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EFA Africa Bulletin Board - July 2003

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• Meetings
• Country actions
• Girls' Education
• Education in Africa

· US Congress
· British Parliaments
· French Parliaments
· Japanese Parliaments
· ABD
· UNESCO
· World Bank
· Canada and others

- Constant assessments of MINEDAF activities
- Sub-regional coordination meetings
- Partnership meetings with different stakeholders
- Reinforcing the dynamics of the African Union

Mactar Diagne
UNESCO-BREDA
m.diagne@unesco.org


National Consultation on the OSCs-NGOs Capacity-Building Programme and intervening trade-unions in the education domain in Senegal - Dakar, June 23, 2003

The National Coalition for Civil society organizations in charge of Education For All (ANCEFA) in collaboration with UNESCO/BREDA and ANCEFA organized a national consultation on the OSCs / NGOs capacity building programme and intervening trade-unions in the EFA domain from 25 - 26 June, 2003.

From this meeting emanated the working tools that would be shared together among the NGOs in Senegal. This portray the seriousness of the delegates' assignments and the importance that UNESCO and its development partners attaches to the process.

UNESCO / BREDA appealed to the National Coalition of the civil society organizations in charge of Education For All to organize the consultation for learning of the Unions and the OSCs - NGOs capacity building programme in order to define the national implementation strategy in partnership with all the actors in education in Senegal. On its part, ANCEFA played an important role in the conception and implementation of the capacity building programme just like that of setting up in Senegal a National Coalition.

More importantly, the capacity building programme of OSCs/ONGs actively involved in Education in Sub-Saharan Africa was the issue of the seminar on the contribution of the Civil Society to Education in Sub-Saharan Africa held in Bamako in November 2000 and Dakar in May 2001 which regrouped the representatives of the Ministers of Education in Africa, non-governmental organizations of the Civil Society, the Word Bank, multilateral and bilateral partners and UNESCO.

The exchanges from the different meetings have enabled the participants to measure the importance of the role that the OSCs/ONGs could play in the promotion of a quality education, equitable and accessible to the grassroots populations. This is what constitute an ambitious objective by the different governments in the framework of the "Education For All Programme (EFAP)", which has benefited from the support of grassroots communities and development partners. This therefore comes from the conclusion of studies, seminars and meetings held in the framework of achieving universal schooling of which the contribution of non-governmental organizations and the general public could be substantial if these programmes had the advantage of using and involving everybody all along the process.

Indeed, Senegal participated in all the conception phases of the programme from the Dakar Forum of April 2000 until the Ministers of Education Conference of all the African Countries in Dar-es-Salam in 2002, as well as the held by the government and Heads of State in Bamako, 2000.

The programme will help the NGOs and other Civil Society entities to better assume the heavy task entrusted to them by the International Community, to know, and to help the governments and the private sector to relinquish the great challenge of a quality education for all children, adolescents and adults from other continent.

The programme has the privilege of receiving benefit (support) from UNESCO, World Bank, Rock Feller Foundation, Norwegian government and many other partners.

Based on her experience, the Civil Society in particular from the Dakar framework of actions, has a crucial role to play in identifying the tasks that hinders the achievements of the education for all objectives and in the formulation of policies and strategies to surmount them.

In this way, the National Coalition will contribute to the professional and institutional capacity building of the OSCs / ONGs and unions in countries where they are more effectively and efficiently involved in the EFA programme implementation, in a life-long learning perspective.

Expected Result from the Programme Implementation
For the Unions and OSCs / ONGs involved in the programme of building their institutional capacities, the objectives are summarized as follows :

• To make inventory of the training needs of the actors conducting the activities in the education domain;
• To elaborate a training programme aimed at making up for the lack;
• To determine a training calendar;
• To create a committee for monitoring and management of the programmes;
• To involve all the partners.

Eva Iversen
UNESCO-BREDA
e.iversen@unesco.org


Experts' meeting on the preparation of a framework document on a strategy of coverage of handicapped women literacy in Africa - Accra, 24-27 June, 2003

Context and justification
If women constitute the target group the most affected by exclusion and illiteracy in Africa, the handicapped women are even more affected. The objective of UNESCO being to promote the development and the welfare of human being, it is logical that the problem from which suffer the handicapped women be the concern of the organization.

Therefore, UNESCO set up a Program integrating the most underprivileged levels of the society through a quality education.

Within the framework of its activities, BREDA, in order to achieve the objective aimed by UNESCO, is putting the stress on the promotion of the handicapped women literacy, so as to help them in better integrating the society.

Therefore, the current activity lies within the framework of the follow-up of the BREDA programs.

Objective
This experts' meeting aims at preparing a framework document on the coverage of the handicapped women literacy.

• To exchange on functional literacy issue;
• To draw one's inspiration from successful experiences;
• To prepare a reference document.
  

• To have an adapted concept on functional literacy;
• To develop a regional strategy of coverage on non formal education for handicapped women;
• To have a reference document for better directing the actions in favour of functional literacy for handicapped women.

