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LIMITED
E/ECA/PSPI.9/15
UNITED NATIONS 5 January 1996
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
Original: ENGLISH
ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA
Ninth Session of the Conference of
African Planners, Statisticians, Population
and Information Specialists
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 11-16 March 1996
REGIONAL SURVEY OF STATISTICAL ORGANISATION AND TRAINING:
RESULTS OF THE PILOT ANALYSIS
Table of Contents
Paragraphs
Part I: Background to the survey . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 9
A. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 - 4
B. The Survey questionnaires. . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 - 6
C. Survey response. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 - 9
Part II: Statistical organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . 10-35
A. Structure of the national statistical system . . . 10-13
B. Structure of the central statistical office. . . . 14-17
C. Summary of staff position as at 31 March 1994. . . 18-23
D. Institutional arrangements 24-35
(i) Statistical board/committee. . . . . . . . . 24-26
(ii) Producer-producer committee. . . . . . . . . 27-29
(iii) Producer-user committee. . . . . . . . . . . 30-32
(iv) Existing relationship between the
CSO and other statistical agencies/
units outside the CSO. . . . . . . . . . . . .33
(v) Kinds of relationship countries would
prefer to see existing between the
CSO and other statistical agencies/
units outside the CSO. . . . . . . . . . . . .34
(vi) Existing relationship between
the CSO and organisations outside the
country. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .35
Part III: Statistical training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36-93
A. Quantity, quality and relevance of training
available to Directors of Statistics . . . . . . . 36-71
B. In-service statistical training programme. . . . . 72-87
C. Course/subjects required in the work of
the CSOs and SUs but not covered so far in
the training programme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88-93
Part IV. Staff and training summary. . . . . . . . . . . . 94-99
Part V. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100-101
PART I: BACKGROUND TO THE SURVEY
A. Introduction
1. At the joint meeting of the Training and Organization and
Management Sub-Committees of the Co-ordinating Committee on African
Statistical Development (CASD) which met on 18 March 1994 in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia on the occasion of the Joint Conference of African
Planners, Statisticians and Demographers, a discussion of supply
of and needs for training in the context of a survey of
organisational relationships within statistical systems took place.
2. The objective of this Action was to survey Directors of
National Statistical Offices in order to find out:
(a) their opinions of the quantity, quality and relevance of
training available to them to meet their training needs;
and
(b) the organisational relationships between various parts of
their National Statistical Systems (NSS).
The output of this Action was foreseen to be a report summarising
the views of Directors, with a summary showing the unsatisfied
demand.
3. The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) was given the Task
leadership of undertaking the survey to be assisted by
representatives of AFRISTAT, INE-Portugal, The World Bank, "Ecole
Nationale Suprieure de Statistique et d'Economie Applique"
(ENSEA) - Abidjan, Mauritania, Zambia and International Program
Centre (IPC) - Washington D.C., USA.
4. The results of the Pilot Analysis were initially discussed
at a third meeting of the Sub-Committee on Organisation and
Management of National Statistical Systems, Addis Ababa, 25-26 May
1995. At that time only 14 African countries had responded to the
survey.
B. The Survey Questionnaires
5. Two questionnaires were prepared: The first questionnaire was
to be completed by the head of the Central Statistical Office (CSO)
in each country; and the second questionnaire was to be completed
by the head of each Statistical Unit (SU) in the NSS of each
country.
6. The first questionnaire contained items on: Structure of the
NSS; Structure of the CSO; Summary of staff position at the CSO;
Summary of field staff at the CSO; Institutional arrangements;
Relationship between the CSO and other statistical agencies/
organizations in or outside the country; and Statistical
training (numbers of staff trained and training needs). The second
questionnaire contains items on: SU details (name, location,
address, etc); Structure of the SU; Summary of staff position at
the SU; Relationship between the SU and other statistical
agencies/organizations in the country; and Statistical training
(numbers of staff trained and training needs). At the beginning of
each questionnaire, definitions and explanatory notes were
provided. The questionnaires were despatched to the countries
beginning end of July 1994 (English version) and middle of August
1994 (French version).
C. Survey Response
7. Response to the survey was very slow. Four facsimile/cable
reminders were sent to all countries which did not respond. The
first reminder was sent at the end of October 1994, the second
reminder was sent end of November 1994, the third reminder was sent
at the beginning of March 1995 and the fourth reminder was sent in
August 1995. In order to increase the number of responses, during
January 1995, ECA resorted to using the telephone to talk to some
of the Directors of Statistics. A few telephone communications
which were made revealed that either the Directors of CSOs did not
remember to have received the questionnaires or they recalled
having received them but did not follow-up with the officer who was
assigned the responsibility of filling the questionnaire. In this
connection, either fresh questionnaires were sent to the country
or the Director was requested to respond urgently.
