* AAFRICA REG IO N HUMAN D EVE LOP M ENT SE RI ES

BANK
THEWORLD

A Chdnce to Ledrn
Knowledgednd Finance for
LCducdtionin SuL-Sdhardn Africd

22005
February 2001

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Other Tit(esin This Series
Education and Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of Sector-Wide Approaches

Adult Literacy Programs in Uganda

 Knowtedge andFinancefor
Education
in Sub-Saharan
Africa

SectorAssistarnce
Strategy
RegionalHumanDevelopmentFamily
Africa Region
WorLdBank
Copyright© 2001
The International Bankfor Reconstruction
and Development/THE WORLD BANK
1818 H Street, N.W.
Washington,D.C.20433, U.S.A.

ALLrights reserved
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First printing February2001
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The cover photographof schoolchildren in Ethiopiais by Aminata Maiga-Toure.

ISBN: 0-8213-4907-4

Libraryof Congress
Cataloging-in-Publication
Datahas beenappliedfor.
The requirementfor faster developmentof the new nationsin Africa . . . is moreeducationand train-
ing at all Levels-a moregeneraLLy Literateworking force, moreskiLLedartisans,moremembersof the
[earnedprofessions,moreentrepreneurs,moreskilled governmentadministrators.UntiLthe hiuman
resourcesof the new African nations are morefuLLydeveloped-and no hugeinjection of moneycan
greatLyacceLerate that process-the opportunitiesfor the wise and effective utilization of ifreign
investmentwiLLnecessariLy remain Limited.

-Eugene Block,Presidentof the WorldBank,1949-62

Addressto the UnitedNationsEconomicand SocialCouncil,1960

ALLagreethat the single most important key to developmentand to povertyalleviation is education.

This must start with universalprimaryeducationfor girls and boys equally,as well as an open and com-
petitive systemof secondaryand tertiary education. . . . Adult education,Literacy,and LifeLongLearning
must be combinedwith the fundamentalrecognitionthat educationof womenand girLsis central to the
processof development. . . pre-schooL educationmust be given its full weight . . . developmentsin
scienceand technologyand knowLedge transferoffer a uniquepossibiLityto countriesto catch up with
moretechnologicallyadvancedones.

-James D. Wolfensohn,Presidentof the WorldBank, 1995-present

"A Proposalfor a Comprehensive
DevelopmentFramework, " 1999

Thisstrategy paperwaspreparedby AdriaanVerspoor,educationleadspecialistin the Africa Regionof

the WorldBank,with the assistanceof Angel Mattimoreand PatrickWatt. Thepaperis basedon an ear-
tier version by Wadi Haddad,Ruth Kagia, and associates,that was discussedwith a focus group of
African educationspecialistsin May 1998. A revisedversion wasfurther discussedat a consultation
meetingorganizedin October1999at Unesco,Paris,with Africanministersof educationas well as with
other educationspecialistsand representatives from NGOs,parentassociations,and teachelunions.We
wouLdlike to thank those who participatedin those meetingsfor their comments,as welLas DavidBerk,
EduardBos,NichoLas Burnett,SamCarLson, DavidCourt,BirgerFredriksen,Alan Gelb,WadiHaddad,Jon
Lauglo,AminataMaiga-Toure, Mmantsetsa Marope,DzingaiMutumbuka, John May,Alain Mingat,Bettina
Moll, PaudMurphy,SusanOpper,RobertProuty,StefanQuenneville,NanditaTannan,DanielViensand
the membersof the EducationSector Board (all of the World Bank), PeterWilliamsof I]nstitute for
DevelopmentStudiesat the Universityof Sussex,TonyReadof InternationaLBookDevelopment,and
EamonCassidyof the Departmentfor International Development.We would also tike to thank the
NorwegianEducationTrustFundfor providingfunding for both consuttations.
Contents

Foreword ix
Preface xi
Executive
Summary 1
1. AfricanEducation
on the ThreshoLd
of the 21stCentury 7
StalledProgressin EducationDevelopment 8
Accessto primaryschooling 9
Masteryof basicskills 11
BeyondPrimaryEducation 13
HigherEducation 14
Efficiency 15
PrivateEducation 15
LimitedEducationAttainment 17
LimitedImpact of ExtemalAid 18
2. TheChallenges
of the AfricanDevelopment
Context 21
PervasivePoverty 21
Economiesat the Peripheryof the GlobalEconomy 22
InadequateFinancingforDevelopment 23
Insufficient ScientificKnowledge 24
ExtensiveArmedConflicts 24
TheHIV/AIDSPandemic 26
High Fertility 29
Overcoming Adversity 30
3. CountryResponses:
A Quantum
Leapin Education
DeveLopment 32
RelentlessPursuitof Quality 34
Leamingenvironment 34
Curriculaand instructionstrategies 36
Trainedand motivatedteachers 38
Newtechnologies 41
Studentreadiness 42
Measuringprogress 43
UnwaveringCommitmentto Equity 44
Up-FrontEmphasison Institutional Strengthening 50
ToughChoicesto EnsureFinancialSustainability 54
Settingprioritiesfor public spending 55
Spendingresourceseffectively 55
Diversifyingfunding sources 55
Providingadditionalpublicfunding 57
TheWayForward:National Reform,RegionalCooperation,and Intemational Partnerships 58
4. TheWorldBank'sResponse:
DoingMoreandDoingBetter 60
Opportunities-and Challenges-forExpandedLendingServices 61
GreaterEmphasison NonlendingServices 64

CONTENTS v
 Refocusingeconomicond sectorwork 64
Reorientingpolicy discussions 65
TheImperativeof Better Portfolio Performance 66
Sharpeningthe strategicfocusof lending 67
Improvinglendingdevelopment 70
Promotingpartnerships 75
Matchinglendingstrategiesto countryconditions 75
Applyingstate-of-the-artknowledge 78
Enhoncingtechnicalskills ond knowledge 80
A Commitmentto Act 81
Conclusion 82
Bibliography 83

FIGURES,TABLES, AND BOXES

Figures
1.1 PrimaryGrossEnrolLmentRatiosHaveFaLLen in ManyAfrican Countries 10
1.2 Resultsof ReadingAchievementTestsin SeLectedCountries 12
1.3 EstimatedEnroLlment Ratiosof 12-17-Year-Oldsby Region 13
1.4 ReLationshipbetweenthe Numberof Teachersand Studentsat the PrimaryLeveLin Niger 16
1.5 AverageYearsof Adult SchooLingHaveStagnatedin Africa 18
1.6 OfficiaLDeveLopment Assistanceto Education,1996 19
2.1 Annual PopuLationGrowth Ratesfor DevelopingRegions 30
3.1 PrimaryEnrolLment Ratiosby Gradefor RuraLand UrbanChiLdrenin Niger 45
4.1 NewCommitmentsfor BankLendingto African Education 61
4.2 SubsectorDistribution of Lendingin the Africa RegionEducationSector 62

Tables
1.1 GrossEnrollmentRatiosin Africa, 1960-97 (percent) 8
1.2 PrimarySchoolNet Enrollmentand Intake Rates,1990, 1995,and 1998 9
1.3 ComparativeIndicators of EducationSpendingEfficiency,1993 17
2.1 BasicSociaLIndicators by Region 22
4.1 Debt ReLiefRelativeto Spendingon Education(milions of doLLars) 63

Boxes
1.1 TextbookAvailability in Africa 11
2.1 Africa'sInformation Infrastructure 25
2.2 Educationand AIDS: Experience in Zambiaand Uganda 28
3.1 Uganda'sNational Commitmentto BasicEducation 33
3.2 Lessonsfrom the 'ADEAProspectiveStocktakingReviewof Educationin Africa" 35
3.3 TheWorldLinks for DevelopmentProgram 38
3.4 Guinea'sPre-serviceTeacherEducationProject 39
3.5 Technologyand Educationin Sub-Saharan Africa 40
3.6 EarlyChiLdhoodDevelopmentin Kenya 43

vi CONTENTS
3.7 SouthernAfrican Consortiumfor the Measurement of EducationalQuality 44
3.8 SuccessFactorsin GirLs'SchooLing 46
3.9 Nigeria-DeveLopingEducationProgramsfor Nomads 48
3.10 The DualSystemof Face-to-Face and DistanceEducationat the Universityof Namibia 50
3.11 ProvidingBasicEducationOpportunitiesto ReduceILLiteracy:Senegal'sExperience 51
3.12 MakerereUniversity:A ModeLof InstitutionaLReform 53
3.13 TheAfrican VirtuaLUniversity 54
3.14 GovernmentSponsorshipof Studentsat PrivateInstitutions: A Caseof Demand-Side Financing 56
3.15 Privatizationand DecentraLization of TextbookProvisionin Kenya 57
4.1 A CoLLaborative Effort to Preparea Strategy Paperin Madagascar 65
4.2 The FRESH Start Partnership:FocusingResources on EffectiveSchooLHeaLth 68
4.3 IncreasingSupportfor EducationTechnology 70
4.4 SectorwideApproaches 72
4.5 BankSupportunder DifferentCountryConditions 76
4.6 Building a KnowLedge Basefor SkiLLDeveLopment 79

CONTENTS vii
Foreword ensure national ownership and sustainability of
innovation and reformprograms.
WhetherAfrica canindeed"claimthe 21st century," TheWorldBankhasa long recordof supporting
as a recentreport(WorldBank2000b)proposes,wiLL educationdevelopmentin Africa. But the impact of
dependlargely on the effectivenessof its invest- our assistancehas often been lessthan expected.
ment in education. Progresstoward better gover- Given the critical contribution of education to
nance,moreeffective conflict resolution,increased acceleratedgrowth and developmentin Africa, we
competitiveness, reduced fertiLity, improved have in the past two years carried out an internal
health-including fewer people with HIV/AIDS- processof analysis,reflection, and discussionon
and most important, acceleratedpovertyreduction the impact of our assistancein this sector.In addi-
is intimately related to progressin educationand tion, we have consultedwith representativesof
training of Africa'schildrenand adults. Africangovernments,civil society,and UNagencies
ClearLy,Africa will not be abLeto sustain rapid on how to becomemore effective a; a partner in
growth without investing in the education of its educationdevelopmentin Africa.
people.Manylackthe educationto contributeto- Thisreport is the productof these processes.
It
and benefit from-fast economicgrowth. Yet in arguesthat there is a strong casefcr the Bankto
many countries in the region education develop- expandand broadenits supportfor educationdevel-
ment has stagnated in the past two decades. opment in Africa. This implies continuedand sus-
Unabated growth of the school-agepopulation, tained supportfor basiceducationde\elopment.But
severeconstraintson public resources,and policy it also implies expandingour support:for the other
reformsthat too often weretoo little and too Late, educationsubsectors,especiallyhigher education.
contributed to a widening educationgap between Thereportalso makesit clearthat suchan expanded
Africa and the rest of the world. Almost 40 percent programonly makessenseif we step Lup our efforts
of the popuLationis iLLiterate.EnroLLments at alL to addressthe central issues of quaLity,equity,
leveLsare lowerthan on any other continent. Many capacity,and sustainabiLity.Becausewe cannot do
chiLdrencomplete schooLwithout masteringthe this alone, we are deepLycommittedt:o workingin
knowLedge and skills prescribedin the curricuLum. government-Led partnershipsfor acceleratededuca-
Fewschoolspreparestudentsfor an economydom- tion development.
inated by information and communicationtech- At the WorLdEducationForumin Dakarin April
noLogies. And most tertiary institutions are 2000, World Bank President James Wolfensohn
isoLatedfrom international knowLedgenetworks. reaffirmedthe readinessof the Bankto work with
Ensuringthat no child is denied accessto school governmentsand other deveLopmentpartners to
becauseof her or his inability to payremainsa dis- accelerateprogresstoward the Educationfor AlL
tant goal in manycountries. goals. He pledgedthat the Bankwould makeevery
Reversingthese trends wiLLnot be easy.The effort to ensurethat no country with a credibLe
challengewill require a major effort by Africans planwill be unableto implementit Lecauseof lack
and their development partners over a long of external support. This commitmentwill govern
period-often a decadeor more. Many govern- our support for basiceducationin the next decade.
ments will need to implement changes-often At the sametime we are equallycommittedto pro-
politicaLLycontroversiaL changes-in the wayedu- viding assistanceto ensurethat studentsgraduat-
cation is financed and managed. Governments, ing from secondaryschools, vocational training
civil society, and external funding agencieswill programs,and universitieshave the skills and sci-
need to estabLishor reconfigure partnershipsto entific and technicaLknowledgeto *nter the 21st

FOREWORD ix
century'sworld of work. RegionaLcooperationwill
often be essentiaLto acceleratedprogressin many
of these areas.We intend to deveLopinstruments
that will alLowus to support regionaLprograms
moreeffectiveLy.
At the cuspof the 21st centurythe opportuni-
ty to addressthe often intractabLe probLemsof
educationin Sub-Saharan Africa are perhapsbetter
than at any time in the past two decades.Growth
has resumed in many countries. The poLitical
commitment to education deveLopmentis strong
aLmosteverywhere.The rising tide of democracy
has created a morefavorabLeenvironmentfor the
participation of civiL society and communitiesin
policy formuLationand program implementation.
x FOREWORD
Information and communicationtechnology offer
new opportunities to overcomeconstraintsof dis-
tance and time.
And there is more. For severaLcountriesaddi-
tionaL resourceswiLLbecome avaiLableunder the
HeavilyIndebted PoorCountries(HIPC)debt relief
initiative. Manyfunding agenciesare committedto
increasingtheir supportfor educationin Africa. New
aid reLationshipsare being piLotedin the context of
sectordeveLopment programs.I expectthis reportto
set the stagefor rapidly acceLerating Banksupport
for educationdeveLopment in this newenvironment.
Callisto Madavo
Vice-PresidentAfrica Region
Preface to collaboratemore effectiveLywith one another,
with governments,and with civil sociEtyto support
The World Bank'sAfrica Region first outLinedits educationdeveLopment in Africa. The prospectsfor
views on education developmentin Africa in the educationdevelopmentmay be better now than at
1988 paper, "Education in Sub-SaharanAfrica: any othertime in the past decade.Since1995 eco-
Policies for Adjustment, Revitalization, and nomic growth has resumedin many Sub-Saharan
Expansion"(World Bank 1988). The paper chal- African countries. Since 1994 the primary gross
lengedAfrican countriesto formuLatecomprehen- enroLLment ratio hasincreased,and recentdata from
sive and coherent education development the UNESCO Institute of Statisticssuggestthat the
programswith balanced policies for adjustment, trend may be acceLerating. At the Wcrld Education
revitalization, and selective expansion. Several Forumin April 2000 countriesconfirmedtheir com-
countries movedin this direction. In a few, finan- mitment to the goal of universaLprimaryeducation
ciaLadjustment poLiciesset the stage for better by 2015. Accelerateddebt relief and moreeducation
quality, sustained progresstoward universal pri- aid can helpmobilizethe necessary resources.
maryeducation,and seLectiveexpansionat higher The policy dialogue since 1988 has been a
levels. Yet in manycountriesprogressin revitaLiz- modeLof effective donor-governmentpartnerships.
ing their educationsystemswasdisappointing. Thedialoguewasinitially coordinatedloythe infor-
In six African countries-Burkina Faso, maLgroup Donorsto African Educatirn,which has
Ethiopia, Liberia, Mali, Niger, and Somalia-less since becomethe Associationfor the D)evelopment
than half the school-agepopulation is enroLledin of Educationin Africa (ADEA).Membersinclude all
primaryschooL.In 20 countriesmorethan one-haLf African ministersof education and 17 donors. Its
of womenare illiterate. LowLevelsof learningper- objective is to providea forum in which the minis-
sist throughoutthe region.Thepotentialof distance ters can lead the discussionwith donors on key
education programshas yet to be tapped. Many educationissuesand on the needto aciaptexternaL
vocational and technical programsremain ineffi- aid policies to national needs. ELeventhematic
cient. Andthe quality of researchand post-graduate working groupsstudy and report on zreas of broad
training hasnot improved. interest. ADEAreviewedprogressin education in
Analysis, dialogue, and internal consultation Sub-Saharan Africa since 1988 through a participa-
often havetaken muchlongerthan anticipated.Still, tory process based on country stuiies and the
a growingnumberof countriesare formulatingpoli- active involvementof African educationspecialists
ciesto addressthe issuesraisedin the 1988 paper- and policymakers.The result of this process,the
and to respondto the chaLLenges of the Jomtien "Prospective,Stocktaking Reviewof Educationin
DecLaration of the WorLd Conferenceon Educationfor Africa," was presentedat ADEAsbianriuaLmeeting
All (1990),the targetsof the WorldSummitfor Social in Johannesburgin December1999.
DeveLopment (1995), and the DakarFramework for The WorLdBank has actively supported the
Action, adoptedat WorLdEducationForum(2000). ADEA-Ledassessmentand is a member of the
Morethan 40 African governmentshave prepared steering committee estabLishedto rianage it. In
action plansto achieveeducationfor all, and at least addition,the Bank'sAfrica RegionEducationFamiLy
six countriesare piloting sectorwideapproaches to has refLectedon its nonLending experiencesand on
educationdevelopment. waysto increasethe effectivenessof its Lendingand
Since1988 donorshavespent considerabLe time nonLendingsupport.The first draft o.:a discussion
reassessing aid prioritiesand procedures.Mosthave paper was preparedand discussed ri 1998 with
now completedthis processand are exploringways senior education officials from Africa as well as