Diariata Coulibaly
UNESCO-BREDA
d.coulibaly@unesco.org

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COUNTRY ACTIONS
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State of Progress in the elaboration of the NPA/EFA programme in Burkina Faso

The process for the elaboration of Burkina Faso's National Plan of Action for the EFA programme started in June 2002 with:

1. the setting up of an inter-ministerial committee comprising the representatives of all the ministries involved in the development of the Burkinabe education system and a representative of the National Coordination of NGOs active in the basic education sub-sector;
2. the hiring of a consultant commissioned to draft the planning document.

This team was entrusted with the mission to reflect on the content of the plan in a bid to redact a document due to serve as a reflection basis for the elaboration of the NPA/EFA and which would complement the existing PDDEB by addressing the EFA objectives not mentioned in the PDDEB.

1. the holding of a national forum during which the Basic Education Minister officially launched the process for the laboration of the NPA/EFA, and the application for the Fast Track initiative for which Burkina Faso is eligible. The Forum gathered all the actors involved in the education sector.

2. the elaboration, after several working sessions, of the draft document destined to the consultation with NGOs, the Civil Society and the Technical and Financial Partners. The document was symbolically transmitted to the BREDA Office in Dar Es Salaam in December 2002.

It would be suitable to underscore that the document, yet to reach consensus, will be the subject of a broad nation-wide consultation involving all the partners and actors of the education sector before being finalised and ultimately validated and adopted.

To this end, we plan to stage consultation and validation workshops as soon as possible, with the technical and financial support of UNESCO.

The major difficulty encountered in Burkina Faso is that the schooling system is run by three ministries along with other ministerial departments whose actions are expected to help reach the 'Education For All' objectives.

Zerbo Salimata
Coordonnateur EPT au Burkina Faso
salimata_zerbo@yahoo.com

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GIRLS' EDUCATION
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Two-thirds of Burkinabe girls do not attend school

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) 27/06/2003 - Just about a third of girls of school going age are enrolled in Burkina Faso, official sources conceded here Friday.

Statistics released by the department of education and literacy show that only 34.6 percent of girls in Burkina Faso attend school - the lowest rate in West Africa.

The country's education system is still marked by regional, economic and gender inequalities.

The enrolment rate in the Centre stands at 77,26 percent. There, 81 percent of boys and 73 percent of girls attend school.

School attendance in the Sahel region is comparatively much lower, at 19.74 percent, with 23 percent boys and 16 percent of girls in school.

In the East of the country, the enrolment rate is 21.75. Between girls and boys, the rate is 17 and 26 percent respectively.


Sexual harassment of girls in schools worries World Bank

Kampala, Uganda (PANA) 10/06/2003 - Efforts in Africa to crack down on sexual harassment of girls in schools are proving difficult because African governments refuse to recognise the existence of the problem, a senior World Bank official charged here Tuesday.

World Bank lead education specialist, Jacob Bregman who is in Kampala for the ongoing five-day first regional conference on Secondary Education in Africa, regretted the lack of cooperation by governments to assist interested parties investigate sexual harassment by teachers in schools.

"We have difficulties to discuss this problem with governments because they don't want to recognise that the problem exists in schools. The press should be encouraged to research on this and expose the findings to the public since we have difficulties ourselves to unearthing this kind of problem," Bregman told reporters.

He regretted the non-existence of statistics on the extent of sexual harassment by teachers against girls, who are exposed to more risks than boys did especially as they reach puberty.

Meanwhile, a regional study on "Secondary Education in Africa (SEIA)" conducted by the World Bank Africa Human Development department has proposed that African countries drastically improve cost-efficiency at all levels of education in order to create sustainable financing while expanding and reforming their secondary education systems.

The study, which will be released shortly, also recommends that Sub-Saharan Africa countries review legal and regulatory frameworks to install better quality and equity standards as well as improve governance and accountability and provide cost-efficient and effective teacher training.

Bregman said it is important to develop an African brand of secondary education on the continent in order to get out the cycle of trying to imitate old colonial systems as African governments participate in the global economic activities.

The first regional conference on Secondary education in Africa which has drawn participants from 19 African countries will discuss the best practices in secondary education reform before developing national action plans to improve lower and upper secondary education in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Barely 20 percent of African youths are currently enrolled in secondary schools.


African govts neglect plight of pregnant school girls

Kampala, Uganda (PANA) 11/06/2003 - Only eight African countries allow pregnant school girls to complete their studies after delivery, the executive director of the Forum African Women Educationalists (FAWE), Penina Mlama has revealed here.

According to Professor Mlama, only Ghana, Zambia, Kenya, Botswana, Guinea, Senegal, South Africa and Burkina Faso gave such girls an opportunity to return to school.

Over the last six years, FAWE has launched a big campaign to convince African governments to introduce policies that allow school girls who become pregnant to complete school after giving birth.

Mlama told PANA in Kampala, where FAWE is holding its first conference devoted to girls' secondary school education that her Forum advocates the incorporation of gender issues in the continent's secondary school system.