8. As a result of all these efforts including facsimile/cable
and telephone reminders, the situation with regard to responses
received so far at ECA is as follows:
____________________________________________________________
English-speaking Countries French-speaking Countries
Country Q1 1/ Q2 2/Country Q1 Q2
Botswana 1 3 Algeria 1 -
Egypt 1 - Burkina Faso 1 12
Ethiopia 1 21 Burundi 1 9
Ghana - 1 Chad 1 2
Lesotho 1 1 Cote D'Ivoire 1 5
Libya 1 - Congo 1 1
Malawi 1 2 Djibouti 1 -
Mauritius 1 2 Mauritania 1 2
Nigeria - 58 Senegal 1 6
South Africa 1 - Tunisia 1 9
Swaziland 1 2
Tanzania - 1 3/
Uganda - 1 4/
Zanzibar(TZ) 1 2
Zimbabwe - 1
___________________________________________________________
From the above picture, if we ignore the responses from the
statistical training institutions in Tanzania and Uganda, it is
clear that only twenty three countries responded to the survey. If
we exclude the countries in Africa which are affected by civil
strife: Rwanda, Liberia and Somalia, the response rate is 46 per
cent. Indeed a satisfactory number of responding countries has not
yet been achieved in the survey but this is a significant
improvement to an earlier report which as reported earlier was
presented to the third meeting of the Sub-Committee on Organisation
and Management of National Statistical Systems, Addis Ababa, 25-26
May 1995.
9. The results of the survey analysis of the questionnaire
completed by the CSOs are presented in Part II: Statistical
Organization; Part III: Statistical Training; Part IV: Staff and
Training Summary and Part V: Conclusion. The results of the survey
analysis of the questionnaire completed by the SUs were where
possible included in Parts II, III, IV and V of this document.
PART II: STATISTICAL ORGANIZATION
A. Structure of the National Statistical System
10. The structure of the National Statistical Systems of the
countries is characterised by the existence of a CSO responsible
for the production and dissemination of official statistics of the
country and statistical units located in line ministries/
departments responsible for compiling official
statistics required mainly by the line ministries/departments. In
nearly all the countries, a research and statistics unit exists at
the Central Bank, which in some countries, is also responsible for
inter alia compilation of balance of payments statistics.
11. The survey results revealed that 15 of the CSOs are located
in the Ministry of Finance & Development Planning or Ministry of
Planning and Development, 3 are under the Office of the President,
while one is under National Authority for Information and
Documentation, one under Commerce and Tourism and the remaining 3
did not indicate the ministry/department which they belong.
12. The number of SUs outside the CSO varies from country to
country depending on the size of the civil service and the number
of ministries/departments existing in the country. It could also
depend on the policy adopted by government on the creation of such
units. The table below shows the number of SUs reported to exist
in each country. The number of SUs reported in the questionnaire
completed by the CSO did not always agree with the number of
completed questionnaires by the SUs such as in Nigeria and Burkina
Faso.
Country Number of Number of
Statistical Country Statistical
Unit Unit
Algeria - Libya 6
Botswana 4 Malawi 6
Burkina Mauritania 3
Faso 11 Mauritius 3
Burundi 9 Nigeria 53
Chad 2 Senegal -
Congo 5 South Africa -
Cote D'Ivoire 5 Swaziland 2
Tunisia -
Djibouti - Zanzibar
Egypt - (TZ) 2
Ethiopia 21 Zimbabwe 1
Ghana 1
Lesotho 2
13. In some countries such as South Africa due to the centralised
nature of the statistical service, SUs outside the CSO are yet to
be defined within the framework of integration and rationalisation
process which is being planned.
B. Structure of the Central Statistical Office
14. The structure of the CSO is more difficult to characterise due
to the wide range of terms that are used to describe certain
statistical functions. For example the term economic statistics
encompasses a wide range of areas of statistics such as national
accounts, external trade, prices, industry, etc.
15. Despite the above, the majority of the CSOs had the following
substantive divisions or sections in their structures.
Divisions/Sections Divisions/Sections
Population Agriculture
Census/Demography Energy
Data Processing Publications
Industry Cartography
Economic Stat/National External
Accts Prices Trade/Transport/Public
Surveys/Field Operations Finance
Tourism and Transport Statistical Coordination
Environment Training/Human Resources
Documentation and Manufacturing
Information Social and Housing
Methodology/surveys General Statistics
Manpower Economic Analysis
16. The divisions or sections providing common services were
mainly: Data processing; Regional offices and surveys/field
operations, statistical coordination; publication; cartography.
Other divisions or sections providing common services which are not
statistical in nature are: administrative and finance services,
auditing service and legal advisory services.
17. Regarding regional and district offices, eleven (11) of the
CSOs had these offices in place to take care of surveys conducted
throughout the country or to satisfy the statistical demands at the
regional/district levels, 10 of the CSOs do not have these offices
in place and for 2 CSOs, information was not available since the
CSOs did not complete the relevant questionnaire. The table below
shows the situation of each country with respect to the existence
of regional/district offices.
Country Regional/ Country Regional/
District Office District Office
Algeria NO Libya NO
Botswana YES Malawi YES
Burkina Faso NO Mauritania YES
Burundi NO Mauritius NO
Chad YES Nigeria YES
Congo YES Senegal YES
Cote d'Ivoire NO South Africa YES
Djibouti NO Swaziland NO
Egypt YES Tunisia YES
Ethiopia YES Zanzibar (TZ) NO
Ghana No Inf. Zimbabwe No
Inf.