PREFACE xi
otherstakeholders.In October1999a secondcon-
sultationwasheldin Pariswith Africanministers
andpolicymakers aswellasmembers of civil society
organizations.
Both consultationswerefundedby
the NorwegianEducationTrustFund.Thefindingsof
the ADEAassessment contributedsignificantlyto
this process,
and a numberof casestudiesenrich
this document.
Thisreportis intendedprimarilyto proposea
strategyand a programof action for the Africa
xii
Regionof the WorldBankas it strivesto support
countriesin their effortsto accelerate
education
development. It incorporatesmuchof the advice
providedin theseconsultations. Theauthorssum-
marizethe challengesfacingeducationdevelopment
in Africa,suggestkeyelements of countryrespons-
es,discussthe implicationsof theseresponsesfor
the Bank,andpropose actionsfor makingthe Bank
a moreeffectivepartnerfor educationdevelopment
in Africa.
PREFACE
ExecutiveSummary
In the knowLedge-based gLobaleconomyof the
comingdecades, educationwiLlbethe cornerstone
of broad-basedeconomicgrowth and poverty
reduction-providing the meansfor peopLe to con-
front new deveLopment chaLLenges and improve
their Lives.Withoutmajoradvances in education
AfricawiLLnot be abLeto takeadvantage of trade
and deveLopment opportunitiesin a technoLogy-
driven and rapidLyintegrating worLdeconomy.
Education is aLsothe mostimportantinvestment
for makingprogress towardthe internationaL
social
deveLopment goaLsadoptedby the world'sgovern-
mentsfor 2015. Without rapid and substantiaL
improvements in educationaccessand qualityin
Sub-Saharan Africa,where40 percentof people
struggLe to surviveon Lessthan $1 a day,broader
povertyreductioneffortswiLL be bLunted.
AfricanEducationTrends
TheeducationdeveLopment recordin Africasince
1988hasbeendisappointing. Severalcountries-
incLuding Botswana, Cape Verde, Mauritius,
Namibia,Seychelles, SwaziLand, and Zimbabwe-
sustained progressin the 1980sand1990s.Others
haveinitiated promisingLong-termprogramsof
reformand deveLopment. But the reaLityfor too
manyAfricansis aneducation systemcharacterized
by LowquaLityand Limitedaccess.
Forthe regionas a whoLe,progresshasLarge-
Lystalledsince1990,faiLingto reversethe set-
backsof the 1980s. Everylevel has too few
educationfaciLities,and those that exist are
often in poor repairand inadequateLy equipped.
Teachers,often underpaidand underqualified,
rareLyreceivethe supportand supervisionthey
needto be effective.TheannuaL numberof hours
spentin the cLassroom by mostAfricanstudents
is far belowinternationaLstandards.Instructional
materialsareoften in desperateLy shortsuppLy. It
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
is not surprisingthat learningachievementis
Limited.
Thisrecordis especiallydisturbingwhenset
againstotherregions.Africahasthe lowestenroll-
mentrateat everylevel,andit is the onLyregion
wherethe numbersof chiLdren out of schoolare
continuingto rise.TheaverageAfricanadult has
fewerthanthreeyearsof schooLing, Lower thanthe
attainmentfor any other region.Thereare aLso
growing education inequaLitieswithin Africa
betweenincomegroupsand betweenurbanand
ruraLpopuLations. PoorchiLdren, especiallythosein
ruraLareas,arethe mostdisadvantacled in educa-
tion accessandquality.
Educationtrends have a direct bearingon
povertyreductionefforts in Sub-Sanaran Africa.
Africa'sshareof gLobaL povertysince1987 has
risen,anda growingproportionof Africanscannot
meettheir basicneeds.Morethan 24(0miLLion peo-
ple Liveon Lessthan $1 a day.Wilh its rapidLy
growingpopuLation, the region needs5 percent
annuaL growthto keepthe numberof )oor fromris-
ing. HaLving the incidenceof povertyby 2015wiLL
requireannuaL per capitagrossdomesticproduct
(GDP)growthof at Least7 percent-urilikeLy, with-
out accelerated progressat aLLLeveLsof the educa-
tion system.
Withouta quantumleapin educationat the
nationaLLeveL, AfricawiLLmissthe 2315target of
universalprimaryeducation by a marqinof 55 miL-
LionchiLdren. Enrollmenttrendssincethe Jomtien
conference in 1990indicatethat in 2015AfricawiLL
accountfor 15 percentof the world'sprimary
school-age children,but 75 percentof childrennot
in school.
FaiLingto extendthe benefits of education
deveLopment to the poor is thus LikeLy to prove
highLycostLy-economicaLly, sociaLLy,
andpolitical-
Ly.AcceLerating educationdeveLopment in Africa
thereforeneeds to bepartof broaderproverty reduc-
tion and rural deveLopment strategies.Thereare
pLentyof exampLes of educationalsuccesses and
promisinginnovationsin Sub-Saharan Africa to
1
showwhat canbe achievedif countriesshowa gen- unLessit can meet three other key deveLopment
uine commitmentto educationdeveLopment. chaLLenges-ending extensive armed confLict,
reversing the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and reducing
TheAfrican developmentcontext fertiLity rates. Recent confLict in Africa has
caused massive human and economic devasta-
The broad deveLopment context for African educa- tion. At Leastone African in five Livesin a coun-
tion has changeddramaticaLLy in the past decade. try severeLydisrupted by war. Between1990 and
Most important, economic performance has 1994 morethan 1 miLLionpeopLedied becauseof
improved markedLysince 1995, with consecutive conflict. In 1998 more than 20 milLion Africans
years of per capita growth in many countries for were either refugees or displaced. Restoring
the first time since the 1970s. peace and stabiLity in the region is thus an
* In some countries,such as Uganda,growth is urgent priority.
beginning to providethe resourcesneededto Africa has aLsobeen the region hardesthit by
expandeducationopportunities. AIDS,which hasevoLvedfrom a heaLthissueinto a
* Many countries can expect significant addi- developmentissue. By kiLLingpeoplein their most
tional national resourcesfor educationdevel- productiveyears, the pandemicis destroyingthe
opment as debt relief is granted under the social and economicfabric of countries. Reversing
enhanced HeaviLy Indebted Poor Countries hard-won human deveLopmentgains, repLacing
(HIPC)program. educationsector staff Lostto AIDS-reLated iLLness-
* WhiLeconfLictshavedevastatedthe economies es, providingeducationto AIDSorphans,and inte-
of severaLcountries, many others are steadily grating AIDS education into school programsare
movingtoward better governanceand partici- urgent chaLLenges.
patory democracy. MeanwhiLe, rapid populationgrowth consistent-
Thesechangesmakethe prospectsfor acceler- Ly frustrates efforts to achieve universaLprimary
ating education deveLopmentbetter than at per- education. Notwithstandingthe impact cf AIDS,
hapsanytime in the past decade.Andat the World Africa'spopuLationwill continueto grow rapidLyby
EducationForumin Dakar,the 185 participating internationaLstandards.Its dependencyratio is the
countries adopteda Frameworkfor Action toward highest in the world, placing an unusualLyheavy
the 2015 goal of Educationfor ALL,giving special burden both on the pubLicpurse and on house-
attention to the needsof Sub-Saharan Africa. hoLds.Africa mustfaceall these chaLLenges to move
Evenso, the regionfacesdauntingdeveLopment forwardand createeducationsystemsthat meetthe
chaLLenges. Poverty,pervasiveacrossthe region,is a needsof the 21st century.
barrierto expandingeducationaccessand improving
Learningoutcomes.Wastein the pubLicsector and Countryresponses
weak governancestructurescontinue to hoLdback
many countries and urgently require reform. Given the deveLopmentchaLLenges facing Africa
UnsustainabLe externaLdebt has diverted scarce and the widespreadfaiLureof currentapproachesin
resources from priority socialneeds-at a heavycost the educationsector to deliver the desiredresults,
for the poor.Thisis whythe resourcesfreedthrough nationaL governmentsmust respond cLearLyand
the HIPCinitiative haveto be genuineLy additional decisiveLy.The nationaLeducation challenge has
and directedtowardmeetingthe needsof the poor. four main dimensions:
Africa cannot sustain any of the necessary * Creatinga frameworkfor reform.
investments in education and infrastructure * Identifying strategicpriorities.

2 EXECUTIVE
SUMMARY
* Developing investmentprograms. Fourth,actingseLectively to makea quantum
* ActingseLectively basedona fewclearprincipLes. Leapin educationdevelopment will be achieved
Whatdo thesefour dimensions meanfor gov- and sustainedonly whereeffortsare underpinned
ernments? First, creatinga framework for reform by genuinecommitment to a clearset of guiding
requiresbold poLicies,sustainedover time and principLes:
impLemented in broadpartnership with civil soci- * A relentlesspursuit of quality. Withoutthis,
ety andwith donors.Thereformsneedto beframed expanded educational opportunitiesareunlikely
in a sectorwideperspectivethat promotesbal- to achievetheir purpose-impiartinguseful
anceddevelopment of education andconsiders the knowledge, reasoning abilities,skiLls,
andvalues.
Linkages betweendifferentpartsof the system.The * An unwaveringcommitmentto equity. Thisis
chaLLenge is to developLocalsolutionsto financial, vital to ensurethat disadvantaged groups-
educational, andinstitutionalissues-all informed especially ruraL residents,the poor, and
by internationalexperience. femaLes-have equalaccess to Leairningoppor-
Second,because Africahassucha diversityof tunitiesat all levels.Thiswill demand explicit-
contexts,the process of identifyingstrategicprior- ly targetedstrategies for hard-to-reach groups
ities will have to be country specific.But to and better analysisof the mechanisms that
achievea quantumLeapin education development, excLude peopLe fromeducation.
any country'spriority objectivesmustincludean * A willingnessto maketough choicesto ensure
increase in the educational attainmentof the labor financialsustainability.Africancountries
needto
forcethroughuniversaL primaryeducation-anda ensurethat educationdeveLopment strategies
gradualexpansion of accessto the fuLLeducation arefinanciallysustainable. Toughdecisions are
cycle.Twootherkeyprioritiesareespecially impor- neededin settingspending priorities,spending
tant now that the world of work is increasingLy effectiveLy
the resources that havebeenaLLocat-
dominatedby information and communication ed, diversifyingfundingsources, and in many
technologies: enhancing vocationaL and technicaL casesmobilizing additionaLfundinc.Oncemade,
skills, and strengtheningpost-primaryscience, thesedecisions will haveto beadhered to.
mathematics, andtechnology. * An up-front emphasison instituticral strength-
Third,designinginvestmentprograms to make ening. Effectiveplanning,implementation, and
this happen wiLL often require fundamentaL evaLuationof reformsdependon effective
changes in the management andfinancingof edu- incentives,reasonable rules,efficientorgani-
cationsystems: zational structures, and competent staff.
* Exploring aLternativesto existingservicedeLiv- Withoutthem,no strategyfor educationdevel-
ery approaches that are currentlybasedon opmentcansucceed.
assumptions inappropriate in muchof Africa. Theagenda for reformandprogress is challeng-
* MovingpLanningand resourceaLLocation in ing. Yetthe emergence of newtechnoLogies is cre-
manycasesfrom central ministriesto local ating opportunities for Africaneducat-ion to move
officesandcommunity organizations. forwardin waysthat only a decadeagocouLdnot
* Allocatingadequateresourcesto nonsalary beimagined. Theextentto whichAfric3will beable
needs. to take advantage of thesenewopportunitiesto
* SharingresponsibiLity for the financingand participatein the gLobalknowLedge economy will
provisionof schoolingstrategically amonggov- dependon the capacityof its education systems to
ernments,privateproviders,parents,andnon- harness the potentialof informationaid communi-
governmentaL organizations (NGOs). cationtechnologies.

A CHANCE
TOLEARN 3
 But the processof identifying priorities and
designingand implementingreformsmust be coun-
try led if it is to succeed.NationaLdirection and
ownershipis wideLyrecognizedas a key ingredient
of successfuL impLementation.
Much is already under way. Burkina Faso,
Guinea,Mozambique, Senegal,and Ugandahaveall
initiated promising Long-termprogramsof reform
and developmentat the primarylevel. Ugandahas
also impLementedfar-reaching changesin higher
education. SeveraLSouth African Development
Communitycountries are piloting reformsin sec-
ondary educationand in math and scienceteach-
ing. Madagascar and Zambiaare pLanningradical
reformsin the wayvocationaLand technical educa-
tion are financed and managed.South Africa has
formulateda comprehensive nine-point programfor
sector reform. Suchefforts derive from a recogni-
tion that without equitabLe,high-quaLity,and effi-
cient education systems,Africa cannot meet the
developmentchaLLenges of the 21st century.
Newtechnologiesare creatingopportunitiesfor
Africaneducationto moveforwardin waysunimag-
inabLeonLy a decadeago. The extent to which
educationsystemspreparethe studentsfor partici-
pation in an economyincreasingLydependenton
electronic information and communicationtech-
nologieswill be a keyfactor in the ability of African
countries to take advantageof the opportunities
offeredby the new global economy.
The WorldBank's response
Supportingacceleratededucation developmentin
Africa is pivotaLto the WorldBankmissionof elim-
inating poverty. The Bank has two comparative
advantagesfor education sector development:a
strong macroeconomic and public expenditureper-
spectiveand an unusualdepthand breadthof inter-
nationaLknowLedge and expertise.
Evenso, the scopeand effectivenessof World
Bank support often have been Limited. Lending
commitmentshave stabilized at a lower level than
4 EXECUTIVE
is consistentwith the institutional commitmentto
eLiminatingpoverty.Theneedto baLance the devel-
opmentof different leveLsof the educationsystem
has not aLwaysbeenobserved.Policyrecommenda-
tions have often restedon weakanalytical founda-
tions. The linkages to broader poverty reduction
efforts have not been well developed.And too few
interventions have generatedsustainableinstitu-
tional benefits.
Bank evaluations cLearLyshow the limited
impactof manypastinvestmentsand emphasize the
need to Learnfrom these experiences-at a time
whenthereare strongcaLLs on donorsto contribute
to broad-basedcountry-Ledpartnershipsfor educa-
tion deveLopment. Democracyhas createda space
for stakehoLder diaLogueon educationreform, and
severaLcountries have either sustainedreformsor
embarkedon promisingnew programs.At the same
time, donorsare Learningto work morecloseLywith
government,with eachother, and with civil society,
in pursuit of commonobjectives.The deveLopment
of sectorwideprogramsin particuLaris an encourag-
ing newapproach.
To graspthesenewopportunities,the Bankmust
do more-and it must do it better. Becominga more
effective partner involvesboth pursuinga strategy
and identifying specific goaLs.The Bank'sstrategy
shouldgive priority to encouraginginnovation and
changeand expLoitingits comparativeadvantage.
The Bank can be an effective lender only if it
increasesthe effectivenessof its nonlendingser-
vices, by sharingits knowledgeand by recognizing
and promotinglocal capacityfor soundanaLysis and
pLanning.The strategy shouLdaLsoemphasizethe
Bank'skey institutional priorities for the education
sector:equitableaccessfor the poor,especiaLly girls;
broadening the portfolio to include combating
HIV/AIDSas a centraleLementin the Bank'sassis-
tance; and improvingthe quality of provisionmea-
sured by Learningachievementand sustainable
financing. ALLthis requiresthat educationinvest-
ments be designedas an integral part of overall
poverty reduction programs.So education sector
SUMMARY
staff wilt have to work in a more integrated way PromotingLong-termpartnershipswith govern-
acrosssectors. mentand civil societywilLrequirea sectorspeciaList
In pursuingthis strategy,the Bankneedsto: in the field officeof everycountrywherethe Bankhas
* Providecomprehensive supportfor sectordeveL- a significant invoLvementin the educationsector.
opmentpriorities at the nationaLLeveL. Thisis a chaLlenge in Africa,wheremany countriesare
* Improveportfolio performance. smatLand operationsare often adverselyaffectedby
The Bank'ssupportwilLincreasingLy be designed economicand politicaLinstabiLity.
to promotethe balanceddeveLopment of the entire Matchingsupportstrategiesto couritryconditions
sectorand considerthe tinkagesbetweenall partsof requiresa moreflexibLeand responsiveBank.Where
the educationsystem-from earLychildhoodto post- the conditions exist for success,it could provide
graduateprograms.Investmentpriorities wiLLrefLect Large-scaLe budget support for educationdeveLop-
that universaLprimary education is necessaryfor ment.WherepoLicyenvironmentsare weak,it could
meeting national social and economicdeveLopment supportreformwith small,specificinvestmentLoans.
goals. They wiLLaLsorecognizethe importanceof Bank operationsshould provideenough assistance
graduaLand seLective expansionbeyondthe primary and incentivesto countriesemergingfrom conflictto
level. Policiesand targetssupportedby theseinvest- aLLow themto developas quickLyas possiblethe con-
ments wiLLbe highly country specific, reflecting a ditions for viable sectordeveLopment programs.
political consensus on prioritiesandtrade-offsbased Many neededreforms and innovations can be
on human and financial resources,deveLopment moreeffectivein cooperationwith neighboringcoun-
objectives,LabormarketsignaLs,and the demandsof tries facing simiLarproblems.This cooperationwill
society. aLLow programsto expLoiteconomiesof scaLe,recruit
Better portfolio performancewiLtrequireaction studentsfrom a muchLargerpooLof czrididates,and
in five areas: Learnfrom impLementation in different settings. To
* Improving LendingdeveLopment. supportregionalor subregionaL programseffectiveLy,
* Promotingpartnerships. the Bankwill needto deveLop instrumentsthat fit the
* Matchingsupportstrategiesto countryconditions. specificrequirements of these programs;.
* AppLyingstate-of-the-art knowLedge. The Bank can only meet these chaLlengesby
* Enhancingstaff skills. appLyingstate-of-the-art knowledgeto its opera-
Improvingthe lending deveLopment processwiLL tions, somethingthat clients demandand are enti-
requirea focus on heLpingcountriesimpLementthe tLed to. KnowLedgecan be effecl:ive if it is
policy reformsthey haveidentified. With morethan underpinnedby sector analysisof economic,finan-
40 potentiaLborrowers,the Bank needsto respond cial, educational,and institutional issues.Technical
to a range of developmentsituations and develop solutions must be based on locaLconditions and
Lending strategies to match. Improving tending reflect LocaLknowledge,whiLeincorporatinginter-
deveLopment wiLLaLsorequiremorenonLendingser- nationaL experience. Indeed, far greater priority
vices and cLearstandardsat entry. Also crucial is shouLdgo to strengthening countrs capacity to
greaterfLexibiLityin appLyingBankpoliciesand pro- deveLopand appLynew knowledge.
cedures,enabLing the Bankto be moreresponsiveto To aLignits staffing with the new sectorstrat-
the new program priorities of budget support, egy, the BankwiLLassembLe an apprcpriate mix of
decentraLizedimpLementation, and community economists,education speciaLists,aid staff with
invoLvement.In particuLar,the Bank wiLLneed to speciaLizedskiLLsin areas such as institutional
support programsthat include recurrentexpendi- analysis and implementation. The strategy aLso
tures such as teachers'saLaries. requires a good mix of experienced staff and

