Virtually all countries in the world are struggling to provide the necessary resources to Higher Education. The challenges are particularly complex for economically poor countries in Africa, which have recorded massive expansion in the past decade. This book analyzes the state of funding and financing higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Investment in secondary schooling in Sub-Saharan Africa has been neglected since the World Conference on Education for All at Jomtien. The World Education Forum at Dakar began to recognize the growing importance of post-primary schooling for development. Only 25 percent of school-age children attend secondary school in the region--and fewer complete successfully, having consequences for gender equity, poverty reduction, and economic growth. As universal primary schooling becomes a reality, demand for secondary schools is increasing rapidly. Gaps between the educational levels of the labor force in Sub-Saharan Africa and other regions remain large. Girls are more often excluded from secondary schools than boys. Secondary schooling costs are high to both governments and households. This study explores how access to secondary education can be increased. Radical reforms are needed in low-enrollment countries to make secondary schooling more affordable and to provide more access to the majority currently excluded. The report identifies the rationale for increasing access, reviews the status of secondary education in Sub-Saharan Africa, charts the growth needed in different countries to reach different levels of participation, identifies the financial constraints on growth, and discusses the reforms needed to make access affordable. It concludes with a road map of ways to increase the probability that more of Africa's children will experience secondary schooling.
Opinions and policies on the development of private education in Sub-Saharan Africa are changing. This book attempts to review existing literature, theories, and concepts related to recent trends in the development and financing of private education in Sub-Saharan countries. Eleven chapters address the following topics: (1) introduction; (2) a retrospective on private education development and financing in Sub-Saharan Africa; (3) looking into the definition of private education; (4) different types of private education in Sub-Saharan Africa; (5) share of private education in total enrollment; (6) private education as an alternative to the provision of public education; (7) private education as a competitor for private and public funds for education; (8) comparative cost-efficiency and cost-effectiveness; (9) school choice and parents' attitudes; (10) from theories to present African realities; and (11) the public policy toward private education in Africa. Implications for education-policy research in Sub-Saharan Africa are described. Eight appendices contain an index to Sub-Saharan countries mentioned in the text, selected African countries' examples on private-education development and financing, statistics on private enrollment as percentage of total enrollment, suggested typology of private schools, comparative analysis of advantages and disadvantages of private education as compared to public education, private consumption in Sub-Saharan Africa, relative price of private consumption of education in selected African countries in 1993, and factors determining the volume of tuition fees in profit-making schools. (Contains 127 references.) (RT)
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.
Countries in Sub-Saharan Africa have made substantial progress in universalizing primary school completion. Many young Africans are completing primary schooling, and many more will do so in the coming years. The pressure already strong to expand secondary and tertiary education is expected to intensify. Finding a sustainable path for such expansion is a challenge for all countries in the region. Given the diversity across African countries, 'Developing Post-Primary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Assessing the Financial Sustainability of Alternative Pathways' offers no generic policy fix. Rather, it seeks to provide policy makers and their development partners with an analytical tool to inform discussion and debate about alternative options in light of country circumstances. It presents simulation scenarios that serve an illustrative function to draw attention to the implications of such options as raising the share of education in the national budget, reforming the service delivery arrangements to manage costs, diversifying the student flow beyond lower secondary education, and enlarging the role of private funding, particularly in post-primary education. The study captures the nature of the policy choices by presenting alternative packages of policies and using them to clarify the affordability of what the authors characterize as spartan and generous choices. One of the study s most valuable contributions is the flexibility of the simulation model, which can be used to adapt the package of policies to national contexts. 'Developing Post-Primary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Assessing the Financial Sustainability of Alternative Pathways', which contains detailed annexes with results for 33 low-income countries, will be of interest to national education policy makers and development partners, as well as education researchers and education consultants.