Lesotho NO
C. Summary of Staff Position as at 31 March 1994
18. Annex I shows the summary of staff position in all African
countries as at 31 March 1994. As expected the staff positions of
the countries vary greatly. On average, if we exclude vacancies,
there were 597 staff in each country. The vacancy rate was 12.9
per cent in each CSO. The majority of staff in the CSOs are
regular staff (82.9%) and only 4.0 per cent represent temporary
staff or those on short-term appointments. A total of 86.9 per cent
of the staff were paid by the government of the country while only
0.14 per cent of the staff were paid by funds from external
sources.
19. In comparing the number of professional statistical posts to
the non-professional statistical posts, on average for each
professional statistician post, there are 1.4 non-professional
statistical posts. The data processing posts have a ratio of 1.9
non-professional posts to every professional post while the
administrative posts have a higher ratio of 6.6 non-professional
posts to every professional administrator.
20. The table below gives the ratio of non-professionals to
professionals in the three fields of work (statistical, data
processing and administrative) in the case of available posts and
filled posts.
--------------------------------------------------------------
Posts Fields of work
Statistical Data Administrative
processing
--------------------------------------------------------------
Filled 2.0 1.9 7.5
Available 1.4 1.9 6.6
--------------------------------------------------------------
21. In comparing differences in the ratios for the three fields of
work, for available and filled posts, the ratios in the case of the
data processing field of work are not significant. In the case of
statistical and administrative fields of work the differences in the
case of filled posts and available posts appear to be significant.
22. With respect to the CSO field staff, on average there were 289
staff in the field in each country. The supervisory staff were 13
per cent of the total field staff while enumerators were 81 per cent
of the total field staff. The remaining 5.9 per cent of the field
staff were involved in other administrative tasks. A summary of field
staff for all African countries which responded to the survey is
given below. With regard to the ratio between enumerator and
supervisors, overall the ratio was 6.2 enumerators to one supervisor.
This ratio is 5.3 when we consider the permanent staff only.
Number of Staff in the Field
All African Countries
--------------------------------------------------------------
Category of
Staff Permanent Temporary Total
Staff Staff
--------------------------------------------------------------
Supervisors 707 159 866
Enumerators 3731 1664 5395
Others 180 216 396
Total 4618 2039 6657
--------------------------------------------------------------
23. On whether CSOs consider that they have a permanent field force
or not, 7 of the CSOs indicated that they have a permanent field force
while 14 indicated that they do not have a permanent field force while
for 2 CSOs there was no indication. For CSOs which have no permanent
field force, they indicated that they managed their field activities
by organizing temporary recruitment of staff to carry out these
activities. In this case supervisors for the field activities were
selected from the middle level staff in the office. The table below
shows the situation of each country with respect to existence of a
permanent field force.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Country Permanent Country Permanent
Field Force Field Force
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Algeria YES Libya NO
Botswana NO Malawi NO
Burkina Faso YES Mauritania NO
Burundi NO Mauritius NO
Chad NO Nigeria YES
Congo NO Senegal NO
Cote d'Ivoire NO South Africa NO
Djibouti NO Swaziland NO
Egypt YES Tunisia YES
Ethiopia NO Zanzibar (TZ) YES
Ghana No Inf. Zimbabwe No Inf.
Lesotho YES
---------------------------------------------------------------------
D. Institutional Arrangements
(i) Statistical Board/Committee
24. Out of twenty three countries which responded to the survey, 8
countries indicated that they have an overall statistical
board/committee responsible for all statistical activities in the
country, 12 countries indicated that they had no statistical
board/committee in-charge of all statistical activities in the country,
while one country did not indicate the existence or non-existence of
a statistical board/committee and there was no information from two
countries.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Country Statistical Country Statistical
Board/Committee Board/Committee
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Algeria YES Libya NO
Botswana NO Malawi NO
Burkina Faso YES Mauritania YES
Burundi NO Mauritius NO
Chad NO Nigeria No Inf.
Congo NO Senegal YES
Cote d'Ivoire YES South Africa NO
Djibouti YES Swaziland YES
Egypt YES Tunisia NO
Ethiopia NO Zanzibar (TZ) NO
Ghana No Inf. Zimbabwe No Inf.
Lesotho NO
---------------------------------------------------------------------
25. In some of the countries where a statistical board/committee
exist, the committees were reported not to be functioning properly due
to some of the following obstacles: the committee is too large;
committee is composed of high level administrators hence not easy to
meet; the legal procedures were not yet finalised; and coordination of
statistical activities was not ensured.
26. In the countries where a statistical board/committee did not
exist, coordination of statistical activities was achieved through the
following ways: coordination matters were handled by the Director and
Deputy of the CSO; consultations were undertaken before expanding or
undertaking surveys; different committees handled different matters
i.e. price advisory committee, etc.; major surveys were planned well
in advance and became part of the national development plan; for ad-hoc
surveys or when modifying questionnaires of routine surveys, meetings
of major uses were convened; and through ad hoc meetings.