A CHANCE
TOLEARN 5
younger staff eager to experiment and innovate.
Increasing technical and operational knowledge
about educationin Africa is centralto the success
of the proposed action program. Achieving this
goal will requireintensifying efforts in the region
to hire staff-from inside and outside the Bank-
ranging from top-quaLity, experienced staff to
promising young taLent. It wiLLaLsorequire mak-
ing expLicit arrangementswith senior staff to
mentor and coach LessexperiencedcoLLeagues-
and implementing an Africa-specific staff deveL-
opment program.
Noneof these goaLswiLLbe achievedunLessthe
Bank becomesat once morecomprehensive in its
anaLysisand more seLectivein its approach.The
6 EXECUTIVE
Bank needs greater seLectivityin the context of
increaseddialogue and partnershipwith govern-
mentsand with other deveLopment actorsthe Bank
is Lessaccustomedto working with. Experience
showsthat educationfor all can be achievedand
sustainedonLywheregovernments,donors,and civil
society work coLLectivelytoward shared priorities.
The DakarWorLdEducationForumand the Social
Summitinjected new urgencyinto coLLective efforts
to achieveeducationfor all. TheBankis determined
to graspthis opportunity.It will providethe maxi-
mum possibLecontribution to achievinguniversal
primaryeducationin Africa by 2015 whiLestepping
up supportfor broaderdeveLopment of the educa-
tion sector.
SUMMARY
1. AfricanEducationon the Threshold Conventionon the Rightsof the Child, ratified by
of the 21st Century everynation exceptSomaLia and the LlriitedStates,
recognizeschildren'sright to educatiorand requires
The WorLdBank'sAfrica Region comprisesthe 41 signatories to provide free compuLsorybasic
countries (Djibouti is part of the Middle Eastand education. Educationis aLso the cornerstoneof
North Africa Region)on the continent south of the deveLopmentand the foundation of economic
Sahara and the six isLand nations cLoseto it. competitivenessand social well-being. Numerous
Africa's rich cultural and ethnic traditions refLect studies show that education,particLLarLy primary
different heritages in aLL countries-an earLy education,hasa significant positiveimpact on eco-
Christian heritage in the Nile Basin, a strong nomicgrowth(Barro1991; Lau,Jamison,and Louat
Islamic infLuencein the north, and Christianinflu- 1991; Nehru and Dhareshwar1994), earnings
encesdating from coLoniaLism in manycentral and (PsacharopouLos 1985), and productivity(Lockheed,
southernAfrican countries. EachisLandnation has Jamison,and Lau1980).By increasingthe vaLueand
also developedits own cuLture. efficiency of Labor,educationheLpsraise the poor
GeographicaLLy and economicaLLy,Africa is from poverty.By increasingthe overaLL productivity
diverse and fragmented. In 1998 the region's andinteLLectuaL flexibiLityof the labor force,it heLps
popuLationwasabout 630 milLion,with two-thirds ensurea country'scompetitiveness in worldmarkets.
in rural areas.Sevencountries have fewer than 1 Almost aLLthe newLyindustriaLizedeconomies
million peopLe. Nigeria has 120 miLLion and that have experienced dramatic growth in the
Ethiopia 60 miLLion. Within the continent past 25 years-such as Hong Kong, China, the
communicationsand traveLare difficuLt, and inter- RepubLicof Korea,and Singapore-achieved uni-
naLtrade is Limited.GNPper capita averaged$488 versaLor near-universaLprimary education by
in 1998, ranging from about $100 in the 1965. This helped increaseproductivity and Laid
DemocraticRepubLicof Congo, Ethiopia, Eritrea, the foundation for an equitable distribution of
and Mozambique to more than $2,800 in the benefits of rapid growth. In contrast, coun-
Botswana,Gabon,Mauritius, and South Africa. On tries with uneducatedpopulations cannot expect
the whoLe,the region's GNPgrowth and human to increase incomes and weLL-being(Lockheed
deveLopmenthave Laggedbehind those of other and Verspoor 1991; WorLdBank 1990, 1999a).
regions, especiallysince 1980. Education is thus intertwined inexl:ricably with
Despitegainsin the secondhaLfof the 1990s, economicdevelopment.It is both a sourceand a
Sub-SaharanAfrica enters the 21st century with consequence of development, fcr economic
manyof the worLd'spoorestcountries. Canit rise growth providesthe resourcesto e>pandeduca-
to the chaLLenges of this new century?The answer tion opportunities.
will dependLargelyon the scopeand effectiveness Primaryeducationcannotexpandandeconomies
of investmentsin education. Decadesof research cannotgrowwithout an educationsystemthat trains
and experience in Africa and eLsewherehave a Largenumberof studentsbeyondthe basic cycLe,
shownthe pivotal roLeof a weLL-educated popuLa- incLudinggraduatestudentsat universities.To be
tion in initiating, sustaining, and acceLerating sustainable,education deveLopment must be baL-
sociaL and economic deveLopment. Education anced.It mustensurethat systemsproducestudents
deveLopmentis unquestionabLyof cruciaLimpor- at different LeveLswith quaLificationsthat respondto
tance for Africa. the demandof the labormarket,producinga contin-
Everycountryin the worLdrecognizesbasicedu- uous suppLyof skiLLed workers,technicians,profes-
cation as a fundamentalhuman right. The 1989 sionaLs, managers, and Leaders.

A CHANCE
TOLEARN 7
 In additionto its economicreturns,education-
particuLarlyof girLs-has a positive impact on a
variety of nonwageactivities that increasehouse-
hoLdwelfare. For example,the schooLingof girls
attersbehaviorin waysthat LaterreducefertiLityand
infant and child mortality, improve househoLd
heaLthby influencing nutritional and heaLthcare
practices,and improvechiLdren's
schoolperfor-
mance.Severalbenefitsof thesebehavioralchanges
aLsoaccrueto society, such as tower incidenceof
communicabLe diseases.Furthermore,educationcan
increasesocial cohesionby teaching chiLdrento
Learnand work together with othersfrom different
social or ethnic groupsearly in life, contributingto
nation-building and personaL toLerance.Broad and
equitabLeaccessto educationis thus essentialfor
sustainedprogresstoward democracy,civic partici-
pation, and better governance.
Threecaveatsare clear, however.First, educa-
tion deveLopment is a necessary but not a sufficient
condition for development.Second, onLy invest-
ments in quality education-baLancedamong aLL
parts of the system-make a difference.Third, the
returnsto these investmentsmaterializeonLyin an
environment of good governance,political and
macroeconomic stabiLity,and broad and equitabLe
accessto sociaLservices.
Stalled Progress
in EducationDevelopment
In 1960-about the time most African cDuntries
gained independence from colonial ruLe-the
region tagged far behind the industriaLwortd in
nearly everystandardindicator of educationdeveL-
opment. Efforts to redressthis situation yieLded
dramatic resuLts in the 1960s and 1970s.
Since 1980 enroLLments have declined.Accessto
educationhas risen sLowly.The quaLityof faciLities
and teaching is poor in many areas. Repetition
rates are high, compLetionrates Low.Whileregion-
at trendshide Largenationalvariationsin education
development,they are indicative of the challenges
Africa faces.

Table 1.10Grs EnrolltmentatiosinAfrica, 1960 97 (percent)

Primarytotal 43.2 52.5 79.5 74.8 76.8

Primaryfemale 32.0 42.8 70.2 67.6 69.4
Primarymale 54.4 62.3 88.7 81.9 84.1
Primaryfemaleas shareof totaL 37.0 41.0 44.0 45.0 45.0

Tertiarytota 0.2 0.8 1.7 3.0 3.9

Tertiaryfemale 0.1 0.3 0.7 1.9 2.8
TertiarymaLe 0.4 1.3 2.7 4.1 5.1
Tertiaryfemaleas shareof total 20.0 20.0 22.0 32.0 35.0

Note.All data include Sout Aficaexcep 0:

Source:UNESCO1984,1999b.

8 AFRICANEDUCATION
ON THETHRESHOLD
OF THE21st CENTURY
Accessto primary schooling cent for Afrca, comparedwith 51 percentfor all
developingcountries.The tertiary enrollment ratio
EnroLLments quintupLedin the 1960sand 1970s- in 1997 reached3.9 percentfor Africa, compared
from 12 million to 62 million. PrimaryenrolLments with 10 percentfor all developingcourtries.
jumpedfrom 11 mitlionin 1960to aLmost53 miLLion FemaLeprimary enrollments increasedby 55
in 1980, while the primary gross enrollmentratio percent between1980 and 1995 and almost kept
exceeded79 percentin 1980 (table 1.1). Growthat up with population growth. At the se.ondaryLeveL
the secondaryandtertiary levelswasevenmoredra- femaLeenroLLments more than doubled, while at
matic, with secondaryenroLlments increasingby 15 the tertiary Level female enroLLmertsincreased
times and tertiary enrollmentsby 20 times. morethan fourfoLd.Despitethese in-reases,gen-
From 1980 to 1995 enrollmentscontinued to der inequaLitiespersist at all levels.Femaleenroll-
increasein absoLuteterms, but much moreslowly ments are onLy80 percent of male einroLLments at
than durng the initial post-independence period. the primary and secondaryLeveLs and lessthan 55
Thenumberof prmary schooLstudentsincreasedby percent at the tertiary level.
52 percent,to 76.5 miLlion.Thenumberof secondary WhiLegross enrollment rates have stagnated,
schoot studentsdoubLedto 18.8 miLLion.And the intake and net enroLLment rates shovwed consider-
numberof tertiary studentsmorethan trpLed to 1.9 abLeimprovementin the 1990s (table 1.2). Net
miLLion. enroLlmentratesincreasedfrom 54 percentin 1990
At the primary Level, however, enrollment to 60 percentin 1998, apparentintake ratesfrom
growth did not keep up with popuLationgrowth. 70 percentto 81 percent,and net intake ratesfrom
Theprmary grossenrolLment ratio fell from 80 per- 33 percentto 43 percent.The countrycoverageof
centin 1980to 75 percentin 1990, [argelya resuLt these indicators,though incomplete,suggeststhat
of dectiningmaLeparticipation rates.In the 1990s moreschool-agechiLdrenare in school,the decline
enroLlments,especiallyfor boys, beganto recover, in boys' participation has reversed,inore chiLdren
reaching77 percentin 1997.At the secondarylevel are enroLLingin grade 1, and the proportion of
the grossenrollmentratio in the 1990swas26 per- overage and underage children has dropped-

Tabte1.2 PrimarySchool Net Enroltmentand Intake Rates, 1990, 1995, and 1998
1990 1995 IMMl
Boys Girls Boys Girts Boys Girts
Netenrollmentratea 59.8 49.9 64.2 52.9 67.6 54.2
Apparentintakerateb 75.7 65.3 83.4 70.0 88.3 73.5
Netintakerate* 34.7 31.9 41 -4d 40 .6 d 44.5 41.6

a. Net enrollmentis the proportionof school-agechildren-excduding

underage or overage children-asa percentageof the
school-age popuation
b. Apparent,or gross,intakeis the numberof childrenenteringgrade1, regardless
of age,asa percentage of t6epopulation
of offcial entryage.
c. Netintakeis the numberof school-age childrenenteringschoolasa percentage of the officialschool-age
population.
d. Because no datawereavailable for 1995,thesefiguresarefor 1994.

Source:
UNESCO
2000b.

A CHANCE
TOLEARN 9
possibly refLectingthe decLinein repetition rates
reported by UNESCO (2000a). But many children
enroLL Late(only two-thirds of the new entrants in
1998 were the official age for schoolenroLLment),
the gap in girLs' initiaL enroLLmentrate has
increased,and morethan 40 percentof school-age
children are not in school.
Botswana,CapeVerde,Mauritius,Namibia,the
SeycheLLes, SwaziLand,and Zimbabwe sustained
educationprogressdespiteconcernaboutthe quaL-
ity of teaching and Learning.MaLawi,Mauritania,
and UgandaimplementedpoLiciesthat resulted in
a suddenincreasein primary enroLLments and now
are struggLing to deal with consequent quality
challenges. Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mozambique,
and Senegalopted for a more graduaLapproach.
Manyothers-Nigeria amongthem-are formulat-
ing comprehensiveLong-termstrategiesfor educa-
tion deveLopment,incLuding universal primary
education.
Despitethe progressin somecountries,access
to primaryeducationremainsprobLematic in much
of Africa. The economicproblems of the 1980s
causeda dramaticdecline in primary participation
ratesthat wasredressedonly partiaLLy in the 1990s
(figure 1.1). Of the 44 countrieswith datafor 1996,
only 10 (Botswana,CapeVerde, Congo, MaLawi,
Mauritius, Namibia,South Africa, Swaziland,Togo,
and Zimbabwe)had a primarygrossenrollmentratio
of 100 percent.Six (BurkinaFaso,Ethiopia,Liberia,
MaLi, Niger, and SomaLia)had a primary gross
enrollmentratio below50 percent.And since 1985
the primary gross enroLLmentratio has actuaLLy
declined in 17 countries-Angola, Burundi,
Cameroon,CentralAfrican RepubLic, Comoros,C6te
d'Ivoire, the DemocraticRepubLic of Congo,Kenya,
Lesotho,Liberia,Madagascar, Mozambique, Nigeria,
Sierra Leone, SomaLia,Tanzania, and Zambia.
Together,the 17 are hometo more than haLf of
Africa'sschooL-age popuLation(UNESCO 1998d).

Figure1.1 PrimaryGrossEnrotlmentRatios HaveFallenin ManyAfrican Countries

Percent
120 -..

t;00 . > ~ _. ............... s =ffil=......;u

1985
1990

1997
60

v 0
10 A E AE T
E IV0

Sre:UNESCO
199a.~

10 AFRICAN
EDUCATION
ONTHETHRESHOLD
OFTHE21st CENTURY
 The chaLLenge is clear.In aLmostalL countries,
access has expandedfar too sLowLyto achieve
international education targets for gender
equity and universaLprimaryeducation.(Thetarget
datesof the Organisationfor EconomicCo-operation
and DeveLopment, DeveLopment AssistanceCommi-
ttee are 2005for genderequity in primaryand sec-
ondary enrollment and 2015 for universaLprimary
education;OECD, DAC1996.) About12 percentof the
worLd'schildren ages 6-11 Livein Africa, yet the
regionaccountsfor morethan a third of chiLdrenout
of school. Unlesscurrenttrendsreverse,Africa will
accountfor three-quartersof the world'schiLdrenout
of schooLin 2015 (Oxfam1999).
Mastery of basic skills
Leamingconditions.ManyAfrican countriesfaiLto
provide an environment for effective Learning.
ChiLdrenare taught in overcrowdedcLassrooms by
underqualifiedand unmotivatedteachers who are
often poorLyand irregularLypaid and receivelittLe
manageriaL support. Teacherabsenteeismis wide-
spread,disrupting Learningand erodingpubLiccon-
fidencein the vaLueof education.
Box1.1
TextbookAvailabiity in Afrca
Textbookavailability is generaLlypoor in most
African countries. Somecountries (Lesotho, for
exampte)havehad well-managed revolvingtextbook
fundssince the early 1980sand have managedto
sustainhightextbookplrovision. Butthesecountries
areexceptions. In Uganda field surveysin 1999dis-
coveredthat despite significant donor-supported
textbook suppLies,actual textbook:studentratios
wereas Lowas 1:30 in somecases,towerthan the
official estimateof 1:7. Themainreasonfor the dis-
crepancyappearsto be a lower-than-expected book
life causedby poorstorageconditionsandhighloss-
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
Learning is further constrained by Limited
LearningmateriaLs(box 1.1). MateriaLsthat are
avaiLabLe are often in Languages that moststudents
do not speak at home. A recent study (UNESCO
1998d) foundthat in 10 of 11 countries surveyed,
morethan a third of students had no chalkboards
in their cLassrooms. In 8 of the 11 morethan haLf
the students in the highest grade i,ad no math
books.Most African childrenspendrcughLyhaLfas
muchtime in the cLassroom over the academicyear
as chiLdrenin the industrial countries.
Poverty-reLated deprivation contributesto low
education attainment in Africa. Foor chiLdren
spendmoretime than other chiLdrencontributing
directly or indirectLyto household income.As a
result they are LessLikeLyto spend out-of-schooL
hours on schooLwork,more LikeLyl:o be absent
from school during periodsof peak Labordemand,
and more LikeLyto be tired and iLL-preparedfor
Learningwhen they are in the cLassroom.More
than 40 percent of chiLdrenin Africa are stunted,
whiLe aLmosta third are underweight. Primary
schooL-agechiLdrenare especialLysusceptibleto
iLLnesses that affect poor people mcst, in partic-
uLar gastrointestinal and respiratory probLems.
es and damages.Delaysin book suppLies and the
rapid increasein primaryenrollmenthavealso con-
tributedto the lackof adequate textbooks.
Textbooks aretypicalLyscarcerfartherawayfrom
distributioncenters:the differencein textbookavail-
ability betweenrural and urban areasis marked.
TextbookavailabilityaLsovariesamonggradelevets
and subjects.At the secondary leveLmorebooksare
avaiLabLe suchasLanguage
for core subjects, andmath,
than for scienceandhImanities.Althoughofficialcur-
ricula usuallyspecify between8 and 10 subjects,
donorstendto supplybooksonlyfor coresubjects.
11
MaLnourished and sick chiLdrenare tessLikeLythan
healthy chiLdrento Learnin schooLand are more
Likely to be absent from Lessons(Lockheedand
Verspoor1991). Andif private costs for education
are substantial, parents in poor householdsare
morelikely to withdraw their children from school
early in the schooLcycLe(UNICEF1999). All these
effects are exacerbatedby the rapid spread of
HIV/AIDS,which affects the attendanceof teach-
ers and studentsand strains househoLdresources.
Monitoring and assessment. Unsurprisingly,
studentswho compLeteprimary schooLoften have
an unacceptablylow level of learning. The few
reguLarassessmentsof learning achievement in
Africa are not encouraging.In 1990-91 Botswana,
Nigeria, and Zimbabwe participated in a 31-
country survey of grade 9 reading skiLLs(Elley
1992). Students in these three countries regis-
tered the lowest scores, performing considerabLy
worsethan studentsin the other four non-African
deveLopingcountries participating in the survey,
(the PhiLippines,ThaiLand,Trinidad and Tobago,
and Venezuela).
MorerecentLy,the SouthernAfrica Consortium
for Monitoring EducationalQuaLityassessedthe
reading skiLLsof grade 6 students in Mauritius,
Namibia, Zimbabwe,and Zanzibar,Tanzania.The
meanfor reading achievement-that is, the aver-
age percentageof correct answers-ranged from
38 percent to 58 percent (figure 1.2). In SenegaL
onLy 25 percent of students recentLytested on
proficiency in material from the officiaL curricu-
lum achievedmasteryleveL-defined as a scoreof
75 percent correct or higher-in science and
French(INEADE1997).
Retention. The poor Learningenvironment in
many African schoolsoften resuLtsin high repeti-
tion rates and low completion rates (UNESCO
1998a). A few African countries have Lowrepeti-
tion rates. Someof these, for example, Zambia,
have adopteda policy of automatic promotion. In
others, such as Mauritius, effective instruction
resuLtsin lessthan 10 percentof studentsrepeat-
ing each year. But in 15 countries more than 20
percentof studentsare repeaters-in C6ted'Ivoire
morethan haLfof aLLprimary studentsare repeat-