Gender issues must not be forgotten in the ongoing education reforms, she insisted.

"We are here to push for the gender agenda. Gender-related problems as well as poverty have resulted in a lot of girls not performing well in schools. Also critical is space of access in schools," Mlama told PANA Wednesday.

She charged that many girls are forced to drop out of schools because school administrators were insensitive to gender issues. Due to lack of assistance, in many cases, girls were left to sort out gender related problems on their own.

Mlama also deplored that many girls from poor families have been denied the opportunity to attend school because cash-strapped parents often opt to send a boy to school rather than a girl.

According to her, the girl-child will remain disadvantaged if the African community continues with such traditional gender biases.

FAWE has also been pushing the introduction of gender courses within the curricula of African teachers' colleges, she explained.

FAWE is also empowering girls to take control of their life and build their self-confidence so that they do not succumb to sexual demands from teachers or students.

Mlama noted that pregnancies were rampant in schools because girls were subjected to sexual abuse and harassment. This explains the higher rate of infection with HIV/AIDS among girls than boys.

According to Mlama, for every one boy infected, there are six girls infected.

Meanwhile, a report presented at the conference indicated that HIV/AIDS had drastically reduced the life expectancy of teachers thus increasing the demand to train more.

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EDUCATION IN AFRICA
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ADF financing for education sector in Senegal

Dakar, Senegal (PANA) 27/06/2003 - The African Development Fund (ADF) board of directors has approved a loan of 19.65 million US dollars under its technical assistance fund to finance the "Education IV" project in Senegal.

The bank has also donated 1.5 million US dollars to the project, according to a statement issued Wednesday.

It said the project's sectoral goal is to fight poverty through improved access to basic social services, particularly access to quality education and training.

The ADF loan will help finance 79.25 percent of the total cost of the project, while the donation covers 5.75 percent.

The loan and donation would defray the foreign exchange component of the project, while Senegal infuses some 22.62 million units of account (about 24.79 million US dollars) in local currency, representing 15 percent of the project's total cost.

The project, whose implementation spans 5 years, aims at widening access to and improving the quality of education, as well as strengthening the managerial capacity of the educational system.

In response to the performance of its educational system, the Senegalese government prepared in 1998 a Ten-Year Education and Training Programme (PDEF 2000-2010), which set the goals and financial requirements to expand and improve the quality of education and the sector's management system.

The "Education IV" project falls within the framework of this educational policy of the Senegalese government and its poverty reduction strategy.

It will help widen access to education through building and equipping 400 classrooms for primary education, or creating 200,000 extra seats, 4 proximity high schools of 1,000 seats each and 4 lower secondary schools of 600 seats each, as well as 80 extra classrooms in secondary education colleges.

The project also targets promotion of schooling for the girl child and the reduction of gender and regional disparities.

To strengthen the capacities of the educational system managers, the project will comprise in-depth training in planning, education management and monitoring for 200 school managers and 106 agents in local and department schools inspectorates.

About 3,000 elementary school headmasters will also undergo training in quality control, management and supervision, while another 3,000 primary and secondary school teachers will have pedagogical training sessions.

The African Development Bank (ADB) group started operations in Senegal in 1972. To date, the group's commitments in Senegal amount to 720.41 million US dollars through 56 operations.


EFA will cost Africa $2.5 billion per year - WB official

Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso (PANA) 26/06/2003 - The Education For All (EFA) initiative would, on average, cost African countries 2.5 billion dollars annually, a World Bank official told a workshop here on investment options in the education sector.

At a press conference Thursday on the sidelines of the workshop, Birger Frediksen said surveys carried out by experts have estimated the cost of EFA realisation at 2.5 billion dollars per year until 2015.

He said the World Bank, which provides a quarter of the education resources in Africa, would earmark between 400 and 500 million dollars for the EFA.

Frediksen said Africans would have to reflect on the mobilisation and management of internal resources, adding that the contribution of development partners "would be of no avail unless benefiting countries chip in their fair share."

To be efficient, aid should not be the main resource but rather a complement to internal resources, he stressed.


Japanese financial aid for education in Guinea

Conakry, Guinea (PANA) 03/07/2003 - Japan has provided Guinea financial aid worth 10 billion Guinea francs (5.1 million dollars) to build 165 fully equipped classrooms in the Guinean capital of Conakry, the national television reported here.

It said Wednesday the classrooms would be built in 25 schools in Conakry, where construction work for 111 other classrooms have already commenced.

Guinean foreign minister François Loucény Fall and Japanese Ambassador Yoshitaka Tomika signed the financial aid agreement.

The two men said the purpose of the Japanese aid was to help reduce overcrowded classrooms in the capital, and set up the necessary conditions for basic education.

Since 1991 Japan has been assisting Guinea to construct classrooms in support of the country's education sector. Some 153 classrooms were built in rural areas and 115 others in urban centres under the scheme.

Overall school enrolment in Guinea increased from 31.8 to 61 percent over the last ten years, education ministry sources said.

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