(ii) Producer-Producer Committees
27. Seventeen (17) countries reported that they do not have
producer-producer committees and only four countries had these
committees while for two countries there was no information. In one
country a consultative committee on statistics is the main producer-
producer committee. The table below shows the situation of each
country with respect to the existence of producer-producer committees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Country Producer-User Country Producer-User
Committee Committee
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Algeria NO Libya NO
Botswana NO Malawi NO
Burkina Faso NO Mauritania NO
Burundi NO Mauritius NO
Chad NO Nigeria YES
Congo NO Senegal NO
Cote d'Ivoire YES South Africa NO
Djibouti NO Swaziland YES
Egypt NO Tunisia NO
Ethiopia NO Zanzibar (TZ) NO
Ghana No Inf. Zimbabwe No Inf.
Lesotho NO
---------------------------------------------------------------------
28. In countries where the producer-producer committee is functioning
properly, this was due to some of the following reasons: meetings are
organised annually to tackle the various issues involved; and the
committee is composed of professionals from the statistical and data
processing fields.
29. In countries where the producer-producer committee is not
functioning properly, the obstacles were mainly due to the following:
relations between producers not good; and there were inadequate
procedures for the functioning of the committee.
(iii) Producer-User Committee
30. Eighteen countries reported that they had no producer-user
committees three had a producer-user committees and there was no
information from two countries. In one country a producer-user seminar
was organised annually and formed a useful consultation between
producers and users. The table below shows the situation of each
country with respect to the existence of producer-user committees.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Country Producer-User Country Producer-User
Committee Committee
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Algeria NO Libya NO
Botswana NO Malawi NO
Burkina Faso NO Mauritania NO
Burundi NO Mauritius NO
Chad NO Nigeria YES
Congo NO Senegal NO
Cote d'Ivoire YES South Africa NO
Djibouti NO Swaziland YES
Egypt NO Tunisia NO
Ethiopia NO Zanzibar (TZ) NO
Ghana No Inf. Zimbabwe No Inf.
Lesotho NO
---------------------------------------------------------------------
31. In one country where the producer-user committee exists, the
committee functions satisfactorily because the National Council on
Statistics which designs policies on statistics and the National
Advisory Council on statistics which executes policies and
standardization of methodologies and concepts are involved.
32. In countries where no formal producer-user committee exist,
exchange of views between producers and users of statistics was
achieved through the following means: organisation of meetings or
seminars with major users; ad-hoc committee constituted when needed;
organisation of meetings on special topics i.e. national accounts;
users of statistics represented on the statistical board/council; users
of statistics form part of the advisory committee constituted for each
survey; meeting with users to discuss their requirements before a large
scale (survey, census, etc) is launched and when results of survey are
disseminated; and informal consultations.
(iv) Existing Relationship Between the CSO and Other Statistical
Agencies/Units Outside the CSO
33. Existing relationship between the CSO and other statistical
agencies outside the country were reported to be as follows: exchange
of statistical data/publications i.e. census and survey data from the
CSO and secondary data from other statistical agencies; coordination
of concepts and methodology; assistance in the preparation of schemes
of services; secondment of staff from CSO to other statistical units
outside the CSO; Assistance from other agencies/units to CSO in terms
of manpower and other material support during large scale statistical
operations; training of staff through in-service statistical training
programmes and other means; participation in task forces; and
Organisation of seminars.
(v) Kinds of Relationship Countries Would Prefer to See Existing
Between the CSO and Other Statistical Agencies/Units Outside the
CSO
34. The following are the kinds of relationships countries would
prefer to see existing between the CSO and other statistical
agencies/units: formation of a statistical board/committee or
coordinating committee of the NSS; existence of a national committee
for coordination of statistical activities; exchange of
staff/secondment of staff; coordination/harmonization of concepts and
methodologies; data exchange; training/share of training facilities;
technical meetings between the CSO and other agencies/units;
cooperation and consultation to eliminate duplication of
statistical activities, production and use of
statistical information; technical assistance of the CSO to other
statistical units outside the CSO; and preparation of schemes of
service.
(vi) Existing Relationship Between the CSO and Organisations Outside
the Country
35. The following relationships were reported by countries: technical
cooperation/financial assistance; exchange of publication/data;
receiving journals and attendance at conferences; provision of
statistics needed by outside agencies; training/provision of training
facilities; and exchange of experience.
PART III: STATISTICAL TRAINING
A. Quantity, Quality and Relevance of Training Available to Directors
of Statistics
36. A summary of the quantity, assessment of the course/subjects taken
in terms of quality and relevance/usefulness as reported by the
Directors of Statistics of each country has been summarized below.
============
ALGERIA
============
Academic training
37. Ten staff were trained during the period 1989-1994 at INSEE,
Rabat, Tunis and Cairo.