Figure 1.2 Resuts of Reang AchievementTests in SelectedCountries

Percent
60
Narrative
50
Expository

40 Z ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
30 U TotalTest
20

10

0
Namibia at Zanzibar,
Tanzania Zimbabwe
Source:Saito 1998.

12 AFRICAN
EDUCATION
ONTHETHRESHOLD
OFTHE21stCENTURY
ing a gradeat any time. Repetitionis an inefficient
useof scarceresources.In 11 of 33 countrieswith
data, the input-output ratio (the number of stu-
dent-years spent by a cohort entering primary
school divided by the theoretical number of
student-yearsgraduatesneedtaketo completepri-
maryeducation
withoutrepeatingordroppingout)
is more than 1.5. The cLoserthe vaLueto 1, the
ideal, the moreefficient the system.Thesecoun-
tries spend50 percentor morethan wouLdbe nec-
essaryin an ideaLsystem.
Repetition is aLsoa major factor in students'
dropping out of school, since Learning rareLy
improves after students repeat grades. In Africa
onLy Mauritius, the SeychelLes,and Zimbabwe
have primary compLetionrates of more than 90
percent. In 14 of 32 countries for which data are
available, more than a third of schooLentrants
fail to reach the finaL grade (UNESCO 1998a). In
the CentraL African RepubLic, Chad, Congo,
Madagascar,and Mozambiquefewer than haLfthe
chiLdrenwho enroll in primary school complete
five years. Manyof the studentsdrop out early in
the primary cycLe,before they acquireeven rudi-
Figure1.3 EstimatedEnrollmentRatiosof 12-17-Year-Oldsby Regioni
Percent
80 &O ~~~ ~ ~
.....
60
50
40
30
20
Af1ica States LatinAmerica
Arab
Caribbean
Source:
UNESCO
1995.
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
mentary Literacy and numeracyskill;. For exam-
pLe,in Chad,Ethiopia, and Madagasc3r morethan
a third of the chiLdren who enter school never
complete grade 2.
BeyondPrimaryEducation
Fewcountries provideadequateoppor-tunitiesfor
education and training needed by 12-17-year-
oLds(figure 1.3). WhiLesome youths in this age
cohort have never attended school. and others
have dropped out, in many countries an increas-
ing proportion have compLetedprimary education
and are looking for opportunities to either con-
tinue formal schooLingor acquireskilLsthat wiLL
equip them to enter the world of work. This is the
age when peopleacquire habits of Lifelonglearn-
ing and deveLopskiLLsand interests. The educa-
tion and skiLLsof this age group wiLLbe cruciaLin
shaping national deveLopmentwell nto the 21st
century.
Educationand training for youths is not onLyan
economicimperative.In manycountriesyoung peo-
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ gjg ~~~~~~~~~~~MaLe
El.... iFemale
_ g.. ....... ........
and Eastern
Asia/ Southern
Asia
Oceania
13
pLe'sdissatisfactionand disillusionmentwith their
prospectsfor education and work threaten social
cohesion and stability. Reachingthis age group
through formal and nonformaLeducation is aLso
vital to the successof targeted interventions in
such areasas HIV/AIDSand reproductiveheaLth
educationand programsto raise awarenessof civic
rights and responsibilities.Yet only one-fourth of
youths in this age group have accessto secondary
education,and only 6 percentare reachedby voca-
tional and nonformaL educationprograms.Moreover,
the quaLityof pubLicLy funded skiLLsdeveLopment
programsis usualLypoor. Theseprogramsdepend
heaviLyon externaLfinancing and carry high costs
per student (Middleton, VanAdams,and Ziderman
1993). Suchprogramsoften are alsopoorly attuned
to Labormarketdemandand fail to Leadto income-
earningopportunities.SkiLLs training programstyp-
ically are gearedto formalsector employmentat a
time whenthe formaLsector in most African coun-
tries absorbsonly a smaLL minority of Labormarket
recruits (Mingatand Suchetforthcoming).
Accessto new communication, information,and
computer technologyis Limitedin secondaryand
pubLictraining institutions in Africa. The Lackof
instructional equipment and materiaLs further
inhibits Learning.Parallelto public training institu-
tions, aLmostaLLAfrican countrieshave a large pri-
vate training sector that trains people for
empLoymentin the formaLand informal sectors
throughon-the-joband school-based training. While
manyof theseprivatetraining approaches havebeen
successful,manyothersare of poor quaLity.Only a
few givestudentsthe skiLLs they needto workin the
emerginginformationand communications economy.
HigherEducation
In manyAfricancountries universitiesare the only
national institutions with the skilLs, equipment,
and mandateto generatenew knowledgethrough
researchand to adapt global knowledgeto solve
14 AFRICAN
EDUCATION
locaLprobLems.Yet African universities are reLa-
tively new and weakinstitutions. EarLycurricuLum
links to reLigiousstudies and civiL service needs
haveoften promotedthe humanitiesand socialsci-
ences at the expenseof the natural sciences,
applied technoLogy,business-reLatedskiLLs,and
researchcapabiLities(WorLdBank1998a).
Manycountrieshave found it difficuLt to move
away from the coLoniaLmodeLin which the state
wasthe onLyLegitimateprovider of higher educa-
tion for a small priviLegedeLite.The effectiveness
of university educationhasbeenfurther hampered
by poor national economicperformance,inappro-
priate governing structures, weak nationaL poLi-
cies, weak manageriaL capacity, politicaL
interferencein universities,and campusinstabiLi-
ty (ADEA1999b).MeanwhiLe, often Limitedregion-
al cooperationamonginstitutions further restricts
teaching and research capacity. Nevertheless,
enroLLment growth in higher education has been
unprecedented.In 1960 Africa (excluding South
Africa) had six universitieswith fewer than 30,000
students.In 1995the regionsupportednearLy120
universitiesenrolling aLmost2 miLLion.
Dwindlingresourcesduringthis periodof grow-
ing enrollments(ADEA1999a) has had a sharpLy
negative impact on the quaLity of education in
African universities. Expenditure per student-
measuredin units of GNPper capita-decLined in
10 of 15 countriesfor which data are avaiLable.In
countriessuch as Mauritania and Zambiaexpendi-
ture per student fell by morethan 50 percent.Yet
on average African higher education remains
expensiveby international standards.In 1992 pub-
lic educationspendingper pupiLas a percentageof
per capita GNPwas 15.1 percent at the pre-prima-
ry and primary Levels,53.7 percent at the sec-
ondary leveL, and 507 percent at the university
Level.This disparity makesthe strategic manage-
ment of higher educationresourcesa centraLcon-
cern of any education developmentpolicy. Some
universities have begun to develop aLternative
methodsof servicedeLiverythrough distance edu-
ONTHETHRESHOLD
OFTHE21stCENTURY
cation programs for ruraland sparselypopulated incomeLeveL the cost per studentof secondary
areas,disadvantaged students,and studentswho schoolingvariesconsiderabLy betweencountries
workfuLLtime.A numberof universities arebegin- and within countries.In fact, secondary school-
ning to use Internet-basedtechnoLogies. These ing is mostexpensive reLativeto GNF'percapita
optionsofferanalternativeto the traditionaL high- in countrieswith the LowestenroLLment rates.In
er-educationmodelof fuLL-timepre-empLoymentAfrica secondaryschoolsuseresourcessuch as
trainingon residentialcampuses, but in mostcases teachersandbuiLdingsmuchLessefficientLythan
the potentiaLof the newtechnoLogies is under- primaryschooLs. Onereasonmaybe that in the
used. poorestcountries,secondaryschooLsare stiLL
organizedaLongtraditionaLLinesto educatea
smaLL elite.
Efficiency Limitedpublicresources and cornpetingpub-
LicspendingprioritieshavepreventEdmanygov-
The efficiencyof educationexpendituresvaries ernmentsfrom addressingthe challengesof
considerabLy, as do the reasonsfor differences educationdeveLopment. Sincethe mid-1980sthe
within and betweenfrancophone andangLophone share of educationspendingin the GDPhas
countries.In somecountries,especiaLLy in the increasedin 14 of the 26 Africancountriesfor
Sahel,high teachersalariesmakeit difficuLtto whichdataareavailable,remained the samein 1,
mobiLize the resources to reachuniversalprimary and decreased in 11. Perhapsmoresignificant,
education in the foreseeabLe future.In othercoun- this shareis stilL Lessthan 3 percentin 8 coun-
tries teachersaLaries areso Lowthat teachersare tries (UNESCO 1998c).At a givenlevel of educa-
forcedto takeadditionaL jobs. tion spendingasa shareof GDP,participationand
TeacherdeploymentpoLiciescanaLsoleadto attainmentlevelsin Africa comparEunfavorabLy
inefficient and inequitable distribution of with thosein other Low-income countries(tabLe
resources. Oftenteachersarenot depLoyed accord- 1.3). Inefficient and inequitabLeuse of scarce
ing to numberof students,yearsof experience, or resources in a contextof high populationgrowth
saLary. Theteacher:student ratioin Niger,for exam- and demandfor generaL pubLicfinancingof edu-
pLe,varieswideLyfrom schooLto schooL(figure cation by politically powerfuLpressuregroups
1.4). Forexample, in primaryschooLs of 200 stu- addsto the fiscal chaLLenge. Thuscountriesmust
dents,the teacher:student ratio ranges from1:100 set priorities for pubLicspending,achieveeffi-
to 1:20.Thesituationis simiLarat the secondary ciencygainswherepossible,and identify oppor-
level.These discrepancies canjeopardize the effec- tunities for mobilizing additional pubLicand
tive operationof the entireeducationsystemand privateresources.
aLmost invariabLy resultin lowstudentLearning and
participation rates. DetaiLedcountry-specific
anaLysisis neededfor an appropriatepoLicy PrivateEducation
response.
A recent study (Lewin and CaiLLods 1999) The private sectoris an increasincily important
arguesthat deveLoping countrieswith low sec- providerof educationin Africa.Privateproviders
ondaryenrollments, includingmostAfricancoun- rangefromcommunity-run schoolsreLyingon in-
tries, cannot finance substantiaLLyhigher kindcontributionsto for-profitschooLs runfor the
participation rates from domestic public weaLthy. TodaymostregisteredprivateschooLs in
resources with currentcoststructures.At a given Africa are nonprofit communityarid reLigious

A CHANCE
TOLEARN 15
 Figure1.4 Retationship
betweenthe Numbefrof at the
leachersandStudents
PrimaryLev:el
inNiger
Numberof teachers
22 - A
21- A
20Q A A A
19: AA A A
18 A AAA A AA
17 AA A AA AC A
16- A A A A AA A
15 B A AA B A A AA A
14 A ABAAACAR A AAA AA BA A

13: A AAB C AAAAA AAAA ACAA AA

12- Ac~ BAADBAAA AA ~AAA A
11- A OBAA AAAAA Mt>BBA AA A
10 k BA A BBACAA CA A A A A
9 BB BACD B ABCt BAA A A
8- AB ABABBBCCAAAOAA A A A
7 A BA AD :}0EtD :A AMA A
6- - AB!tGIKXJJLGECCCBA - - A _ _
5 ABBDMHKFkFHCQCxA
4 =HGdOGMGEHCBA C
3- EZZZZZZZUO::BBA
2- ZZZZZYVIGC:
1- LZZKCCB A

0 2200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400

Number
of students

Note:A - 1 school,B = 2 schools,C = 3 schools;..

Z = 26 schools.
Source:
World B3ank forthcomingb.

schooLs(IIEP 1999). The private sector plays a burdenon governments,give parents more choice
smalLroLeat the primary level, but its share in and control, and improveaccountabiLity.
meeting secondary,vocational,and tertiary educa- Somecountries are also increasing the role of
tion needs has increased significantly in recent private providers in deLivering support services
years. In C6te d'Ivoire 36 percent of generaLsec- such as textbook publishing, classroomconstruc-
ondary students and 65 percent of technical stu- tion, and university catering. Countrieswill need
dents are enroLled in private schools (Vawda, detaiLedanalysesof these programs,organization-
Yaaub, and Patrinos 1999). In Zambia almost 90 al arrangements,and cost structuresas they con-
percentof studentstaking technicaLand vocation- sider affordable poLiciesfor expanding accessto
aLexaminationswere trained outside pubLicinsti- secondaryeducation, vocationaLtraining, techni-
tutions. Privateeducationcan reducethe financiaL caLeducation, and higher education.

16 EDUCATION
AFRICAN OFTHE21st CENTURY
ONTHETHRESHOLD
 of Education
Indicators
Table1.3 Comparative 1993
Efficiency,
Spending
Yearsof Primary
Education PrimaryEducation Gross Schooling Teacher
Spending/ Spending/ Enrollment per 1 Percent Salary/GDP
Country GDP(percent) GDP(percent) Ratio(percent) of GDP per capita
BurkinaFaso 2.7 1.13 38 1.06 8.4
Chad 2.4 1.03 59 1.75 5.5
Mali 2.8 1.32 25 0.69 10.3
Niger 3.1 1.43 29 0.73 9.7
Senegal 4.2 1.85 59 1.15 7.2
Average 3.0 1.35 42 1.08 8.2

Limited Education Attainment maLesand three yearsfor femaLes (UNESCO 1998c).

In aLmostall countries the situation is worse for
TheeconomicshocksAfricaexperienced in the 1980s girLs. AveragemaLeand femaLeLiteracyrates in
and early 1990sare stiLLfeLt in educationsystems. Africa differ by aLmost10 percentagepoints, whiLe
FollowingearLierprogress,education deveLopment averageprimarygrossenrollmentratiosdiffer by 14
stagnatedand in severalcasesdecLined. Manycoun- percentage points (UNESCO1998c). Only five
tries stilLcannotprovidetheir populationswith equi- African countries (Botswana,CapeVerde, Kenya,
table opportunitiesfor good education. As a resuLt Lesotho,and Namibia)have female primary gross
manypeopLestiLLhave Littleor no education,skiLLed enroLlment ratios equalto or abovethosefor males.
workersare Lacking,and the regionis increasingly As disturbing as the LowLeveLs of literacy and
isoLatedfrom gLobalknowledgenetworks. educationattainment is the markeddecLinein the
TheaverageAfricanadult has fewer than three capacityof manyAfricancountriesto generateknowL-
yearsof education(figure 1.5). Onein three males edgeas a resource for tertiary Levelinstructionandfor
and one in two femaLes is illiterate. In severaLcoun- researchand technologydevelopment. A 1992study
tries the averagesix-year-oLd can expectto receive (UNESCO 1999a) estimated that Afric:a has onLy
fewerthan threeyearsof formaleducation.Average 20,000scientistsand engineers,or 0.36 percentof
educationattainment in BurkinaFasois estimated the worLd'stotal. In Nigeria,with 20 percent of
at threeyearsfor malesand two yearsfor females; Africa'spopuLation, only 15 scientistsanidengineers
in Mozambiqueit is estimated at four years for per miLlionpeople engage in researchand develop-

TOLEARN
A CHANCE 17
 Figure1.5 Averag
X Yearsof AdultSchooing4
HaveStagnatedin Africa

6 \: 0 0000_ ;00 0 0000000

000 0: X 1980
5 1985

4 1990

Africa Asi &l Lt A ca&

t fAmeEast e East& SouthAsia
Paciffc Caribbean NorthAfrica

Source:Barro and Lee 1996; EDsTATS.

ment,comparedwith 149 in India, 350 in China,and deveLopment assistancerepresented6.7 percentof

3,700in the UnitedStates(UNESCO 1998c).
A continuing brain drain exacerbatesthese
probLems. Reasons varyfrom countryto countrybut
usuaLLyreLateto a Lackof empLoyment opportunities
in the modernsector, Limitedresearchbudgetsin
universities,and the Lackof freedomof speechand
the fear of politicaL repressionin countries with
authoritarianregimes.AvaiLabLe figuressuggestthat
about 30,000 Africans holding Ph.D. degreesLive
outside the continent, and 130,000Africansstudy
in higherlearninginstitutions outside Africa. Many
of those who find employmentabroadneverreturn.
LimitedImpactof External
Aid
Africa has consistentLyreceivedmoreexternal aid
than other regions.Between1996and 1997 over a
third of totaL officiaLdeveLopment
assistanceflows
went to Sub-SaharanAfrica despite the fact that
the regionaccountsfor onLy12 percentof the totaL
deveLopingcountrypopuLation.Africa aLsois more
aid dependentthan other regions.In 1997 official
Africa'sGNP,comparedwith an averageof Less than
1 percentfor all deveLopingcountries(UNDP1999).
Worldwide,about 10 percentof aid supportseduca-
tion and about 1.5 percent supports basic educa-
tion. Since1992, however,aid flows havedecLined,
and since 1994 aid to Africa has droppedby $3.7
billion (Oxfam1999).Theeffect of this reductionin
aid on educationaccessand quaLityis not cLear.
The 1990 WorLdConferenceon Educationfor
All was an important impetus for a review of edu-
cation deveLopment strategies and assistancepri-
orities. WorLdBank Lendingfor basic education,
having increasedin the Late 1980s,jumped con-
siderabLyafter the conference.UntiL1990 biLater-
aLsupport for basic educationwas Limited.After
the conferenceaid agenciesbeganto reordertheir
priorities and formuLate policies for increased
assistanceto basiceducation.The result wassub-
stantiaL biLateraL support for basic education
deveLopment,especiaLLy in Africa. In 1996, 42
percent of the $668 million Africa receivedin aid
to educationwent to basiceducation (figure 1.6),
an important increasefrom the Late 1980s. Yet

18 AFRICANEDUCATION
ON THETHRESHOLD
OF THE21st CENTURY
official deveLopment assistancerepresentsonly Shortcomings in donorapproache;havecon-
3-4 percentof totaLexpenditureon educationin tributedto the mixedrecordof aid for education.
Africa.This averagehideslargevariations:some Oftendonorshavepaid insufficientattentionto
countriesreceivevirtually no foreign aid, while countries'capacityto managedeveLopment pro-
others receiveaid from severaldonorsand can grams, sothat aidhasnot beenusedasefficientLy as
fund muchof their pubLicexpenditureon educa- it couldhavebeen.DonorshaverareLy coordinated
tion fromexternaL sources.In somepost-conflict their educationaid programs, and manyprojects
countries,suchas Mozambique, aid to education remainenclaveoperationswith LimitednationaL
has roughLy equaLed spendingfrom domestically ownership.WherenationaLownershipis Lacking,
generated revenuein recentyears. donorsandgovernments oftenhavedifferentobjec-
ExternaLLy assistededucation deveLopment tives. In this situationfungibiLitycan becomea
programshavea mixedrecord.Manyprograms- probLem, and aid is moreLikeLy to substitutefor,
incLudingthose supportedby the Bank-have rather than compLement, governmentefforts
failed to achievethe expectedresults,especially (Feyzioglu, Swaroop,and Zhu 1998; WorLdBank
in strengtheningnational policiesand institu- 1998a).Programs haveoften failed to take into
tions. SustaininginitiaLpositiveresuLtshaseven accountnationaLmacroeconomic and institutionaL
beenmoredifficuLt.In onLya fewcaseshasexter- environments, focusinginsteadon specificinvest-
naLassistance broughtaboutsystemicreform.The mentsrefLecting externaL agencies' agendas rather
reasons for this mixedrecordarevariedand com- thannationaL prioritiesandoftensupporting thecre-
pLex.In manycountriespoLiticalupheaval andvio- ationof unsustainabLe paraLLeLsystems. VWeakcoordi-
Lent confLicthave disruptedreforms.In other nationof externaL aid programs hasrruLtipLied the
countries governmentshave faced formidabLe demands on domestic institutions,Ledt) fragmented
poLiticaL oppositionto sectorreform,particuLarLy anddupLicated efforts,distortedspending priorities,
reform that challengestraditionaL modesof andproduced gapsin coverage andfunding.
financing and deliverythat benefit priviLeged These probLemsare wideLyrecognizedby
minorities. donors and governments. In response,severaL

Figure1.6 OfficialDevelopmentAssistanceto Education,1996

ByLevel: ByEducation
Sector:
Pre-primary
7%
AduLt 1 Vocational
20%
educatian 19% \ TechnicaL17% = /

riay22%

Secondary20%S General
42%

euaon
201% Nor-format
21%
Post-secondary
12%

ADEA 1998.
Source:

A CHANCETOLEARN 19
countries, including Ethiopia, Mozambique,and
Zambia, have designed sectorwide approaches.
But experiencewith these approachesis Limited,
and not aLLagencieshave sufficient staff with the
anaLyticaL,poLicy,and operationaLskiLLsrequired
to contribute effectively to the design of these
programs.SimiLarLy, many countries do not have
the nationaLcapacity to managethe design and
implementation of these programsor coordinate
the assistanceof severaLdonors-especiaLLywhen
donor poLiciesand proceduresdiffer.
Thecasefor increasingaid flows to education,
particuLarLybasic education, is strong. But per-
haps the most urgent challengeis ensuring that
aid programs produce visibLe and sustainabLe
resuLtson the ground.A recentreviewof aid effec-
tivenessarguesthat aid shouLdfind the right com-
bination of finance and ideasto addressdifferent
situations and problems(WorLdBank1998a). This
report finds that:
* Financialaid worksin a strong poLicyenviron-
ment.In weakpolicy environments,moneyhas
Lessimpact.
20 AFRICAN
* PoLicy-based aid shouLdbe providedto nurture
better policies in countries with credibLe
reformersand strong domesticLeaders.
* DeveLopment projectsshouLdstrengtheninstitu-
tions and poLiciesby increasingthe efficacyof
pubLicspendingand by promoting partnerships
with civil societyto repLace
top-downapproach-
es to projectdesignand impLementation.
* Projectsshould createand transmit knowLedge
and capacity and incLudeevaLuationas part of
the process.
* In distorted policy environments,ideas are
moreusefuLthan Large-scaLe finance.
* Ideaswill havethe greatestimpact wherepart-
nershipsbetween governmentand dcnors are
genuineand groundedin diaLogue.
The WorLdBankstudy of aid effectivenessrec-
ommendsthat aid agenciesbecomemoreselective,
more knowLedgebased, better coordinated, and
moreseLf-critical.WhiLethey do not focusspecifi-
caLLyon education,the findings are a usefulframe-
work for rethinking approachesto aid for education
(see chapter4).
EDUCATION
ONTHETHRESHOLD
OFTHE21st CENTURY
2. TheChallenges
of the African
DevelopmentContext
Economicgrowth wasslow in Sub-SaharanAfrica
in the 1980s and earLy1990s. Rising oil prices
and weakening export markets in industrial
countries, along with drought and civil strife in
many African countries, resulted in baLanceof
payments
deficits and decliningand often nega-
tive economic growth rates. These probLems
refLected years of poor economic management
and exposedunsustainablestructuraLweaknesses
in the economies.Average real GDPgrowth in
the region dropped from about 5 percent in the
1960s to less than 2 percent in the 1980s and
0.1 percent during 1990-93. Becauseof rapid
popuLation growth, this drop represented an
annual averagedecLineof 1 percent in per capita
GDPbetween 1980 and 1995. As a result, by the
mid-1990s onLy12 countries in the region had a
higher per capita GDPthan they had in 1975.
Many African countries had to adjust their
economies to the changing economic environ-
ment. But during 1994-97 growth rates gradual-
Ly recovered, and reaL GDP growth per capita
averaged2.9 percent. In 1997 per capita growth
averaged3.1 percent and was positive for 35 of
the 47 Sub-Saharancountries for which data are
avaiLabLe.Notwithstanding the worLdwidefinan-
ciaL crisis, half the countries in Sub-Saharan
Africa showed a positive growth in 1998.
The economiccrisis of the 1980shad a severe
impact on the education sector (chapter 1),
adverseLy affecting householddemandfor and pub-
Lic suppLy of education. Without acceLerated
improvementsin the sector,the region'sLong-term
deveLopmentprospectswill remain dim. Yet the
contextfor educationdeveLopment in the regionis
daunting:
* Povertyis pervasive.
* Economiesfunction at the periphery of the
gLobaleconomy.
* DeveLopment financeis difficuLt to mobiLize.
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
* Newscientific knowLedge is sLowtoDpenetrate
the continent.
* Armedconflicts disrupt civit societY.
* HIV/AIDS is spreading rapidly, and disease
exactsa heavytoLL.
* FertiLityrates remain high.
PervasivePoverty
Economic stagnation in the 1980s and earLy
1990s had a devastating impact on the progress
of human deveLopmentin Africa. Most basic
social indicators stiLl lag behind thDse of other
regions (table 2.1). Of the 35 countries the
United Nations DevelopmentPrograimme(UNDP)
classifies as having Lowhuman development,28
are in Sub-SaharanAfrica (UNDP 1999). More
than 40 percent of Africans Live below the $1 a
day poverty Line,and the incidence of poverty as
well as the absolute numbersof people Livingin
poverty have increased since the Late 1980s.
Extreme poverty and deprivation both impede
investments in education by governmentsand
househoLdsand are a result of Low educationaL
attainment.
DeveLopmentstrategies designEd to reduce
poverty must thus be grounded in sound eco-
nomic policy and centered on hLrnan capitaL
deveLopmentprograms.With its rapidly growing
popuLation,the region needs an annuaLgrowth
per capita of 5 percent to keep the number of
poor from rising and it must do so in such a way
that increased production expandsemployment
opportunities and improves access':o sociaLser-
vices for the poor. To haLvethe incidence of
poverty African countries wiLLhave to sustain
annuaLper capita growth rates of a: Least7 per-
cent untiL 2015 (WorLd Bank 2000b). Human
deveLopmentprograms must be based on cLear
anaLysis of who the poor are and what
mechanismsexclude them from social services,
incLudingeducation.
21
 Table2.1 BasicSocialIndicatorsby Region

I 1;.1; 1 .s.L.. 1 iLL I' I 1. ILLI1

_ _~~~ni

South Asia N76 94

EastAsia
and Pacific :ill 115 a
Latin Ampericton
Caribban 105 ~ 110 N N '\

Afrcanm
Middle E~ast NNNNNN N contie 74tt fia(oLdBn 97.Mn
and Nohder 77s 84 i' hNn

Source:UNICEF
199NNi
andspoL,Ariapoue the
ut ecn f o ecnmiaL I019)
NcieLbrfrc

Economiesat the Periphery of the Global
Economy
With 18 percentof the worLd's[and and 11 percent
of its people, Africa producesjust 1 percent of
gLobal GoP. The international economy has
expandedand changeddramaticaLly in the past 20
years,with shifting patternsof trade and competi-
tion and continuous technotogical innovation.
Togetherthese changesare creating a high-speed,
knowledge-driven,and competitive global econo-
my. Africa has not beenable to maintainits share
in this new global economy.
During1980-96 as world GDPgrew 3.3 percent
a year,GDPgrowthin Africa averagedonly 1.7 per-
cent a year. Worldwideexports of goods and ser-
vices(in currentdollars) almosttripled duringthis
period, but Africa's exportsstagnated, causingits
shareof the total to plummetfrom about 4.0 per-
cent to 1.3 percent(World Bank1999c).The rapid
increasein foreign direct investment since 1990
has Largelybypassedthe region, reflecting in part
the overhang effect of unsustainable externaL
debts. Between1990and 1996 Lessthan 3 percent
of foreign direct investment flows to developing
countries went to Africa (WorldBank 1997). Many
African economieshavea smallmodernproductive
sector,typically absorbingno morethan 30 percent
of the economicallyactive labor force (ILO 1998).
Increasingthe productivity and competitivenessof
the informal and modernsectorsis a challengethat
few African countriescan afford to ignore.
As noted, however, rost African economies
have experiencedfaster growth since 1994. More
flexibLeand competitive exchangerates, healthier
fiscaLbaLances,and an icproving export market
indicate that the recent trend can be sustained
overthe next few years.Furthermore,the continent
can makehugegainsif it cantake advantageof its
catch-up potential in the returns on new invest-
ment (KiLlick1998).
Longer-termeconomicperformancewill depend
on improvementsin humanicapital and the associ-
ated ability to use moderntechnology,as well as
on improvementsin public institutions and infra-
structureat nationaLand regional levels.The most
important determinant of the pace of Africa's
developmentmay be its abiLityto create, acquire,

22 OFTHEAFRICAN
THECHALLENGES CONTEXT
DEVELOPMENT
absorb, and communicateknowledge(WorLdBank taxes, but trade LiberaLizationis eroding these
l999c). This processcan accelerateif the region instruments.Thecontractionof the formialeconomy
can Leapfrogto new technoLogies,skipping inter- and the concomitantgrowth of the informal sector
mediatestages.But without concertedeffort, coun- in many countries pose further chaLLenges to
tries wiLLbe unabLeto adapt to the demandsof a resourcemobiLization,given the difficLlty of taxing
gLobalizedeconomyand wiLl risk further marginal- smaLL-scale enterprisesin the urban gray and black
ization. Africa needsto improve its macroeconomic economy(Grunberg1998).
poLicies,governance,and export performanceand TheresourceenveLopeavailableto governments
to invest more in human capital. And in several often has been further constricted by weak eco-
countries deveLopmentpoLicy needs to recognize nomicperformanceand the voLatiLityand declineof
that peopLeare the most important-sometimes export receiptsfor primarycommoditiesexports,on
virtuaLLythe onLy-resource they have. Thus the which most countriesin the regionde3endheavily.
deveLopment of education-at aLLleveLs,from basic The combinedeffect of these constraints has been
to tertiary-is the centraLdeveLopment imperative. faLLingper capita expenditureson priority sociaL
services,including education. Between 1985 and
1995regionalspendingper student on primaryedu-
Inadequate
Financingfor Development cationfell by 6 percent.In starkcontrastto this
decrease,primary education spendinigincreased
Sustainedeconomicgrowth and povertyeLimination approximatelythreefoLdin every other deveLoping
dependon strong and effective government.UnLess region over the sameperiod. Per student spending
governments can mobilize finance from stabLe feLLsimiLarlyat the secondaryand tertiary Levels
sources,they wiLl be unabLeto meet their core (UNESCO 1998d).
responsibiLitiesin the sociaLsectorsand in infra- UnsustainablepubLic debt has further con-
structure or to providethe institutional framework strained the mobilization of developTientfinance
needed for deveLopment.Education financing is acrossmuch of the region. Debt overhang has cre-
typicaLlyone of the largest items of government ated uncertaintyfor domesticand foreign investors
expenditure,often claiming as muchas one-fifth or and restrictedgrowth. UnsustainabLe Jebt has also
more of the total budget. Spendingon education imposed a direct fiscal burden in many heaviLy
increases in line with popuLation and income indebted poor countries(HIPCs)by diverting Limit-
growth and is a long-terminvestmentthat requires ed public revenueto debt repaymerts.Debt has
a predictabLeincomesource. acted as a further brakeon growth by undermining
In recent years many African countries have public investment in social and economicinfra-
improvedmarkedLy the efficiency,equity, and trans- structure. ManyAfrican HIPCshave spent three to
parencyof their tax regimes.Yetthe countries stiLL four times as much on debt servicin(gas on basic
face enormouschallengesto resourcemobiLization, social servicesin recent years. ResoLutionof the
and Africa's unmet needsare greaterthan those of debt impasseis now in sight. Thecurrent HIPCdebt
any other region. Taxrevenueis low even by devel- reLiefinitiative, which providescomprThensivedebt
oping countrystandards,typicalLyabout 10 percent stock reduction, is expected to relieve almost 20
of GNP.Domesticcapacityto raise revenueis often Africancountriesof unsustainabledebt burdensand
Limited,and the tax base is smaLL in the region's significantLyincreasetheir nationaLedication bud-
predominantLyruraLand nonwageeconomies.This gets within the next five years.
small tax base traditionally has led to favoring Falling aid fLowsto Africa have mirrored chaL-
other tax instruments, in particuLar trade-based Lengesto mobiLizingdomestic revenue. Between

A CHANCETOLEARN 23
1990 and 1998 per capita net aid flows to Africa
felLfrom $32 to $19, refLectingthe gLobaL decLine
in aid fLows since 1991 (WorLdBank 2000b).
FalLingaid fLowshave reducedthe proportionate
contribution of aid to deveLopingcountryfinancing
needs,but the decline has beenaccompaniedby a
surgein private capital fLowsto developingcoun-
tries. Yet Africa hasbeen Largelybypassedby these
private fLowsand stiLLdependsheavily on official
deveLopment assistance.In 1996 net aid flows to
the region-excLuding South Africa-equaLed 8.6
percentof regional GNP,comparedwith [essthan 1
percentin other deveLopingregions.
Whetherthe HIPCinitiative providesreaLaddi-
tional finance for African countriesor simpLyrecy-
cLesexisting aid budgets will determine whether
downwardaid trendscan be reversed.In the longer
term, the extent to which debt reLief boosts
investor confidencein Africa and the abiLity of
African governmentsand creditors to avoid future
debt criseswill be crucialin shapingprospectsfor
economicgrowth, povertyaLLeviation,and reduced
aid dependency.
InsufficientScientificKnowledge
The globaLexplosion of knowledgegives African
countries an opportunity to narrow information
and knowLedge gaps, thereby raising incomesand
living standardsmuchfaster than previousLy imag-
ined. But to take advantageof the gLobaL stock of
knowledge,
countriesneedto deveLop
the techno-
logicaLcompetence-typicalty in universities and
other pubLicand private researchinstitutions-to
select,absorb,and adapt importedtechnoLogyand
pursuea researchagendafocused on local prob-
lems.Creating,absorbing,and communicatingnew
knowLedgerequires basic education (pre-primary,
primary, and adult) for all and opportunities to
continueLearningand to acquireadvancedtechni-
caLand scientific skiLLs
(WorLdBank1999b). Africa
lags behind on both counts. Morethan 40 million
24
of its childrenare out of school.SecondaryenroLL-
ments are Low,especially in science and math
cLasses.And the scienceand technology base of
most African countriesis inadequate.
Public investmentsin scientific researchand
development are estimated at 0.2 percent of
regionalGNP,one of the LowestLeveLs in the worLd.
The region is responsibLefor onLy0.8 percent of
the worLd'sscientific pubLications(UNESCO 1999a).
Most African universities tack sufficient resources
to carryout effective teaching and research.
To take advantageof the new knowledgeecon-
omy, Africa needsweLL-trainedscientific, techno-
logical, and processingpersonnel-incLudingsome
with sophisticatedresearchskiLls-who can partic-
ipate in advancesin key fieLds(physics,materiaLs
science,computer science,technoLogy,engineer-
ing) and who canassessand developLocalappLica-
tions of new technoLogy.WorLdclass centersfor
scientific education and research,abLeto suppLy
and retain these personnel, wilL be needed at
regionaLand subregionalleveLs.
Weakcommunicationnetworksand information
flows further constrain Africa's use of new knowL-
edge.TheseshortcomingsLimit information on the
quaLityof productsandservices,inhibit monitor-
ing, and impedeexchanginginformation with ben-
eficiaries (box 2.1). Addressingthese information
gaps will be an essentialeLementof every nation-
aLknowledgemanagementstrategy.
ExtensiveArmedConflicts
In 1996 alone a third of African countries experi-
encedarmedconflicts. OneAfricanin five lives in a
country severelydisrupted by war. Theseconflicts
causeenormoushumansuffering, materialdevasta-
tion, human capital depLetion,and damageto the
social and cultural fabric that holds nations
together.ConflictshaveaLsodestabiLized the region
as a whole,erodinginvestor confidence,disrupting
trade routes, acceleratingthe spreadof HIV/AIDS,
THECHALLENGES
OFTHEAFRICAN
DEVELOPMENT
CONTEXT
 Box2.1
Africa'sInformationInfrastructure
* Dailynewspaper circulationper 1,000peoplein
AfricarangesfromI in Benin,BurkinaFaso,and
Mauritania to 28 in Gabonand 31 in Botswana
(compared with 135in Argentina, 246 in Latvia, *
and800in HongKong).
* Thenumber of radiosper1,000people averages198,
rangingfrom34in Angola to 231in Ghana and316
in SouthAfrica(compared with163in China,404in
Lithuania,and 469 in Malaysia). Threeof five
Africanslivewithinreachof a radiotransmitter.
* Thenumberof televisionsetsper 1,000people
averages 36,rangingfromlessthan 1 in Eritreato
96 in Swaziland and 123 in SouthAfrica(com-
paredwith322in TrinidadandTobago, 469in the
CzechRepublic,and 805 in the UnitedStates).
Television is limitedmaintyto majortowns.
* Thenumberof personal computers per1,000peo-
ple averages3, rangingfrom tess than 1 in
Source:UNESCO 1998c; UNOP 1999.
and sendingrefugeepopulationsinto neighboring
countries.The United Nations High Commissioner
for Refugeesestimated the number of refugees,
returnees,and personsdisplacedwithin their own
countriesat 22.3 million in Africain 1998.Between
1990and 1994, morethan 1 million peopledied as
a result of conflict. By conservativeestimate,
200,000Africansdied becauseof war in 1998. Most
of those who died were civiLians,and a growing
numberof the perpetratorsof violenceare chiLdren.
The rising numbersof chiLdcombatantsin Africa
pose enormouschallengesfor post-conflict social
rehabilitation and economicdevelopment.
Beforecountries affected by conflict can move
forward economicalLyand politically, they must
end civil strife, not only stopping hostilities but
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
-
BurkinaFasoto 7 in Zimbabwe and 37in South
Africa (comparedwith 38 in Chile, 172 in
Singapore,and408in SwitzerLand).
Thenumberof telephone mainlinesper1,000peo-
pterangesfrom2 in Nigerand8 in Kenya to 48in
Botswana and I00 in SouthAfrica(compared with
75in Brazil,166in Malaysia,
and335in BuLgaria).
* Thenumberof fax machinesper 1,000people
rangesfrom 0.1 in the CentralAfricanRepublic
andGuineato 2,5 in CapeVerde(compared with
113in Japan).
* Forty-sevenAfricancountrieshaveaccess to the
Internet.However, anaverageof onlt 1 personin
5,000usestheInternet, compared with 1 in 40
globallyand1 in 6 in EuropeandNorthAmerica.
Thenrumber of Internethostsper 1,000people
rangesfrom0.01in BurkinaFasoto 3.82in South
Africa.
aLsoaddressingthe causesof conflicts. Countries
wilL then have to rebuild and expaid the infra-
structure neededto increaseeconomicproductivi-
ty; improve human welfare, mobility, and
communication;and reintegratedifferent popula-
tion groupsinto a dynamicand vibrant society.At
the sametime, democracyhas to take root in civiL
society,and governmentsmust continue to deveL-
op and adhere to systems of good governance,
accountability,and responsibiLity.
Thechallengefor educationeffortsin countries
emerging from conflicts or civil repressionis to
support confLictresoLutionand instill civic vaLues
and principlesof democracy,tolerance,and cooper-
ation. Restoringand improving basic social ser-
vices, especialLyeducation, is crucial to the post
25
conflict transition. Education helps normalizean the individual Level.A child born today in Zambia
often chaotic environmentand is a powerfulsymbol or Zimbabweis morelikeLythan not to die of AIDS,
of confidencein the future. EducationaLsoheLps while in severalotherAfricancountriesthe Lifetime
restorethe stock of humanand sociaLcapital that risk of dying as a result of AIDSis greaterthan one
is depletedduring conflicts. To becomeproductive in three. Declininglife expectancyacrossmuch of
membersof society,former combatantsmust have central and southernAfrica refLectsthe spread of
viable opportunitiesto securea livelihood without the virus. In nine African countries with aduLt
taking what they want or need by force. To avoid prevalenceof 10 percent or more, life expectancy
becominga Lostgeneration,chiLdrenwhoseeduca- is projected to regressto an averageof just 47
tion has been disrupted need opportunities to years by 2015 (WorldBank1999b).
catchup, often requiringnontraditionalapproaches An especiaLLy devastatingaspect of the pan-
to learning.In manycountriesNGOsplay a key roLe demic is that it usually affects peopLein their
in deLiveringnonformaLeducationto suchchiLdren, most productiveyears. A mortality rate of 3 per-
both in post-confLictand confLictsituations. cent in the 20-30 age group-in which infection
rates are highest-transLates into half of the age
cohort dying within 14 years.In the most severeLy
The HIV/AIDSPandemic affected countries, spreading from eastern
through central and southern Africa, HIV/'AIDSis
The burden of diseaseis dramaticaLlyhigher in reversing years of investment in education and
Africa than eLsewhere in the worLdand an obstacLe training, creating shortagesof skilled Labcrin the
to regional economic and human deveLopment. modern sector, and burdening already overex-
MaLaria,onchocerciasis(river bLindness),and try- tended health budgets.In Botswana,with a preva-
panosomiasis (sleepingsickness),though they occur lence rate among aduLtsof cLoseto 25 percent,
eLsewhere in the worLd,are essentiaLLyAfrican dis- the epidemiccould reverseyears of buoyant eco-
eases.MaLaria,which accountsfor about 11 percent nomic growth by creating severelabor shortages,
of the burdenof diseasein the region, exactsboth reducing governmentrevenue by 7 percent and
a humanand economictoLL,costing many African increasing expenditures by 15-20 percent, and
countriesover 1 percentof their GDP(Leightonand reducingthe GDPgrowth rate by 1.5 percentage
Foster1993; GaLLup and Sachs1998; Shepardand points. Within 25 years the economywouLdbe 31
others1991). percent smallerthan it would have been without
But HIV/AIDSis the condition that most pro- the epidemic.In Tanzania,with a prevalencerate
foundLythreatensAfrican deveLopment, having hit of aLmost20 percent,GDPwiLLdecLinebetween15
Africa harderthan any other region. In 1998 the and 25 percentby 2015 if the epidemiccontinues
region accountedfor 70 percent of all new HIV to spreadat its presentrate.
infections and 80 percent of all AIDS-related The demographicimpact of HIV/AIDSon the
deaths.Two-thirdsof the worLd's33.4 miLLion peo- regionis lessclear. However,most expertsbeLieve
pLeLivingwith HIV and 9 of 10 chiLdrencarrying that the pandemicmaynot significantly affect the
the virus are African (UNAIDS1999). dependencyratio (Stover 1999). HIV/AIDS has
The 21 countries with the highest prevaLence increasedthe adult mortaLityrate,but this increase
rates are found in Africa. In Botswana and will be largely offset by fewer births and an
Zimbabweone in four adultsis infected.In at least increasein child mortality resultingfrom perinatal
10 other African countriesprevaLence rates exceed infection. WhiLeHIV/AIDShas Led to significant
10 percent.The data are perhapsmost alarmingat downwardrevisions of growth projections in the

