only about a third of them have established structured national quality assurance mechanism, often only as recently as during the last ten years. Activities differ in their scope and rigor, ranging from simple licensing of institutions by the minister responsible for higher education, to comprehensive system - wide program accreditation and ranking of institutions. Within institutions of higher learning, self assessment and academic audits are gradually being adopted to supplement traditional quality assurance methods. However, knowledge about and experience with self - assessments are limited. The main challenges to quality assurance system in Africa are cost and human capacity requirements. For countries with large tertiary systems, the report recommends institutional, rather than program accreditation as a cost - effective option. However, where tertiary systems are small and underdeveloped, a less formal self - assessment for each institution may be necessary until the capacity could be strengthened to support a more formal nation quality assurance agency in the long run.


Improving Primary Education in Developing Countries

Improving Primary Education in Developing Countries

Author: Marlaine E. Lockheed

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This study presents policy options for improving the effectiveness of primary schools in developing countries. It examines problems common to most developing countries and presents an array of low-cost policy alternatives that have proved useful in a variety of settings.