Specialized short-term training
38. No training was reported.
=============
BOTSWANA
=============
Academic training
39. A total of twelve (12) staff were trained at the certificate,
diploma and masters degree levels in various subjects such as
cartography, demography, social statistics, economics and econometrics
and data processing. Most of the courses were of a duration of one to
two years. The training institutions were universities and statistical
training institutes in Europe, America, Australia and Africa. The
sources of funding for the training courses were a mixture of bilateral
and multilateral donor agencies such as Overseas Development
Administration (ODA), Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation
(CFTC), Government of Botswana, Australian Government., Dutch
Government etc. The rating of the quality of courses ranged from good
to excellent, the same was true in terms of usefulness. All CSO staff
who were sent for training are working at the CSO in its various
sections.
Specialized short-term training
40. A total of four (4) members of staff were provided specialized
short-term training in two or three courses. The courses were national
accounts, lotus 1.2.3., dbase III, introduction to micro computing,
population data processing and desk top publishing. Most of the
courses were of two weeks duration but some lasted up to three months.
The training courses were held outside the country mainly in the U.K.
but some were held in Africa. The sources of funding for the training
courses was mainly Botswana Government but some donors i.e. ODA/British
Council, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) funded overseas and
country courses. Assessment of quality of the courses ranged from good
to excellent, the same is true regarding assessment of the usefulness
of the courses. All staff who were trained are working at the CSO.
=================
BURKINA FASO
=================
Academic training
41. A total of forty five (45) staff were trained at various levels
during the part five years: "Ingenieur statisticien Economiste" (ISE),
"Ingenieur des travaux Statistique" (ITS), "Adjoint technique de la
Statistique" (AD) and "Agent Technique de la Statistique" (AG). The
training period ranged from 12-36 months and the training locations
were varied: ENSEA (Abidjan), ENEA (Dakar), IFORD (Yaounde), IAMSEA
(Kigali), CFR (Niamey), CESAG (Dakar), Louvain la Neuve (ULC) and IDEP
(Dakar). The source of funding were either the United Nations,
Government of Burkina Faso or other donor agencies. All the trained
staff are at the CSO.
Specialized short-term training
42. A total of two staff were trained at ULC and IDP (Paris) with
funding support from UNDP. All staff who were trained are working at
the CSO.
Specialized short-term training
43. No training was reported in this area.
============
BURUNDI
============
Academic training
44. No information was provided
Specialized short-term training
45. No information was provided
===================
COTE D'IVOIRE
===================
Academic training
46. Only one staff member was trained at the University of Paris,
Institute of demography. The staff member is still working at the CSO.
Specialized short-term training
47. Three staff members were trained in belgium, France and
Switzerland. All staff who were trained are still working at the CSO.
==============
DJIBOUTI
==============
Academic training
48. Two staff members were trained at IFORD (Yaounde) and the Bureau
of economic Analysis in Washington D.C. USA. The sources of funding was
either the United Nations or other donors. The quality of training was
rated excellent. All the two staff are still working at the CSO.
Specialized short-term training
49. No training was reported
============
ETHIOPIA
============
Academic training
50. A total of eight (8) staff members were trained at the Masters
degree level with specialisation in statistics, econometrics, social
statistics, medical demography and computer science. The training
institutions were all in the United Kingdom. Funding was from UNFPA or
UNDP. All staff who were trained are working at the CSO.
Specialized short-term training
51. Two staff members were trained at the Diploma level in India. The
funding source was the Indian Government. All staff are working at the
CSO.
============
GHANA
=============
Academic training
52. No information was provided.
Specialized short-term training
53. No information was provided.
=============
LESOTHO
=============
Academic training
54. A total of 26 staff members were trained at the Bachelors degree
and certificate in statistics levels. With the exception of two staff
member who were trained outside the country in Tanzania and Canada, the
rest were trained at the National University of Lesotho. Those trained
outside the country were supported by donor funds. The rating of the
courses was either very good or excellent both in terms of quality and
usefulness. All staff members who were trained are working at the
Bureau of Statistics, Lesotho.
Specialized short-term training
55. A total of seven (7) staff members were trained in gender
statistics, analysis of agricultural data, health surveys, data
processing and statistics as a tool of management. No information was
provided on the duration of the courses, training institutions, sources
of funding and assessment of the courses. All staff members who
benefitted from the training courses are working at the Bureau of
Statistics, Lesotho.
============
MALAWI
============
Academic training
56. A total of eight (8) staff members were trained at the masters
degree level in the fields of statistics, economics, demography,
development economics and social statistics. The training institutions
were all in U.K. at various universities. The sources of funding were
donor agencies. An assessment of quality and usefulness of the courses
was not provided. All the staff members who were trained are working
at the CSO in its various sections.