26 THECHALLENGES
OFTHEAFRICAN
DEVELOPMENT
CONTEXT
most severeLyaffected countries, fertility wiLLnot
drop rapidly enoughin any countryto causenega-
tive growth (Decosasand Adrien1999).
Theimpact of HIV/AIDSin Africa hasimportant
impLicationsfor pLanningand providing education
(box 2.2). First, HIV/AIDSforcesmiLLionsof chiL-
drenout of schooLand into work. As aduLtsbecome
sick and die, househoLds face a double squeeze-
they havemoreneedsbut LessabiLityto meetthem.
Householdshavebeenforcedinto increasingLy des-
perate coping strategies as a resuLt. Traditional
family structuresare frayedand in the worst cases
disappear.TwelvemilLion chiLdrenin Africa have
been orphanedby HIV/AIDS,many of them cared
for by elderLyrelatives ilL-equippedto providefor
the chiLdren'sdeveLopment. Most of these orphans
wiLLsuffer permanentLy as a result of Leavingschool,
enteringthe worLdof workearly, and eating Less.In
the worst-affectedcountries,incLudingBotswana,
Malawi,Zambia,and Zimbabwe,about 30-35 per-
cent of chiLdrenhave Lostone or both parentsto
the disease.Providingthese childrenwith genuine-
Ly accessibLe forms of educationthat are fLexibLe
and sensitiveto their speciaLneedsand the trauma
many of them have experiencedis an urgent and
ongoing chaLLenge for everyAfricansociety.
Second, AIDS threatens to reinforce gender
disparities in education in Africa. GirLsin AIDS-
affected househoLds are more LikeLythan boys to
remainat hometo nursesick relativesand perform
tasksthat werepreviousLy the responsibiLityof other
famiLymembers.Giventhe importanceof girls' edu-
cation for gainsin nutrition, fertiLity, and health,
this trend seriousLythreatens wider deveLopment
prospectsin the region.
Third, AIDSis devastatingthe teachingprofes-
sion. Morethan 30 percentof teachersin MaLawi and
Zambiaare infected. In 1996 Zambiareportedmore
than 600 teacherdeaths;by 1999this numberhad
morethan doubLed.Teacherdeathsfrom AIDS-relat-
ed iLLnesses now outstrip the numberof teachers
trained in the country'straining colleges.Similarly,
academicstaff at universitiesaredying at an alarm-
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
ing rate. This depLetionof scarcehumancapitaLis
both a humantragedy and an econormicdisaster.
AIDSaLsoaffectsthe quaLityof teachinc.Thedisease
resuLtsin ListLessness and prolonged absenteeism
amongsickstaff and a widespread senseof heLpLess-
ness.Learningoutcomesare further affectedby Low
attendanceratesamongchildrenandthe diversionof
resources to heaLthexpenditures and awayfromvitaL
educationinvestments(such as learniigi materiaLs)
at householdand nationaLLeveLs.
Education pLansurgentLyneed to factor in
expLicitly,at every Level,the LikeLypersonneL and
financial costs of the pandemicand llhe changing
nature of educationdemand.Growthprojectionsof
Zambia'sprimary school age populaton iLLustrate
this urgency.In 1998Zambiahad about 1.9 million
school chiLdren.With HIV/AIDS, the country is
expectedto haveover 2.2 million in 2015.Without
HIV/AIDS,the projection would have reachedfar
more than 2.9 miLLion.IncreasingLy,schooLswiLL
need specialarrangementsto heLpensurecontin-
ued effective instruction, and universities must
pLanto replacemanyfacuLtymembers.
At the same time, education systems have a
vital roLein reversingthe spreadof HIV/AIDSby
addressingsome of the key underlying causes:
poverty,lackof knowLedge, and genderinequaLities.
Until the worLdhas a vaccine or therapiesthat
deveLopingcountries can afford, AICS,prevention
strategieswill depend largeLyon edication cam-
paignsto persuadepeopLeto changetieir behavior.
Providinginformationon HIV/AIDSand othersexu-
aLLytransmitted diseasesand reproductiveheaLth
issuesin formaLand nonformaLprogrmrns for youth
and adults can combat the spread of the virus.
Schools can provide many of these services.
ChiLdrenare a windowof hopein efforts to combat
the disease:most canbe easiLyreacheithroughthe
educationsystem,and because90 percentof HIV
infection is sexuallytransmitted,infection ratesare
Lowamong 5-14-year-olds.Experienceshowsthat
if HIV/AIDSprevention is to succeed,educators
mustseekeveryopportunityto includethe topic in
27
 EducationandAIDS:Ex0perence
in Zamhbia
andUganda

In the Africancountriesmostseverelyaffcted by AIDS, for monitoring and coping with the impact of
the socialand econmi changesbroughtabout by the AIDS,and0deveLopintrasectoralinformation sys-
pandemicare so vast that educationSystemsfacecol- t ems as weUas sensitivepoliciesfor dealingwith
Lapseunlessthey placeASatte centof ther the needsand humanrights of AIDS-affectedper-
national education agendas.AVhuman development sonneL.
emergency
on thi scalerequiresemergencyrpses. The cotry
Th will needmoreaccountableand cost-
Educationsystemsface a doubte chaLtenge:
they need effective financial managementat all leveLsto
to plan to cope with the effects of AIDSon the fu:nc- respond to reducd national, community, and
tioning of the system(Zambia)and at the sametime household resourcesfor education. Households
mobilizeit to cti to the fihta4 spread haveLostincomeand divertedresourcesto health
of AIDS(Uganda). 0ependitures. National-level fundsaretied downby
sc and inactive sector staff who remainon the
The implications of AD for edu lan- payrotl, andare again divertedto health care.At
ning-Zambia thesame:
im, communities
mostaffectedby AIDS
Countriessuch as Zarbia,: whereone-third of aLLchil- can contribut lesslabor to schooldevelopment.
dren havelost a parentto AIDSand children now head AIDS-affectedcountries will also need to rethink
7 percentof alt households,need first to factor the the traditionaLschool model and apply more flexible
impactof AIin planining
at everyLevelof 00t0e
d andsensitivemodets
that meetthe needsof children-
cationsystem
andin eachsubsector: especiallyorphans-whohavebeentraumatized,
* Asa resultof AI thereare ewerchir to impovershed,stunted,
andalienated
by the sickness
eduate fewercdren canaffordeducation, And and Lossof familymembers.
Assumptionsaboutthe
fewerchildrencanc lteeducation. By 200 n e curricuLumcontent,andadvisabilityof
Zambiawill haveabout25 pecentfewerchildren bringingtogether
large numbersof youngpeoplein
to educate
thanitwouldhavehadWithout
AIDS. oftenhigh-sksituations
wiLlhaveto bechallenged.
Thecountrywillneedto deployresources to reflect
shiftingpatterrsof demand for edc 4-across The role of educationin combating AIDS-
subsectors, regions,andcommunities. Uganda
* OutputfromteachertrainingcollegesinZambia Education, canplaya vital rolein reversing
the spread
cannoteven replaceteacherswho are lost to of HIV/AIDSby reachingchidrenwith healtheduca-
AIDS.Manof mostexperienced profesionals, tion messages beforethey becomesexualLy active.
includingheadteachers, managers, planners, and Uganda hasexperiencedone of the mostsevereAIDS
inspectors,aredying. TheVprofile
of staffis chang- :epidemicsin Sub-Saharan Africa,but sincethe early
ing. Setor staffareon average youngerandless 1990sthe rateof newinfectionin that countryhas
experienced than andrctivtyiso been fling. HIV seroprevalence among pregnant
because of the largenumbe rsoscnant Kampalaalmosthalvedbetween1989and
staff. To6addrs "thittion,d Zbw he 19 and reportedbehaviorof young peoplehas
to reviseplanningof staff n ld capad markedlyBetween1989and 1995the per-

28 THECHALLENGES
OFTHEAFRICAN
DEVELOPMENT
CONTEXT
 Box2.2 (continued) -
centageof 15-19-year-otds whohadhadsexualinter- moveawayfromthe didacticteachingstVlecommon
coursefelt from69to 44 percentamongmenandfrom to most schooLs in Ugandaby usingtheatre,group
74to 54 percentamongwomen. Condom usehasrisen discussions, andmassmediato engagestudents.
significantlyin the sameagegroup,andthe percent- Uganda's experience
showsthat community sup-
ageof peoptewithcasualsexualpartnershasfatten. port is vital to the success
of HIV/AIDSeducation.
Thesetrendsevolvedin the contextof a nation- PTograms that aggressivety
chaLLenge
community val-
at AIDSstrategythat hadfulLpoLiticalbackingat the uesandattitudestowardsuffererscanbecounterpro-
highestLevel.In the educationsectorteachingabout ductive and generatetong-termresentrrment against
sexuallytransmitteddiseases,including HNV/AIDS, public sector interventions. The participatory
wasintroducedinto the primarycurriculum.Messages approaches usedin Uganda-tisteningto and answer-
emphasized not only the facts of transmission but ing peopte's misapprehensionsandworkitngwith chit-
also sexuaLbehaviorand genderreLations. District dren and parents to design mateials about
healtheducators workedcloselywith teachers,super- HIV/AIDS-have overcomesuspicion and heLped
vising the contentof ctassesand supportingschool changebehavior.
healththroughvisits. Meanwhile, educatorstried to

Source:Kelly 1999; Barnett, de Koning, and Frances 1995,

schooLand training curricula at aLLLeveLs. Such Suchrapid popuLationgrowthtransLatesinto an

efforts are unLikeLy
without cLearand open politicaL especiaLLy high dependencyratio. The schooL-age
commitmentand adequateresources.Wherethese dependencyratio (the number of children ages
havebeenforthcoming,as in Senegaland Uganda, 6-14 as a shareof aduLtsages15-64) is 47 percent
the spreadof the virus has beenchecked. in Africa comparedwith 41 percent in the MiddLe
Eastand NorthAfrica, 37 percentin SouithAsia,and
33 percent in Latin Americaand the Caribbean.
HighFertility Africa'sLargerschool-agepopuLationrelativeto the
working-agepopulationmeansthat universaledu-
Africa has 11 percentof the world's peoplebut 19 cation would consumea largershareof GNPthan in
percent of its births. TotaLfertility rates in Africa other regions (ColcLoughand Lewiri 1993). This
are the highestin the worLd-at 5.5 in 1997 com- burdenaffects not onLypubLicfinances-in coun-
paredwith 1.8 in EastAsia and the Pacific,2.7 in tries that aLreadyface multipLe challengesto
Latin Americaand the Caribbean,and 3.3 in South resourcemobiLization-but also househoLds, which
Asia. Africa is the only region whose schooL-age typically meet a Large proportion of education
populationis projectedto increaserapidly over the costs. EspeciaLLyheavy are the demandson poor
next 20 years (figure 2.1), aLthoughthe rate of and rural househoLds,which usually have many
increasewiLLbe affectedby the extent to which the dependents.
spreadof AIDScanbe stemmed.By 2015Africa will Rapid popuLation growth has consistentLy
probablyhave 45 percentmorechildrenthan it did thwarted the goaLof universaLaccessto primary
in 1996. education in Africa. In 1961 African ministers of

A CHANCE
TOLEARN 29
 GrowthRatesfor Developing
2.1 Anuat Population
fFigure Regions
Percent
2.5 -----
1995-99
2.0 ... _ . \ .\ . .\......... ---------
1.5 l | | - . ' - - E2000-04
1.0 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~2005

0.0
D2010-14
. -..-........... 2015-19
1.0
--

-2.0
Afnrca SouthAsia EastAsia& MiddleEast& Latin America
&
Pacific NorthAfrica Caribbean

Source:World Bank 1999c.

education set 1980 as the target year for univer- OvercomingAdversity

saL primary education. At that time peopLe
thought that the region wouLdneed 33 milLion
extra school pLacesby 1980. By the target date,
the number of chiLdrenin schooLhad exceeded
the goal, and countries provided 45 million
places.But, becauseAfrica's population increased
much faster than expected, the gross enrolLment
ratio was just 78 percent by the target date,
faLLing11 milLionschooLpLacesshort of the num-
ber needed to achieve universal primary
education.
Effective reproductive heaLthprograms,com-
bined with efforts to ensureaccessand continued
participation of girls in primary and lower sec-
ondary education, have been the key to slowing
population growth in other regions. Achieving
lowerfertiLity ratesis important not Leastbecause
of the education and heaLthimpLicationsof fre-
quent and unpLannedpregnanciesfor womenand
their children. Thus educationis a beneficiaryof,
as weLLas an essentiaLeLementin, effective popu-
lation poLicies.
The chalLenges context
of the African deveLopment
are daunting. Yet the experienceof countriessuch
as Botswana,Namibia,Mauritius, SwaziLand,and,
in the years immediateLyfoLLowingindependence,
Zimbabweshow how effectiveLya combinationof
sound macroeconomicmanagementand effective
investmentsin human resourcedeveLopmentcan
overcomemanyof the constraintsdiscussedin this
chapter.The positive developmentcontext emerg-
ing in severalcountrieson the continent is encour-
aging. Prospectsare perhapsbetter today than at
any other time in the past 10 years.
* Economic growthhasresumedin manycountries.
* An end to the crisisof unsustainabledebt is in
sight with expandeddebt reLiefunderthe HIPC
initiative.
* NewtechnoLogies mayhelpaddressproblemsof
accessand quaLity.
* Thepolitical landscapehaschangedin similarly
dramaticways: apartheidhas ended;the press
has more freedom; many countries have

30 THECHALLENGES
OFTHEAFRICAN
DEVELOPMENT
CONTEXT
 madea rapid transition to eLectedgovern- democraticallyeLectedgovernmentis well
ments;and increasingequity, participation, estabLished,
and recent political changein
human rights, and good governancehave NigeriahasimproveddeveLopment prospects
received
moreattention. greatLy.
Giventhe regionaL
importanceof these
* Between1990 and 1994, 38 countriesheld two countries,the effectsof these changes
competitivenationaLelections.SouthAfrica's couLdspreadfar beyondtheir nationiaL
borders.

A CHANCE
TOLEARN 31
3. CountryResponses:
A Quantum
Leap basesuch reformson a comprehensiveanalysisof
in EducationDeveLopment educationissuesand embedthem in a macroeco-
nomicdeveLopment strategy.TheywiLLalso needto
To breakthe viciousdevelopmentcycleof the 1980s, identify policies and investment programs to
meetthe deveLopment challengesof the 21st centu- achievestrategicobjectives.And they will needto
ry, and narrow the scientific and digitaL divide formuLateimpLementationplans aimed at rapid
betweenAfrica and the rest of the worLd,the region progressand explicitly designedto take interven-
will needequitable,efficient, and high-quaLityedu- tions to scale.
cation systems. This will require many African In formulating strategies and interventions,
countriesto makea quantum Leap-a significant priority shouLdgo to promoting the baLanced
accelation-in their educationdevelopmentoverthe developmentof the sector, with attention to the
next 10 years,with thesepriorities: Linkagesbetween aLLparts of the education sys-
* RapidLyincreasingthe educationattainment of tem, from early chiLdhoodto post-graduate pro-
the Laborforce by enroLLing aLLschooL-age chiL- grams. At the same time, the system wiLl not be
drenin good primaryschools. able to contribute to national sociaLand econom-
* GraduaLlyexpandingaccessto the full basic ic developmentgoaLswithout the strong basis of
education cycLefor primary schooLgraduates rapid progresstoward universalprimaryeducation.
and giving youth and aduLtswho LackessentiaL Beyondthe primary Level,expansionwiLLtypicaLly
Literacyand numeracyskiLLs the opportunity to be more gradual and selective, in Line with
participatein aduLtbasic educationprograms. country-specific poLiciesand targets. ThesepoLi-
* Enhancingthe vocational and technical skills cies will need to reflect a poLitical consensuson
of youth and aduLtsthrough continuousjob- priorities and tradeoffsbasedon avaiLabLe human
reLatedskilL deveLopment programsoffered by and financial resources,developmentobjectives,
demand-drivensystems,including pubLicand labor market signals,and social demand.
private providers. Second, African countries should formuLate
* Preparingmore selected students for further Localstrategies,policies, and reformsto acceLerate
education,especiaLLy for scientific and techno- educationdevelopmentrather than adopt interna-
Logical careers, by strengthening math, sci- tionaL solutions customized to Localconditions.
ence, and technoLogyprogramsin secondary However,knowledgeand experiencefrom other
and post-secondary institutions. African countries and from outside Africa shouLd
* Revitalizingnationalresearchand deveLopment strengthen and enlighten local strategies. This
programs. approachwiLLaLLowcountries to design programs
Businessas usuaLwiLLnot achievethe desired that are appropriate, affordabLe,and sustainabLe
results. Bold policy reforms-sustained over time without repeatingthe mistakesof others.
and impLementedin partnershipsamong national Third, strategy formulation is about choice.
governments,civiL society, and donors-will be Countriescan onLyacceLerateeducation deveLop-
essential. This is not an impossible chatlenge. ment if their reformsand investmentsfocus on pri-
Botswana, Cape Verde, Mauritius, Namibia, ority objectives and reflect a willingnessto make
Swaziland,and Zimbabwehave madeconsiderable difficult poLicytrade-offs.Typically,the most criti-
stridesin educationdeveLopment. Manymorecoun- caLchoiceswiLLbe targeting public spendingand
tries-for exampLeGuinea,Mozambique,SenegaL, selecting nontraditionaLmodesof servicedeLivery.
and Uganda(box 3.1)-have started implementing Fourth, Africa should formulate education
far-reaching reforms. But countries wiLLhave to strategieswith explicit referenceto wider poverty