"In the current economic climate, how can African governments provide every child with a decent education? This report provides the statistical evidence to evaluate the policy trade-offs in responding to the rising demand for primary and secondary education in sub-Saharan Africa. The report presents the most comprehensive and timely data available on the financing of education in 45 sub-Saharan African countries. In addition, historical data enable the authors to track trends since the World Education Forum in 2000 and examine the financial impact of the steadfast commitment of many African governments to provide universal primary education. Over the past ten years, real expenditure on education has risen by 6% annually across the region. It is often assumed that the resources were used to widen enrollment. Yet, recent data show that many countries also made significant investments to improve their educational services. The report also introduces new indicators on critical issues, such as the qualifications and salaries of teachers, the running costs of schools, and the provision of textbooks. The authors examine financing trends in private education, as well as official development assistance, which accounts for more than 50% of public education budgets in some countries. In short, this report provides the facts -- not assumptions -- to analyse policy options and optimise the use of limited financial resources."--P. [4] of cover.
Assessing Aid determines that the effectiveness of aid is not decided by the amount received but rather the institutional and policy environment into which it is accepted. It examines how development assistance can be more effective at reducing global poverty and gives five mainrecommendations for making aid more effective: targeting financial aid to poor countries with good policies and strong economic management; providing policy-based aid to demonstrated reformers; using simpler instruments to transfer resources to countries with sound management; focusing projects oncreating and transmitting knowledge and capacity; and rethinking the internal incentives of aid agencies.
Textbooks play a key role in enhancing the quality of learning, especially in the context of low-income Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries characterized by large class-size, poorly motivated and inadequately trained teachers, and short effective school years. There are also high rates of illiteracy among parents and few reading materials at home for the student to bank on. Despite extensive investments by governments, the World Bank and other development partners, the majority of students in primary and secondary schools in SSA still lack the benefit of access to textbooks and the key reason for this shortage is affordability: textbooks are generally much more costly in SSA than in other developing regions. The need to increase access to key learning resources is of particular urgency because most African countries experience low learning outcomes which in part contributes to a high drop-out rate. Only two-thirds of those who enter school reach the final grade and only about half of these master basic numeracy and literacy skills. And although quality improvement depends on many factors inside and outside the school, there is wide agreement that availability of textbooks is both an indispensable and a cost-effective way of improving the quality of the learning process. A recent World Bank study examined the actual costs of textbooks, the scope for cost reduction, the portion of a national budget countries allocate to teaching and learning materials (TLMs) and hurdles in the way of making textbooks available to student. Some interesting findings from the study - - The availability of affordable textbooks to all students could be dramatically improved by devoting an estimated 3 to 4 percent of the primary education budget and 6 to 7 percent of the secondary education budget - The production process †“ methods, copyright, length of print runs, effective procurement practices †“ rather than the production costs should be the target of cost saving strategies - The increased integration of ICTs into education in SSA can provide important opportunities for promoting availability of electronic TLMs but electronic TLMs are not a substitute for printed TLMs including textbooks
Africa is poised on the edge of a potential takeoff to sustained economic growth. This takeoff can be abetted by a demographic dividend from the changes in population age structure. Declines in child mortality, followed by declines in fertility, produce a 'bulge' generation and a large number of working age people, giving a boost to the economy. In the short run lower fertility leads to lower youth dependency rates and greater female labor force participation outside the home. Smaller family sizes also mean more resources to invest in the health and education per child boosting worker productivity. In the long run increased life spans from health improvements mean that this large, high-earning cohort will also want to save for retirement, creating higher savings and investments, leading to further productivity gains. Two things are required for the demographic dividend to generate an African economic takeoff. The first is to speed up the fertility decline that is currently slow or stalled in many countries. The second is economic policies that take advantage of the opportunity offered by demography. While demographic change can produce more, and high quality, workers, this potential workforce needs to be productively employed if Africa is to reap the dividend. However, once underway, the relationship between demographic change and human development works in both directions, creating a virtuous cycle that can accelerate fertility decline, social development, and economic growth. Empirical evidence points to three key factors for speeding the fertility transition: child health, female education, and women's empowerment, particularly through access to family planning. Harnessing the dividend requires job creation for the large youth cohorts entering working age, and encouraging foreign investment until domestic savings and investment increase. The appropriate mix of policies in each country depends on their stage of the demographic transition.
This book lays out a rationale, provides supporting evidence, and suggests promising pathways for Sub-Saharan Africa to sustain current economic growth by aligning its tertiary education systems with national economic strategies and labor market needs.