Specialized short-term training
57. No training was reported.
=================
MAURITIUS
=================
Academic training
58. No training was reported.
Specialized short-term training
59. A total of 17 staff members were trained in a range of courses.
The courses were mainly on management of statistical activities, micro
computer applications, economic & social indicators, international
comparison project, revised system of national accounts, computers and
census cartography, international trade statistics, computer processing
& information systems, quality control, government finance statistics,
disability statistics, agricultural statistics and macro-economic
statistics. The duration of courses ranged from one week to four
months in the majority of cases. The training institutions were mainly
outside the country in USA, Europe, Canada, South America, other
African countries, Australia and the Far East countries, The sources
of funding for the courses were donor agencies such as United Nations,
European Commission, U.K. Government, Australian Government,
Commonwealth Secretariat, European Development Fund, International
Monetary Fund, Government of India, etc. No assessment of quality nor
usefulness of the courses was provided. Those trained are all working
at the CSO.
============
NIGERIA
===========
Academic training
60. The CSO has trained its staff mainly in Nigeria at the University
of Ibadan and other Federal Government funded universities. A total
of 163 staff were trained, 53 at the bachelors degree level, 16 at the
masters degree level, 25 at the postgraduate diploma level, 67 at the
professional diploma in statistics level and 2 at doctorate degree
level in statistics. The source of funding for the academic training
was the Nigeria Government. The rating of the courses is very good for
all of them. All staff, except the doctorate degree holders who left
the CSO, are still working at the CSO.
Specialized short-term training
61. A total of 318 staff members were trained in a range of short-term
courses. These courses covered sampling techniques, data collection
skills, revised system of national accounts, labour statistics,
management, foreign trade statistics, international comparison project,
agriculture sample surveys, questionnaire and table designs, evaluation
of family planning programmes, analysis and interpretation of data
reliability, database construction, maintenance and management,
industry and handcraft statistics, etc. The courses which were listed
were those attended during 1992/93. Apart from the courses held at the
Federal Office of Statistics (FOS) training schools and other locations
in Nigeria, the majority of the courses were held outside the country
in Africa, America, Europe, Middle East, India, etc. at universities
or specialized training institutes. Courses held outside the country
were donor funded while those held in Nigeria were funded by the
Nigeria Government. The quality and usefulness of all the short-term
courses was assessed to be very good. All staff who participated in
the courses are still in the service.
=================
SOUTH AFRICA
=================
Academic training
62. A total of four (4) staff members were trained mainly at the
bachelors and masters degree levels in the fields of library,
demography, economics and commerce. All four staff members were
trained in South Africa at the university of Pretoria. The source of
funding was scholarship from the South African Government. The quality
of all the courses was rated excellent except economics which was rated
very good. The same ratings were true in the case of assessment of the
usefulness of the courses. Those who benefitted from the training
courses are all working at the CSO in its various sections.
Specialized short-term training
63. No training was reported
==============
SWAZILAND
==============
Academic training
64. A total of six (6) staff were trained all in U.K. at various
universities. The source of funding was Overseas Development
Administration (ODA). Out of the six who benefitted from training, one
moved to the Central Bank, four are still at the CSO and one is
deceased. The courses were rated good to excellent.
Specialized short-term training
65. Two staff members were trained at the Institute of Statistics and
Applied Economics and the Munich Centre. Funding was from the European
Union and the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC). The
courses were rated good. All staff are still with the CSO.
================
TUNISIA
================
Academic training
66. The training of "Ingenieur adjoint technique" which lasts one
academic year was reported. This is done at the school of statistics
in Tunis. The funds of the school are used for this type of training.
The successful trainees are usually posted to various line ministries
of the Government including the CSO. The number trained and the
assessment of quality and usefulness of the courses was not indicated.
Specialized short-term training
67. No training was reported
==================
ZANZIBAR (TZ)
==================
Academic training
68. A total of four(4) staff were trained during the last five years,
the level nor subjects for which they trained were not specified. The
training institutions were either in Tanzania, U.K. or Egypt.
Sponsorship was by the United Nations or Tanzania Government. The
quality of training was assessed to be excellent. All the staff who
were trained are now at the Department of Statistics Zanzibar.
Specialized short-term training
69. No training was reported in this area.
=============
ZIMBABWE
=============
Academic training
70. No information was provided.
Specialized short-term training
71. No information was provided.
B. In-service Statistical Training Programme
72. Of the twenty three countries which responded to the survey,
eleven (11) countries reported to have in-service statistical training
programmes in their offices: Botswana, Egypt, Mauritius, Nigeria,
Tunisia, Algeria, South-Africa, Cote d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Zanzibar (TZ)
and Burundi. The other countries Mauritania, Senegal, Congo, Lesotho,
Libya, Malawi, Ethiopia, Swaziland and Burkina Faso stated that they
have no in-service statistical training programmes while there was no
information for two countries: Ghana and Zimbabwe.
73. Those which have no in-service training programmes, explained:
that the programme was not elaborated in their office; funds were not
available for it; or materials in the form of classrooms were not
available for it. Other countries conducted in-service statistical
training on ad-hoc basis.
74. The existing arrangements of the in-service statistical training
programmes in the countries where the programme exists or was under
elaboration are as follows:
============
ALGERIA
============
75. The programme has 18 courses for a period of 3 years. On-the-
job training or study groups or technical groups are conducted
through courses on the use of the computer. This programme is
available for technical staff only.