32 COUNTRY
RESPONSES:
A QUANTUM
LEAPIN EDUCATION
DEVELOPMENT
 Box3.1 -
Uganda's to BasicEducation
NationalCommitment

In 1994thegovernment of Uganda issueda whitepaper voluntary.Thereduced financialburdenon fami-

outtiningits long-termvisionfor education reform.This tiesresutted in a doublingof primaryenrotlments,
papersetthe stagefor majoTpolicyreforms: to 5.2 mitlion. Pitotingof muLtigrade teaching
* Eliminating"ghost"teachers, increasingteacher beganin 1999to bringsmatter schooLs closerto
salariesto realistic Levels,and training and communities in sparsely poputated areas.
deployingteachers.Thenumberof teacherson * Limitingthe numberof studentsin hithereduca-
the payroltby a third and increased teacherpay tion whomustpayfor theircourses. Today75per-
tenfol over three years.Teachercompetency centof univetsitystudentsareprivatelysponsored
testswereadministered to aUuncertifiedteach- by famiLies or communities. Scholarships aretar-
ers. Thosedeemed trainablewereto receivein- getedto studentsunable to afford the fees.
serviceupgradingand continuousprofessional t Recruiting keystaffthroughopencormpetition to
support.Supportto teachers is deLiveredby 560 restructure the Ministryof Education. rhegovern-
tutors,eachresponsible for 20schools. mentis takingstepsto completely integratepro-
* the responsibility
Decenrtralizing for primaryedu- ject implementationenclaves,which serve
cation to Uganda's45 districts. Eachdistrict donor-fundedoperationsexctusivetV, into the
deploysand paysteachers,althoughit receives mainministryin 2000.Thegovernment will use
fundsfromthe centralgovernment. Thedistrict its evolving EducationStrategic Investment
tevelalsomanages classroomconstructionusing Program to coordinate all futuredonorsupportto
a community demand approach. education in Uganda.
* Liberalizing textbookprocurement and provision Implementation of the program hasstayedmost-
in 1995.SchooLs can now choosefrom lists of ty on trackthanksto a massive politicatcommitment
booksvettedbythe Ministryof Education, in line andsustained budgetsupport.Education wasthe prin-
withbudgetallocations basedonenrollments. As cipatelectoralplatformof president Museveni in 1996,
a resuttanactiveprivatetextbookpublishing and andthe shareof education in thebudgetrosefrom22
marketingsectorhasemerged. As a steptoward percentin 1995to 31 percentin 1999.Yetthe num-
sustainablebookprovision,the government has berof teachers in basiceducation cannotkeepup with
allocated3 percentof the recurrenteducation the enormousincreasein enrNolmenti.Learning
budgetto instructionalmaterials. achievement in manyschoolsremains veryLow. Budget
* Introducingfreeschooling in 1997for upto four increasesto fund moreteachers,build moreclass-
childrenper household. Schoolsare nowfunded rooms,andensureadequate instructionalrnaterials are
throughdirectgrantsbasedon enrollments, and a high priority.Resources released throughthe HIPC
contributionsto parent-teacher associations are initiativewill be usedfor thesepurposes.

reductionstrategies. Povertyis a key obstacle to standingthe mechanisms that excLudepeopLefrom

expanding access to education and improving education and identifying interventions in other
Learningoutcomes in Africa, whiLe education is sectorsthat contribute to educationdeveLopment
instrumentaLin eLiminatingpoverty.Clearlyunder- must be part of nationaLeducationstrategies.The

TOLEARN
A CHANCE 33
aims and budget needs of education strategies
must be consistentwith those of other sectors.
Progresstoward these strategic priorities will
requirepoLicyand institutional reformsthat:
* Improvequality,measuredby enhancedlearning
achievementand goodinstructionalpractice.
* Provideequitable accessto [earning opportu-
nities.
* Build national, Local, and school capacity to
managethe delivery of educationservices.
* EnsuresustainabLefinancing through a coher-
ent system of compLementary pubLicand pri-
vate financing and provision.
BeLowthe main reform options and action pri-
orities avaiLabLe to African poLicymakersare sum-
marized, based on researchfindings and Lessons
from Africa and other regions (Lockheed and
Verspoor1991; and other workscited in the text).
Another important sourcewas ADEA'sstocktaking
exercise,which brought together case studies of
successfulexperimentsin education deveLopment
and suggestsone promisingapproachto increasing
nationalcapacityto analyzeand disseminateeduca-
tion experienceswithin the continent (box 3.2).
RelentlessPursuitof Quality
Translatingexpandededucation opportunitiesinto
meaningfuldevelopmentdependson whetherpeo-
pLe learn-acquire useful knowledge, reasoning
abilities, skills, and values-as a resuLtof those
opportunities (WorLdConferenceon Educationfor
ALL1990). High participation rates and efficient
student flows are necessarybut imperfect indica-
tors of educationprogress.ActuaLLearningachieve-
ment is the real measure.Poor quaLity almost
inevitably resuLtsin widespreadrepetition and
numerousdropoutsand discouragesparents from
enroLlingtheir chiLdren.Oftenqualityimprovements
are a prerequisitefor increasedenrollment.
As the intake ratio approaches100 percentin
manycountries(seechapter 1), improvinginstruc-
34 COUNTRY
RESPONSES:
tion to increaseLearningachievementand retention
and survival rates wilL be critical for reachingthe
Educationfor All goalof universalenroLLment in and
compLetionof basic education. Investments in
quality often providethe highest returnsin educa-
tion becausethey not onLyresuLtin higherlearning
achievementbut aLsopartLy pay for themselves
throughefficiencygains(InternationaLConsultative
Forumon Educationfor All 1998; Harbisonand
Hanushek1992).
Providingquality educationis dauntinc because
the knowLedge and skillsexpectedfromgraduatesare
changing.The successof educationis increasingly
judgedby students'abiLityto appLyknowLedge, think
independently,exerciseappropriatejudgment, and
collaboratewith othersto makesenseof newsitua-
tions. Thepurposeof educationis not simpLyto con-
vey knowledgebut to teach how to learn, soLve
probLems,and synthesizethe old and the new.
Educationpolicy is movingrapidLybeyondits tradi-
tionaLconcernwith initial schooLing of youngpeopLe
towardprovidingopportunitiesfor lifeLongLearning.
To improve quality, countries first must
ensure that the basic conditions for Learningare
in pLace.CurricuLaand instructional strategies
must take into account the context of schooling
and preparestudentsfor the worLdof workand
further Learning.Teachersmust be trained both
in muLtigrade and monograde pedagogy and
given necessaryteaching materials and guides
and reguLarprofessionalsupport. ChiLdrenmust
be readyfor school whenthey enrolLat the usual
schooLage of six. TeachersshouLdmeasurestu-
dents' progress regularly. Schools in rural areas
often will need moreflexible curricula and teach-
ing approaches,such as muLtigradeteaching, to
meet the needs of poor, sparseLypopuLatedruraL
areas.
Learningenvironment
Effective instruction and high Learningachieve-
ment requirethe folLowingbasic conditions:
A QUANTUM
LEAPIN EDUCATION
DEVEL
OPMENT
 Box3.2
Lessons from the "ADEAProspectiveStocktakingReviewof Educationin Africa"
In 1998the Association of
for the DeveLopment
Education irnAfrica (ADEA)invitedAfricangovern-
mentsto produce countrycasestudiesof successfuL
practicein advance of the ADEA biennialmeetingin
Johannesburg in December 1999-Theaimof theexer-
cisewasto beginidentifyingeducation solutionsand *
policyresponses, fromthe Africancontext,to well-
knownconstraints and probtems. Twenty-five coun-
triestesponded. Thesynchronized findingsfromthese
studiesrevealthat the educationsectorin many
Africancountriesis richin innovationandpromising
approaches. Keylessons that emerged included:
* The context
potitical of education development is *
important. Governments needto becommitted to
closingincome, gender,ethnic,andothersociat
inequalitieswherethesearebarriers to education
for alL Strongand sustainedpoliticalcommit-
mentt universalbasiceducationis vital, as is a * holis-
set of coreguidingprinciples anda ctearvision
of thedirectionof education development,
* Countries shouldbe prepared to developpolicy
sotutions astheyprogress andbuitdcapacityby
'doing.' Theyneedto makesurethat planning *
doesnot slowimplementation, and realizethat
everythingneednot be in ptacebeforeimpte-
mentation canstart.Ftexibilityanda wiltingness
to takerisksarehallmarks of this approach.
* Education development is morelikelyto succeed
if it is basedon consensus amongall the stake-
holders.Education plannirtgshouldbe basedon *
participatory principles,whichfostera senseof
ownership andunderstanding of policies,
* Accelerated educationdevelopment depends on
effective partnershipsamong government, donors,
communities, andthe
civit societyorganizations,
Sourmt::ADCA 1999b.
TOLEARN
A CHANCE
privatesector.Eachof thesestakeholders can
contribute a combination of ideasandfinanceto
education devetopment. Partnerships arealsocru-
datat the international level,bothwithinAfrica
andbetween Africaandotherregions,
Communities havea vital roteto playin educa-
tion development. Theyneedopportunities to
identifytheir education needsandprioritiesand
to playa largerrolein schoolmanagement. Often
decentralization reformscan help achievethis
objettive.Community participationshouldnot
jeopardize equityandefficiency objectives.
Poticydevelopment andplanningmustbeground-
ed in soundresearchand analysis.Education
interventions shouldbe founded on robustdata
andsystematically monitored sothat theirimpact
is knownandkeypolicylessons areinternalized.
All paTtsof the sectorshouldbe addressed
ticalty,Eachcountrywilt needto establishan
appropriate balancebetweenthe needsof each
subsector andensuresynergy betweendifferent
subsectoratinterventions.
is a blindspotin thecasestud-
Cost-effectiveness
ies. Without a futl of firancingand
assessmernt
management costs,thestudycoulddrawfewcon-
clusionsaboutcost-effectiveness or thescopefor
takinginnovations to scate.Strengthening the
capacityfor fiRnancialanatysisin the education
sectoris an urgentpriorityin muchof the region.
Many of the. innovationsexcessi;vely stress
expanding access andpaytoo tittle attentionto
improvingquality.Interventionsthat neglect
education quatityare unlikelyto be sustained,
sincelowdemand foTeducation is ctoselyrelated
to poorqualityprovision.
35
* At least 800-1,000 hours of instruction each
year.Africancountriescannotexpectstudentsto
achievethe Learningspecifiedin most nationaL
curricuLawith onLy400-500 hoursof instruction.
* Better supervisionand morecommunitymoni-
toring, modified schooLcaLendarsto better
matchagriculture caLendars, and schoolheaLth
programsand meaLs.ALLthese can heLpto bol-
ster regularschoolfunctioning.
* EnrolLmentat the usuaLage for school entry.
Late enroLLment-commonafter enrollment
drivesor in countrieswith biannuaL,triannuaL,
or even Less frequent admissions-usuaLLy
leadsto early dropouts, especiaLLy amonggirLs
(LLoyd,Mensch,and Clark2000).
* Accessto adequatetextbooksand other Learn-
ing materiaLsfor every chiLd.Effectiveinstruc-
tion requires textbooks, notebooks, Library
books, wall charts, and maps. Despite donor
support,few countries have establishedfinan-
ciaLLyand institutionally sustainablesystems
for book provision.Textbookpublishinghastra-
ditionaLLybeen a state monopoly in many
African countries. This situation is changing
becausemost countries recognizethe impor-
tance of a thriving pubLishingindustry,a net-
work of private booksellers,and poLiciesthat
give schooLsthe authority and resourcesto
choose betweencompeting series offered by
pubLishers.
* Maximumstudent-teacherratios of 40-45 stu-
dents per teacher in primary education and
20-25 in uppersecondaryeducation.CLass size
should be kept within a reasonablerange of
the averages.Most African countries have stu-
dent-teacherratios at the high end of these
ranges,aLthoughsomehavemuch higheraver-
ages.But in many countriesthe key chaLLenge
is to ensure the equitabLedistribution of
teachers among schooLs and students.
Redeployingteachersfrom administrative and
otherjobs to the cLassroom and from urban to
rural areashas a Lowfinancial cost-aLthough
36 RESPONSES:
COUNTRY
sometimes a high political price-and can
increase instructional effectiveness consider-
ably. Paymentof reasonabLe salaries,on time,
is aLsoimportant.
* PhysicaL infrastructuremeeting minimumstan-
dards for safety and comfort. Many African
countries do not have enough cLassrooms to
meet the demand for education. Existing
schooLsare often in poor condition and Lack
cLean water and basic sanitation. Well-
maintained, clean, and attractive cLassrooms
symbolizea commitmentto quaLityeducation
and are the hallmark of well-managed,
effective schooLs.Sanitation and cLeanwater
provide a heaLthyLearningenvironment and
can be a significant factor in girLs'attendance.
Curriculaand instructionstrategies
CountrieswiLLneedto expLore flexibLeaLternativesto
the monograde teachingmodeL-six classrooms and
six teachers,with studentsattending schooLfive
hoursa day,200 daysa yearand masteringat entry
the basicvocabularyand grammarof the languageof
instruction. African curricula, textbooks, teacher
manuaLs,and teacher training are often designed
aroundinstructionaL objectivesand assumptions that
fit neither the operationalconstraintsof the typical
schoolnor the Learningstylesor needsof most stu-
dents. In many countries curriculaare overloaded
with content and often stress knowLedge of facts
overstrategiesto promoteunderstandingand appLi-
cation. Preparationfor high-stakesexaminations
that determineaccessto the next Levelof education
often drives instruction. Systematicassessment of
student Learningat cLassroom, school, and system
leveLsis rare,Limitingthe scopefor targetedreforms
to improveLearningoutcomes.
CurricuLararelytake into accountthe fact that
most studentsenter schoolwith littLe or no knowL-
edgeof the languageof instruction. Studentslearn
better whentaught in their mothertongue.Studies
haveshownconsistentLy that studentsLearnto read
A QUANTUM
LEAPIN EDUCATION
DEVELOPMENT
and acquireotheracademicskiLLs faster in their escuelanueva,andthe schoolsof the ElangLadesh
ownLanguage (UNICEF 1999).But in manyAfrican RuralAdvancement Committee haveyieldedLessons
countriesfluencyin a secondLanguage-French, for designingaLternative approaches (WorLdBank
English,or Portugese-isan essentialrequirement 1996).Theinstructional strategiesof thesemodels
for admission into secondary educationand a key refLectthe linguisticand otherexperience of the
instructionaL objectiveof the primarycurricuLum. childrenwho enroll;aLLow chiLdren to proceedat
Studies of bilingualpilot programs in MaliandNiger their ownpace;monitorlearningcarefully;promote
suggest that chiLdren taughtin theirmothertongue cooperative Learning andpeerteaching;eliminate
Learna secondlanguage morequickLy than chiLdren repetition;includestrategiesto dealwith student
taught in a Language otherthan that spokenat absences;aimto develop citizenskills;andempha-
home(ADEA 1999b). sizeunderstanding, applyingknowLedge, andsoLv-
However,muchof the evidencefrom mother- ing problems.
tonguepilotsis tentativeand derivedfromques- Preparing studentsfor the worLdof workand
tionablemethodology. Thesepilots urgentlyneed lifeLongLearning invoLves teachingskillsto analyze
strongermonitoringandevaLuation. Moreover, cost probLems, synthesizeinformation,arid tackLea
andmanagement constraints havemadeit difficuLt widerangeof tasks.Primary studentsneedcorelit-
to scaleup biLinguaL pilots.BiLinguaL programs typ- eracy,numeracy, andlife skilLs,aswelLas commu-
icaLlyrequirea broadrangeof materialsand spe- nicationskiltsand civiceducation.Asthe number
cially trained staff. And mother-tongue teaching, of peopleinfectedwith HIV/AIDS grONS, students
like the traditionalinstructionalmodel,is unLikely andyouthneedknowLedge about HIV/AIDS trans-
to be effectivewithout the basicconditionsand mission and prevention.Educationon health
resources for effectiveinstruction. issues, especially reproductive heaLth and
Governments needto expLore these resource HIV/AIDS, shouLd be anintegraLpart of curricuLa.
issuesfuLLy whentheyreviewpoLicy optionson Lan- ThechaLLenge beyond the primaryLeveL is to pre-
guageof instruction.Language of instructionissues parestudents for a worLd that wiLLdemazridadvanced
arealsooften politicallyandculturallycontentious. understanding and achievement in theseareas,
SelectingoneAfricanlanguage for instructionmay probLem-solving skills,andthe abilityta Learn. Most
marginalize sociaLgroupsin Linguistically diverse Africancountries will haveto designsecondary cur-
countries.Governments will also haveto consider riculaandhighereducation programs to respond to
the demandfor educationin European languages, theseemergingprioritiesand aLigntextbooksand
whichmanyparentsseeasopeningdoorsto further teachermanuaLs with the newcontentandinstruc-
educationand professionaL empLoyment. In sum, tion strategies. Africahasalreadymadeprogress in
instructionaL poLiciesmust begin with LocaL Lan- this regard.
In Zimbabwe, for exampLe, cost-effective
guageandcuLture to improvestudents' performance, teaching strategiespromotedby the secondary
especiaLLy in the earLygradeswhenmostchiLdren schooLscienceproject(ZIM-SCI)-which useslow-
dropout and repeatgrades.But successfuL impLe- cost equipment,LocaLLy producedtextbooks,and
mentationwiLL aLsorequirean effectivestrategyfor extensive in-service training-successfuLLy expanded
transitionto a secondLanguage of instruction. education access to scientificlearningwithoutcom-
ManydeveLoping countriesin AfricaandeLse- promising quaLity in the yearsimmediateLy foLLowing
wherearequestioning the effectiveness of the tra- independence. New technologyprovidesfurther
ditionaLmodelof schoolingand areimpLementing scopefor deveLoping cost-effectivewaysto deliver
other,oftenmorecomprehensive, alternativemod- teachertrainingandteachadvanced subjectsat the
eLs. MaLi'spedagogie convergente, CoLombia's secondary anduniversityLeveLs (box3.3).

