Despite international congresses and international journals, anthropologies of education differ significantly around the world. Linguistic barriers constrain the flow of ideas, which results in a vast amount of research on educational anthropology that is not published in English or is difficult for international readers to find. This volume responds to the call to attend to educational research outside the United States and to break out of “metropolitan provincialism.” A guide to the anthropologies and ethnographies of learning and schooling published in German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Slavic languages, Japanese, and English as a second language, show how scholars in Latin America, Japan, and elsewhere adapt European, American, and other approaches to create new traditions. As the contributors show, educators draw on different foundational research and different theoretical discussions. Thus, this global survey raises new questions and casts a new light on what has become a too-familiar discipline in the United States.
Education in West Africa is a comprehensive critical reference guide to education in the region. Written by regional experts, the book explores the education systems of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo. It critically examines the development of education provision in each country, whilst exploring both local and global contexts. Including a comparative introduction to the issues facing education in the region as a whole, this handbook is an essential reference for researchers, scholars, international agencies and policy-makers at all levels.
Despite a spectacular expansion of the higher education sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, the supply of tertiary education has generally failed to keep pace with demand, and the region continues to lag behind all other regions in terms of access to tertiary education. This is in part a consequence of deeply entrenched patterns of inequitable access to higher education, and the perpetuation of what researchers refer to as “elite systems.†? To date, access to tertiary education in Sub-Saharan Africa has unduly benefited students drawn from the region’s wealthiest households, and overall enrollment remains disproportionately male and metropolitan. These factors stifle the catalytic potential of higher education, corroding its potential for driving economic growth and sustaining poverty reduction. Instead, patterns of access to tertiary education have generally reinforced and reproduced social inequality, instead of eroding its pernicious social and economic effects. Sharing Higher Education’s Promise beyond the Few in Sub-Saharan Africa aims to inform an improved understanding of equity in tertiary enrollment in Sub-Saharan African countries and to examine the extent to which inequity functions as a bottleneck, inhibiting the ability of African universities to effectively drive improvements in overall quality of life and economic competitiveness. In our survey of the evidence, we also aim to identify which policies most effectively address the challenge of promoting equity of access in Sub-Saharan African tertiary education systems. To achieve these objectives, the book collects, generates, and analyzes empirical evidence on patterns of equity; examines the underlying causes of inequity; and evaluates government policies for addressing inequity.
Malgré la forte croissance économique que l’Afrique subsaharienne a connue ces vingt dernières années, les niveaux de transformation économique, de réduction de la pauvreté et de développement des compétences dans cette partie du monde sont bien inférieurs à ceux des autres régions. Des investissements judicieux dans le développement des compétences, en accord avec les objectifs politiques de croissance de la productivité, d’inclusion et d’adaptabilité, peuvent aider à accélérer la transformation économique de la région subsaharienne au XXIe siècle. L’augmentation de la population en âge de travailler en Afrique subsaharienne constitue une réelle chance d’accroître la prospérité collective. Les pays de la région ont investi massivement dans le développement des compétences†‰; les dépenses publiques consacrées à l’éducation ont été multipliées par sept au cours des 30 dernières années, et le nombre d’enfants scolarisés est aujourd’hui plus élevé que jamais. Pourtant, les systèmes d’éducation de cette population n’ont pas donné les résultats escomptés, et ces insuffisances entravent considérablement les perspectives économiques. Dans la moitié des pays, moins de deux enfants sur trois terminent l’école primaire, et encore moins atteignent des niveaux supérieurs d’enseignement et obtiennent un diplôme. Les acquis d’apprentissage demeurent faibles, ce qui entraîne des lacunes dans les compétences cognitives de base telles que la lecture, l’écriture et le calcul, aussi bien chez les enfants, les jeunes que les adultes. Le taux d’alphabétisation de la population adulte est inférieur à 50 % dans de nombreux pays†‰; la part des adultes sachant lire, écrire et compter de manière fonctionnelle est encore plus faible. Une réforme du système est nécessaire pour réaliser des progrès significatifs. De multiples agences aux niveaux national et local sont impliquées dans les stratégies de développement des compétences, faisant des compétences «†‰le problème de tous, mais la responsabilité de personne†‰». Les politiques et les réformes doivent permettre de renforcer les capacités des politiques qui ont fait leurs preuves et d’instaurer des mesures incitatives visant à faire converger le comportement de tous les acteurs dans la poursuite des objectifs de développement des compétences au niveau national. Le développement des compétences en Afrique subsaharienne, un exercice d’équilibre. Investir dans les compétences pour la productivité, l’inclusion et l’adaptabilité présente des données qui éclaireront les choix stratégiques des pays en matière d’investissements dans les compétences. Chaque chapitre aborde un ensemble de questions spécifiques, en s’appuyant sur une analyse originale et sur une synthèse des travaux existants pour explorer les domaines principaux : • comment les compétences appropriées à chaque étape du cycle de vie sont-elles acquises et quelles défaillances du marché et des institutions affectent le développement des compétences†‰; • quels systèmes sont nécessaires pour que les individus aient accès à ces compétences, notamment les investissements consentis par les familles, les institutions du secteur privé, les écoles et autres programmes publics†‰; • comment ces systèmes peuvent-ils être renforcés†‰; • comment les personnes les plus vulnérables, à savoir celles qui ne font pas partie des systèmes standards et qui n’ont pas réussi à acquérir des compétences essentielles, peuvent-elles être soutenues. Les pays de la région seront souvent confrontés à des arbitrages difficiles qui auront des effets distributifs et influeront sur leur trajectoire de développement. Des dirigeants engagés, des efforts conjoints de réforme et des politiques bien coordonnées sont essentiels pour aborder le délicat exercice d’équilibre que représente le développement des compétences en Afrique subsaharienne.