============
BOTSWANA
============
76. The in-service training programme is part of the correspondence
course in statistics offered by Rapid Results College. The students
are given course omaterials and a cource outline of the college.
They are supported by the Botswana Government in this effort.
============
BURUNDI
============
77. The office is in the proces of elaborating the programme with
the assistance of French Cooperation and Cultural Action Mission.
===================
COTE d'IVOIRE
===================
78. The office has a Support Programme and Economic Management
Programme. Within the framework of this programme, workshops are
organized and scheduled for the benefit of the staff.
===========
DJIBOUTI
===========
79. There are three training programmes: (i) In-house training
programme on basic statistical methods for clients; (ii) Agent
technique and Adjoint technique courses for staff of the CSO and
clients; and (iii) training of high school students in statistics.
==========
EGYPT
==========
80. The training programme consists of two programmes, advanced
programme for university graduates and one programme for middle level
staff. Each of the programmes are of a duration of one year.
--------------
ETHIOPIA
--------------
81. Facilities exist in the local university for in-service
statistical training.
--------------
MAURITIUS
--------------
82. A senior lecturer of the university of Mauritius has been
slected to (i) offer training leading to the Higher Certificate in
Statistics of the Royal Society of Statisticians (U.K.) and (ii)
enhance skills of the middle level staff.
--------------
NIGERIA
--------------
83. The in-service training programme of the Federal Office of
Statistics is managed
in three training shcools located in Lagos, Ibadan and Kaduna. There
are three preliminary, stage I and stage II. The schools are full
time and selection of trainees is competitive. These courses were
established as far back as early 1960's.
SOUTH AFRICA
84. A course for Administrative officers of the CSO was officially
instituted in 1985 and consist of 11 modules. Compulsory modules,
4 in number and 7 choice modules (choose any three.) A training
advisory committee monitors the standards and arrangements with
regard to the presentation of the modules.
---------------
TUNISIA
---------------
85. No details were provided.
-------------
ZANZIBAR
-------------
86. Professional staff of the CSO are used as teachers in this
course. Subjects taught include elementary arithmetic, algebra,
economics, statistical theory and official statistics. Those who
succeed in the course are selected to study at the Eastern Africa
Statistical training Centre (EASTC) .
87. On the output of trainees from the in-service statistical
training programme since 1989 for the countries which have the
programme in place either at the CSO or elsewhere is shown in the
table below.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Year
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Country 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993
cso other CSO other CSO other CSO Other CSO Other Total
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Algeria - - - - - - - - - - -
Botswana 5 - 7 - - - - - - - 12
Egypt* 26 146 13 100 36 155 17 149 22 131 795
Mauritius - - - - - - - - 8 - 8
Nigeria - - - - - - - - - - -
South
Africa 20 - 22 - 16 - 21 - 21 11 111
Tunisia - - - - - - - - - - -
Ethiopia 1 - 1 - 3 - 2 - 2 - 9
Cote
D'Ivoire - - - - - - 12 - 50 200 262
Djibouti 1 - - - - 1 3 - - - 5
Zanzibar
(TZ) - - - - 3 20 3 19 2 18 65
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Note: For Nigeria, Tunisia and Algeria, data was not provided.
This is a combined output of all programes which are
condacted.
C. Courses/Subjects Required in the Work of the CSOs and SUs
But not covered so Far in the Training Programme.
88. As one can expect, depending on the amount of training which
already took place at the office, the requirements of the CSO are
bound to vary greatly. The courses/subjects required in the work of
the CSO were not significantly different from those required in the
work of SUs.
89. At the academic level, the requirements for most offices were
more in terms of bachelors, masters or doctorate degrees. In some
cases the specialisations at the degree level were specified such as
economics, statistics, accounting, mathematics, mathematical statistics,
computer science, public/government finance, econometrics, national
accounts and analyses, politics of population, etc. This clearly shows
the kind of demand for training at the academic level as required by
the statistical offices.
90. In the case of specialized short-term courses, these were required
by the majority of the statistical offices. The range of courses that
were required were as follows: sampling techniques/survey design,
construction of frames, data analysis, remote sensing, mapping/
cartography, national accounts, input/output tables, social accounting
matrix (SAM), Geographical information system (GIS), government
finance statistics, environment statistics, price statistics, labour
statistics, computer training (use of specialized statistical packages),
agricultural data collection, etc.
91. Under in-service statistical training, Nigeria made the following
suggestions: development of sample design -and sample frames,
introduction to survey and census methods, data collection techniques,
computer course for management, analysis and interpretation of data,
and measuring, data reliability. It should be recalled that Nigeria has
had a long experience in the handling of in-service statistical training
courses.
92. On suggestions for the locations of training institutions, most
statistical offices made suggestions in accordance to their knowledge.
Both local and outside the country universities and statistical training
institutes were suggested. In the case of Botswana, for specialized
short-term courses, the CSO preferred in-house courses since they
would benefit a larger number of staff. In the case of Egypt, their
specialised short-term course and in-service statistical training
programme requirements are met by the in-house CAPMAS training
programme.
