From Africa Recovery, Vol.14#2 (July 2000), page 14 (box within article "Dakar forum promotes basic education")

Education for an 'African renaissance'

"We are more convinced than ever," African education ministers declared, "that education is the sine quo non for empowering the people of Africa to participate in and benefit more effectively from the opportunities available in the globalized economy of the 21st century." At one of six meetings held in different regions of the world to prepare for the education forum in Dakar, African ministers of education gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa, 6-10 December 1999 to assess the continent's specific challenges and priorities. They adopted a framework for action, "Education for African Renaissance in the 21st Century," to complement the global framework adopted in Dakar.

The ministers noted that although primary enrolment has increased considerably in many African countries over the past decade, it still remains low compared to most other regions. The reasons are multiple. "Many countries," the ministers observed, "have experienced austere economic adjustment programmes, an increased debt burden, a skewed global economic system, poor governance, inadequate and sometimes poorly used resources, as well as drought and floods. These factors, combined with the impact of HIV/AIDS and armed conflict, have continued to have devastating effects on education in Africa."

The number of students dropping out of school has increased, largely due to high costs and armed conflicts, the ministers reported. The quality of education generally is poor, and educational content is "often irrelevant to the needs of the learners and of social, cultural and economic development."

Yet the ministers remained optimistic that Africa's educational systems can be significantly improved, given "the recent political progress and increased investment in education in parts of Africa and the opportunities offered by new information and communications technologies." They called for combining African knowledge and values of solidarity with modern management techniques, social and physical sciences, and new technologies to solve Africa's chronic problems.

Toward that end, they urged concerted action in priority areas, anticipating the targets later incorporated into the global Dakar Framework. In addition, the ministers stressed developing non-formal strategies for reaching disadvantaged children, including street and working children and refugees; making curricula more relevant to local cultures; promoting use of the mother tongue in the early years of primary education and in adult education; integrating education into the family, community and workplace; and involving teachers and their unions in the development of the teaching profession.

Besides using existing budgetary resources more efficiently, African governments should increase their educational outlays to at least 7 per cent of gross domestic product within 5 years and 9 per cent within 10 years. While governments have the principal financial responsibility, they must act in broad partnership with communities, parents and teachers' associations, non-governmental organizations, religious bodies, the private sector and families. Such partnerships should involve "not simply cost-sharing, but the whole education process, including decision-making, management and teaching."

Meanwhile, external creditor institutions should ensure that the savings from debt reduction are invested in education and other social sectors, the ministers declared. Both multilateral and bilateral donor institutions should work with African governments and other partners "to assess the side-effects of SAPs [structural adjustment programmes], and other development programmes, on education." They also should increase financial and technical support to education in Africa to "at least double the current level by 2015."

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