This book addresses major population and development issues: fertility and reproductive health, migrations, gender, education, poverty and inequalities. To that aim it revisits and considerably enlarges Kingsley Davis’ 1963 theory of change and response, using interdisciplinary methodologies. On the basis of four decades of field research (1985-2015), it questions the rationality of the actors, how culture shapes socio-demographic behaviours, in a context of modernity and globalisation. More specifically, it casts new light on the interactions of individuals, families, networks and local communities with the State and its population policy.
The universality of the problematics with urban education, together with the importance of understanding the context of improvement interventions, brings into sharp focus the importance of an undertaking like the International Handbook of Urban Education. An important focus of this book is the interrogation of both the social and political factors that lead to different problem posing and subsequent solutions within each region.
This volume highlights the proceedings of the two policy dialogue conferences held by the Working Group on Finance and Education (WGFE) in 2004. Part I of the document discusses the endemic crisis that higher educationhas been beset with since the outset of the post colonial period in Africa. It highlights the critical state of higher education systems in Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal by scrutinizing the causes, manifestations and consequences of the crisis to posit useful recommendations and possible solutions. Part II is a comprehensive review of the challenges facing the financing and planning of all levels and types ofeducation - from kindergarten to graduate school - in selected African countries. The papers reveal the sources and mechanisms of funding education in Africa, drawing attention to the experiences of communities confronted with new funding sources. A new trend, which consists of designing decade long educational development plans, has emerged and is rapidly expanding in numerous African countries. This experience is examined and shared by the authors. This book has contributions in both French and English.
The economic and social prospects are daunting for the 89 million out-of-school youth who comprise nearly half of all youth in Sub-Saharan Africa. Within the next decade, when this cohort becomes the core of the labor market, an estimated 40 million more youth will drop out, and will face an uncertain future with limited work and life skills. Furthermore, out-of-school youth often are 'policy orphans,' positioned between sectors with little data, low implementation capacity, lack of interest in long-term sustainability of programs, insufficient funds, and little coordination across the different government agencies. This report provides a diagnostic analysis of the state of out-of-school youth in Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on the 12- to 24-year-old cohort. This report also examines the decision path youth take as they progress through the education system and the factors that explain youth's school and work choices. It finds that individual and household characteristics, social norms, and characteristics of the school system all matter in understanding why youth drop out and remain out of school. In particular, six key factors characterize out-of-school youth: (i) most out-of-school youth drop out before secondary school; (ii) early marriage for female youth and (iii) rural residence increase the likelihood of being out of school; (iv) parental education level and (v) the number of working adults are important household factors; and (vi) lack of school access and low educational quality are binding supply-side constraints. Policy discussions on out-of-school youth are framed by these six key factors along with three entry points for intervention: retention, remediation, and integration. This report also reviews policies and programs in place for out-of-school youth across the continent. Ultimately, this report aims to inform public discussion, policy formulation, and development practitioners' actions working with youth in Sub-Saharan Africa.
This insightful book analyses the process of the first adoption of guiding human rights principles for education, the Abidjan Principles. It explains the development of the Abidjan Principles, including their articulation of the right to education, the state obligation to provide quality public education, and the role of private actors in education.