93. On how the training needs which the countries have specified
can be-achieved, Malawi has suggested establishment of a training
unit in the office to be responsible for planning and implementation
of the training requirements. South Africa stated that the training
requirements can be achieved by granting fellowships and also
motivation of staff by supervisors. In the case of Botswana, mounting
of short-term training in-house to benefit more staff will achieve their
required specialized short-term training. In the case of Mauritius, they
suggested that staff members should take advantage of training
programmes sponsored by international organizations to enable
achievement of their required specialized short-term training.
PART IV. STAFF AND TRAINING SUMMARY
94. The staff and training summary is meant to provide at a
glance the situation regarding training: previous and future demand
at various levels and subjects for short courses including the staffing
situation in each country. The data for each country which provided
information is provided in the Addendum of the this document.
95. Regarding previous training, the following situation was
reported:
------------------------------------------------------------------
Country Funded externally Funded 'externally
(Per cent) (Per cent)
------------------------------------------------------------------
Botswana 79 Ethiopia 68
Burkina Faso 59 Ghana 66
Burundi 100 Lesotho 41
Chad 100 Malawi 64
Cote d'Ivoire 100 Nigeria 39
D'ibouti 100 Swaziland 64
Zanzibar (TZ) 66
Zimbabwe 100
---------------------------------------------------------------------
96. With the exception of two countries Lesotho and Nigeria, the
rest of the countries hAd more than 50 per cent of their previous
training funded through funds provided from external sources.
97. The future demand for training varied from country to
country depending mainly on the level of economic and statistical
development of the country and also the size of the NSS.
98. It is difficult to enumerate all the short courses which are
required by countries. The following appear to be the required ones:
GIS, Computing/Computer Science, National Accounts/Economic
Statistics, Environment, Health and Government Finance Statistics,
Epidemiology, Sampling Theory, Survey Techniques, Cartography/
Mapping, Dissemination Techniques, Gender Statistics, Statistical Data
Analysis, Prices, and Accident Statistics, Industry Statistics,
Biostatistics, Education Planning, Descriptive Statistics, Modelling,
Social Security Statistics, Human Resource Management, Use of
Statistics in Planning, Database Development, dBase, Lotus and
Clipper Software, Network Management, Social Statistics,
Methodology for formulation of indicators in the social sector,
Transport Statistics, Statistical report preparation and Operational
Research Methodology.
99. For many of the countries all the staff were funded by
government. However, in 4 countries less than 1 per cent of the
staff were funded by external sources: Botswana (0.16%) Burundi
(0.55%) Nigeria (0.26%), Mauritania (0.13%) and Swaziland
(0.28%). In another 4 countries more than 1 per cent of the staff
were funded from external sources: Chad (42.9%), Senegal
(1.06%), Burkina Faso (4.94%) and Zanzibar (TZ) (1.28%).
PART V: CONCLUSION
100. The document has described the results of the Pilot Analysis of
the Regional Survey of Statistical Organization and Training. These
results have covered mainly statistical organization, statistical training
and a brief description of the staff and training summary for each
African country.
101. Participants at the Joint Conference of African Planners,
Statisticians, Population and information Specialists are requested to:
(a) Discuss the results of the survey in the light of their country
experiences; and
(b) Suggest ways in which countries can better organize their -
statistical services and training activities to enable sustainable
statistical development of the countries within the framework
of the Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development
in Africa in the 1990s.
Summary of Staff Position at the CSO as at 31 March 1994
All African Countries
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Staff in Post
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Level of Staff Paid for by Paid by
Government external
assistance vacan Total
(technical) cies
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Nationals
------------------
Regular Temporary Non- Non- Natio
staff or on natio natio nals
short- nals nals
term on
appoint cont
ment ract
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
A. Head office
(a) Statistical
personnel
Professionals 2317 10 8 6 2 1346 3689
Middle level 3240 114 3 3 3 174 3537
clerks 1162 11 5 0 0 228 1406
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(b) Electronic
data
Processing
Personnel
Professionals 625 11 1 0 0 45 682
others 1117 60 0 0 0 60 1237
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
(c) Support
staff
Administra- 391 6 0 0 0 70 467
tive
General 868 338 0 2 2 117 1327
Services
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
B. Regional/
district
offices
(a) Statistical
personnel 332 27 0 4 0 0 363
Professionals 672 27 0 0 0 0 699
Middle level 517 7 0 0 0 0 524
Clerks
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(b) Electronic
data processing
personnel
Professionals 3 0 0 0 0 0 3
others 60 0 0 0 0 0 60
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
(c) supporting
staff 1758 13 0 0 0 1771
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 13062 624 17 15 7 2040 15765
==============================================================================
Endnotes
1/ Questionnaire to be completed by the Central Statistical
Offices (CSOs).
2/ Questionnaire to be completed by Statistical Units (SUs)
within the National Statistical System (NSS).
3/ Response from the Eastern Africa Statistical Training
Centre (EASTC).
4/ Response from the Institute of Statistics and Applied
Economics (ISAE), Makerere University.
5/ Information not available.