A CHANCE
TOLEARN 37
 The WorldLinksfor DevelopmentProgram
TheWorldLinksfor Devetopment (WorLD)program is
a grant-based initiative sponsored by the WorldBank
Institute that usesthe Internet to link secondary
schoolsin Africawith counterpart schoolsfor collab-
orativelearning.Theprogram's goaLsareto improve
educationopportunities for Africanstudents,develop
technologyskills amongAfricanyouthto accelerate
economic and socialdevelopment, and build culturaL
understanding aroundthe world.
Since1997WorLDhas providedcomputerLabs,
Internetconnections, andteacher trainingto morethan
140 schooLsin seven African countries (Ghana,
Mauritania,Mozambique, Senegal, SouthAfrica,Uganda,
andZimbabwe). Theprogram hasreached morethan600
teachersand5,000students. In 1999-2000 theprogram
wilLexpand to two moreAfricancountries, BurkinaFaso
andBotswana, workingwithat least20 schools in each
country.Senega'Ministryof tEducation hasrequested
WorLD supportto designa nationwide education tech-
nologyprogram. OverthenextfewyearsWorLD hopesto
expand this collaborationwith Bankoperations to reach
manymoreAfricanteachers andstudents.
Vocationaltraining must reflect the evolving
worLdof work. Programsneed to respondto the
demands of employersandbe flexibleenoughto help
somestudentspreparefor employmentor appren-
ticeshipin the formalor-more often-informal sec-
tor and helpotherspreparefor self-employment.
Vocationaltraining and technicaleducationpro-
gramshavea differentdynamicfrom traditionalsec-
ondaryeducationand are best managedoutsidethe
formaleducationsystem(Middleton,VanAdams,and
Ziderman1993). Programs often needto be tailored
to the requirementsof a specificclientele,with dura-
tion and delivery mode guided by instructional
objectives.In many countries private providers-
38 COUNTRY
RESPONSES:
A QUANTUM
A recentevaLuation by a leadingfirm in the
assessment of educationaltechnologyinitiatives(SRI
InternationaL1999) reported enthusiasmfor the
WorLD programamongteachers, students,andadmin-
istrators.Morethan 70 percentof teachers andalmost
80 percentof studentsgave the highestpossible
scoresto the program's impactonstudents'communi-
cationskilts,ability to reason,and attitudestoward
schooL
A visitor to MengoSecondary Schoolin Uganda
capturedthe spirit of the WorLDprogram:'Even
thoughit wasa Saturday afternoonand no one was
compeLLed to be there,the little roomwas packed
with painfulLyshy kids, cLusteredfive or six to a
machine, designingeducational Webpagesin PageMiLL
with 486processors andfloppydisks.Everything was
taking forever,but they waitedfor the screensto
redraw,pixel by pixel, with the patienceof angels"
(Barlow1998).In otherWorLDprojectsstudentsin
Uganda train localwomen's groupsin computerliter-
acy, and teachersin SenegaL havedownLoaded Web
sitesfor biologylessons.
empLoyersas well as for-profit and nonprofit
agencies-aLready pLaya centraLroLein skilLsdevel-
opment.Thepolicy challengein developingeffective
vocationaltrainingandtechnicaleducationprograms
is creatingan environmentin which public and pri-
vate providerscan competewith and complement
eachother in respondingto the demandof a clien-
tele with widelydifferent training needs.
Trainedandmotivatedteachers
To improve the quality of teaching in Africa,
teachers'salariesmust be paid on time and must
cover the cost of living to allow teachers to
LEAPIN EDUCATION
DEVELOPMENT
commit themselves
fuLLtime to teaching.Work
conditions-administrative and managementsup-
port and the availabiLity of teaching materials,
suppLies,and equipment-must enabLeteachersto
carry out their work as expected. ProfessionaL
recognition and support wiLLheLpmotivate teach-
ers once the first two conditions are met. Finally,
teacher training needs radicaL reform so that
teachersacquirethe skiLLs and motivation to apply
better instructional methods.
Practice-orientedpre-servicetraining, contin-
uous demand-driven in-service training, and
instructionaLLeadershipby principaLscan enhance
teaching skiLLs(Craig,Kraft, and du PLessis 1998).
ManycountrieswiLLhave to reevaLuate pre-service
and in-service training. Teachertraining can no
longer be perceivedas an extensionof secondary
education, only LooseLy connectedto rural cLass-
room conditions and practice. In-service training
cannot continueto be an event that teacherspar-
ticipate in for a few daysevery 5-10 years.
SeveraLcountries are expLoringshorter pre-
service training, longer classroompractice, and
continuous in-service training (box 3.4), often
through a network of decentraLizedresourcecen-
ters compLemented by school-basedsupport from
headmastersand inspectors or special resource
providers. In all these models,teacher training
becomes a process of lifelong Learning. New
opportunities are arising as new technoLogical
changemakesit possible to support teacher edu-
cation programswith quality audiovisuaLmateri-
als, transmitted over the Internet or in more
traditionaL ways, including audio and video cas-
settes (box 3.5).
The quaLityof staff at the secondaryand high-
er LeveLs is equaLLyimportant. Secondaryteachers
are often underqualifiedor too narrowLyqualified
to teach morethan one subject, leading to gross
inefficienciesin teacher depLoyment-apparentin
LargecLasssizes and Lowstudent-teacherratios.
More and more university facuLty members Lack
Ph.D.s.QuaLifiedteachers-especialLyin math, sci-
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
Box3.4
Guinea's Pre-service Teacher
Education Project
Toachieve°Education for Att Guineawitt need to
recruitabout25,000newteachers overthenext12
years.Toincreasethe efficiencyof trainingandthe
qualityof newteachers, the governmenl: needsnew
approaches to pre-service teachereducation.Two
newapproaches werepilotedin 1998:
* Short-term intensive summer courses, for which
teachersreceivedprovisional certification.For
permanent certification,teachersmustpartici-
pate in in-servcetrainingwithin a specified
period.
* An intensiveprogramlastingan entireschooL
yearand focusingon cLassroom pTactice, with
student-teachers spending30-40 percentof
their time in primaryschoolclasirooms,fot-
lowedby teachermentoringand Linkedin-
servicetraining.
By August1999the teachereducation program
had trained morethan 3,000 new teachers-20
timesas manyasweretrainedin theyearbeforethe
programstarted.Theteacherstrainedirnthe inten-
sive summercourse in 1998 helped increase
1998-99enrottments by 52,000studenti,morethan
half of them girls. In 1999,1,500moretrained
teachersbeganteaching,and the program planned
to train 3,000moreteachers duringthe 1999-2000
schoolyear.
ence,and technoLogy-are rare,refLectingan inad-
equatesuppLyof graduatesin these discipLinesand
moreattractive income-earningopportunities out-
side the educationsector.As a resuLtappropriately
quaLifiedstaff are difficult to recruit and retain.
Many countries need to consider upgrading
staff, creating moreattractive employinentcondi-
tions, recruiting part-time staff or staff with non-
39
 Technology in Sub-Saharan
andEducation Africa

Underthe right conditions,

tethnoLogy-including tra- low but roughlyequivalent to thoseof the traditional
ditionaltechnology-canhelpTemovethe constraints schools.Unfortunately, fundingconstraints forcedthe
of distance,time, and r lified tacherson the collegeto discontinue radiobroadcasts andlimitedits
deliveryof educationservices.Whilemanyof the new ability to providemateriaLs.
computer-based technologiesare inaccessibleto Television also can expandaccessto secondary
Africanschoolsfor cost and infrastructure reasons, education and improveits quaLity. TeLesecundaria is a
thesetechnologies havesuchgreatpotentialthat Africa television-based ruralsystemin Mexicothat offerssec-
especiallyat
shouldexploretheir cost-effectiveness, ondaryeducation aspartof thenationalsystem. SeveraL
the secondary and universit levelsand for teacher othercountries haveadopted the program,andsomeare
training.Someof the mostpromising applications of making it availableto secondary schools
in remoteareas
education technologyaredescribed below. to enrichand improveinstruction,especially in math
and science.Regionalcollaboration would result in
Primary education economies of scaleanddrivedowncostperstudent.
The primaryschoolhasno technoilbgy-based alterna-
tive, but technologycan enrich primaryinstruction Teacher training
and helpteachersfill gapsin subjectmatterknowl- Teachertraining is amongAfrica'smost formidable
edge.InteractiveRadioInstructionin Lesothoand educationchallenges.Educationtechnologiescan
SouthAfricabroadcasts highlystructuredlessons withhetpaddress this challenge.Teachertrainingaccounts
periodicpausesfor studentresponses or learningfor the bulk of distance education activity in
activities.Theprogramhasbeenan effectivetool for Africa, using a combinationof printed materials,
improvingthe quality of Englishand mathematics radio,audioandvideocassettes, and-increasingly-
teachingin primaryclassrooms. Despiteits success,
the Internet. Typically,teacherresourceand study
however,few countrieshave adoptedInteractive centersanddistricteducationofficesserveasvenues
RadioInstructionbecause of high programdevelop- for face-to-facetrainingsupportedby tradionaltech-
mentcosts,annualrecurrentcostsof as muchas $2-3 nologiesas well as computerand Internet access
a year,andthe difficulty of adjustingschooL sched-(RobertsandAssociates 1998).Usingeducation tech-
ulesto the broadcasts. nologiesin distanceteachertraining has multiple
benefits.Wherethereareeconomies of scale,distance
Secondary education teacher training is cheaper than conventional
Distanceeducationcanbe a cost-effective education approaches.
alternativefor studentswhofail to gainadmission
to Overthe past10 yearsin-serviceteachertrain-
traditional secondaryschool. Distanceeducation ing hasusednewtechnologies and takenadvantage
coursesare typicallydeliveredthroughprinted self- of the scopethey offerfor regionalandinternational
instructionmateriaLssupported and supplementedby collaboration.Forexample, in WestAfricathe Gambia
radiobroadcasts andstudycenters.TheMalawiCollege College, the NationalTeachers ColLege in Nigeria,the
of DistanceEducation for manyyearsprovideda good Universityof Ghana,and the FreetownTeachers
modelof this strategy.Examination passrateswere Collegein SierraLeonesharelearningmaterialsand

40 COUNTRY
RESPONSES:
A QUANTUM
LEAPIN EDUCATION
DEVELOPMENT
 Box3.5 (continued)
expertisein teachertrainingand otherdistanceedu-
cation programs. SimilarLy,the AfricanNetworkfor
DistanceLearning(RESAFAD), a consortiumof tech-
nology-orientedagenciesin Benin, BurkinaFaso,
Gabon,Guinea,Mali,andTogo,usesthe Internetfor
distancetrainingof schoolprincipals.
Applyingnewtechnologies to distanceeducation
canalsoimprovegenderequityamongteachingstaff
by giving womenhome-based trainingopportunities
and givingteachersboth a wayto communicate and
shareexperiences with colleaguesand accessto a
wealthof studymaterials.
Highereducation
Distanceteachingcanexpandthe pool of university countriesare developing
graduates andpeoplewith advanced degrees (seebox teamingcentersthat offertelephone,
3.12).In addition,Internetaccess canfacilitatepartic- ingly e-mailand Intemet access,usuatlyfor a smaU
ipation in the internationalresearchcommunity. fee. Thesecentersmaybe ableto providelearning
Meanwhile, digitatlibrariesarea cost-effectivewayto
traditional backgrounds,and usingdistanceeduca-
tion technoLogiesand self-instructionalmaterials.
New Internet-based technologies (see box 3.5)
hoLdconsiderablepromisefor deLiveringaffordabLe
in-service programsto Largenumbersof teachers
and university faculty.
New technologies
Attempts to improve education access and
quality through technologies-distributing print-
ed materials by surface mail, radio, and
television-have proved disappointing. Taking
even demonstrablysuccessfuLpiLot projects to
scaLeoften has been difficult. Without continuing
external support, few countries have been abLeto
sustain the highercost per student of programsto
improve the quality of education. Expandingedu-
cation accessthrough eLectronicmedia can onLy
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
-
expandtherangeof resources available
to studentsand
academics and to allowuniversities to participatein
gLobaL knowledge networks.Forexampte, Pennsylvania
StateUniversityin theUnitedStatescanprcvidea com-
prehensivedigital collectionof resources
for $1.2mit-
lion, one-tenthof the costof a conventionaL library
(WorldBank2000a).
Lifelonglearning
An importantprivatesectorin Africanurbanareas
providestrainingin the applicationof a widerangeof
computertechnologies.Moreover, the WorLdBank-
supportedGlobatDistanceLearningNetworktrains
publicand privatesectormanagers. SeveralAfrican
community informationand
fax,andincreas-
opportunitiesfor peoptein remoteareas.
reduceunit cost through economiesjF scaLethat
require large target audiences, rarely avaiLabLe
within the nationaL boundaries of Sub-Saharan
African countries, and that aLso puLshup totaL
expenditures.In other cases,to be financially sus-
tainable, programshave to shift coststo students,
who then pay for a servicethat studentsin tradi-
tional schoolsusually receivefree.
Technologiesoften have been inflexible, and
teachershavefeLt that the technoLogies take class-
room control awayfrom them. Finally, administra-
tive and programdesignskills to supporteducation
technology are often in short supply. The new
information and communication technoLogies-
personalcomputers,wireLesscommun-ication,and
the Internet-may remove some ol: these con-
straints, but their large-scaleapplicc,tionrequires
the same preconditionsas that of the old tech-
noLogies:
41
* Changesin the cost structureof educationsys- by complementary activities that faciLitatecommu-
tems, especiallyincreasesin nonsalaryexpendi- nity managementand influence the competencies
tures and declining reliance on external and behaviorof adults and oldersiblingswho shape
funding. young children'senvironments.
* Institutions with the financial and human Early childhood developmentprogramscover
resourcesto designhigh-qualityprograms, deliv-
only 5 percentof African childrenbelowthe age of
er them efficiently to target audiences,and pro-six. Given the critical role of such programsin
videtrainingandapplicationsupportto teachers. raising enrollments and improving learning out-
* Regionaland subregionalcooperationto reatize comes,early childhooddevelopmentdeservesmore
economiesof scaleessentiaL to reduceunit cost.
support as part of a baLancedapproachto educa-
Moreover,muchof Sub-Saharan Africa lacksthe
tion development(box 3.6). Becauseof the pay-off
power and telecommunicationsinfrastructure to of better performancein primary school and the
realizethe potential of the new technologies.Also, reduction of repetition and drop-out, low-cost
although the cost of new technologiesis falling early childhooddevelopmentprogramscan pay for
rapidly,cost is still a barrierto widespreadapplica- themselves. Community-basedmodels of early
tion in the poorest countries. ManycountrieswilL childhood education and care in Latin American
haveto reformtheir telecommunications and powerhave shown that such programscan be Lowcost
sectorsbeforethey cantake educationapplications and effective. In these modelsparents are usually
of new technologies to scale. Finally, education responsiblefor providing physical facilities and
television and computer-assistedinstruction are instructors or facilitators. Governmentagencies,
likely to be high risk if they invoLveleading-edge often in collaborationwith NGOs, train the parents
technoLogy:education will probably be moresuc- and facilitators, organizeregularhealth checkups,
cessfuLin termsof cost and servicingof equipment and provideinstructionaLmaterials,medicine,and
if it follows rather than leads entertainmentand nutrition support.
commerce(Perratonand Creed2000). A number of African countries are devel-
oping similar programs. In Zanzibar, Tanzania
Student readiness community-managedand -funded Islamic schooLs
provideearLychildhoodlearning to almost 80 per-
The quality of early childhood development cent of the relevant age group. Somecommunity
programs-especiallythose that include health and groups have worked with international NGOsto
nutrition interventions-correLatesoverwhelmingly improve the learning environment in these
with primary school enrollment rates, enroLLment schoolsand introduce elementsof seculareduca-
age, academicperformance,and dropoutand repe- tion to preparechildren to move into the primary
tition rates. The introduction of school readiness schoolsystem.Thesesuccessfulexperiencesteach
activities in early childhooddevelopmentprograms two important Lessonsabout promoting student
for four- and five-year-oLdsand instruction policies readiness. First, early chiLdhood development
that begin with local languageand culture are cru- programs need to approach child development
cial in improvingthe performanceof studentsin the comprehensively,incorporating cognitive, health,
first grade,wheredropoutand repetition ratesare and nutrition needs.Second,for a strong senseof
often high. Earlychildhooddevelopmentprograms community ownership,programsneed to be sen-
aLsohelp ensurethat children moveon to primary sitive to cultural values. Programsthat take local
school when they have reachedthe officiaL entry culture and practicesinto account are morelikely
age.Theimpact of theseprogramscanbe enhanced to be sustainable,affordable, and accessible.

42 COUNTRY
RESPONSES:
A QUANTUMLEAPIN EDUCATION
DEVELOPMENT
 Goodhealthandnutritionarealsoessentialfor B
childrenin primary school. Experimentsare under- Box3.6
way in a number of countries to pilot low-cost
waysto target schoolhealth programsto the poor- EarlyChitdhood
Development
est and most disadvantagedchildren. in Kenya

Measuring
progress
Effective reform programsneed reliable data on
inputs and outcomes of education investments
and on classroomprocesses.The absenceof such
data, a problem not unique to the Africa region,
seriously impedeseffective remedialaction when
students do not meet standards for learning
achievement or when pilots or innovations are
introduced. Although standard indicators on
inputs (enrollments, teachers, and schools) and
student fLows are usualLy available, they are
often unreliable or insufficiently detailed. For
example,despite a major international effort to
assess progress on key indicators for the
Education for ALl 2000 assessment,only a third
of countries in Sub-SaharanAfrica could provide
data on pre-primary enrollments, half did not
have age-specific data to calculate net enroll-
ment ratios, and a quarter did not have data on
girls' participation.
Moreover, information about what actually
happens in schools and classrooms-teaching
methods,use of instructional materials, and pat-
terns of student interaction-is often not colLect-
ed and analyzed regularly. Evaluations of
innovations are often superficial and question-
able. In particular, outcomesof pilots are rarely
related to cost-incomprehensible in a region
where almost all education systemsface severe
resourceconstraints. The 1999 stocktaking exer-
cise of the Association for the Developmentof
Educationin Africa documentedthis point con-
vincingly. These shortcomings inhibit effective
reforms,not least becausecountries cannot easily
gaugethe impact of policies and expendituresor
the scopefor taking pilots to scale without rigor-
ILIheatthandpoornutritionduringintfancy andearly
childhoodare major factorsin the late enrollment,
lowsuccess, andhighdropoutratesamongKenya's
poorestschool-age chitdren.ToimprovethephysicaL
and intellectualdevelopment of thesechitdren,in
1997 the Ministry of Education,together with
DistrictCentersfor EarlyChildhood Devetopment and
the NationaLCenterfor EartyChildhoodt Education,
establisheda comprehensive earlychildhooddevel-
opmentprogram in poorcommunities in partnership
withthe WorldBank.
Theprogramprovidesteachertrainingfor some
17,000eartychiLdhood devetopment instructors who
havenoformattraining;workshops to raiseparenatal
andcommunity awareness andsupportforearly child-
hooddevetopment programs; nutritionandheatthser-
vicestargetedto infantsin 10 districts,community
grantsfor 2,000community-operated eartychildhood
deveLopment centers;andcapacitybuiLding in moni-
toringandmanagement in theMinistryof Education.
Morethan a miLtionchitdrenfrom poorhouseholds
shoutdbenefitfromthe program, whichwilt improve
schoot
enrotlment, attendantce, andachievement rates
oftowerprimaryschootlstudents.
ous assessmentof student learning or financial
and managementcosts.
Several African countries, recognizing the
importance of measuring education inputs and
outcomes,participate in initiatives sponsoredby
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and
CulturalOrganization(UNESCO) to improve nation-
al educationstatistics and monitor student learn-
ing through standardized tests (box 3.7). In
francophone countries the Program to Analyze
EducationSystemsimplements simiLarinitiatives

A CHANCE
TOLEARN 43
 Southern
AfricanConsortium
for the Measurement
of Educational
Quality

Lackof technicalcapacityhaskeptAfricancountries For each countrythe exercisegenerateddetailed

fromparticipating in comparative internationaL assess- reportson progress in readingandrelatedthis infor-
mentsof learningachievement To remedy this situa- mationto key variables,includingthe child'ssocio-
tion, a fewcountries in southernAfrica recentlyformed economicbackground andthe schoolenvironment.
the SouthernAfricanConsortium for the Measurement Theresults?Pupils performedpoorlywhenjudged
of EducationalQuality.In a promisirng example of what by standardsof masteryset by nationalreading
canbe achieved throughregionalcooperation, five of expertsand selectedgrade6 teachers.Achievement
thesecountries(Mauritius,Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia, differenceswithin countriestendedto surpass those
andZimbabwe) havecamred out sample-based nation- betweencountries. Differencesbetweenregions,
atassessments of readingin grade 6 of primaryschooL socioeconomic groups,and schoollocation(rural or
Theexercise wassupportedby the International urban)weremuchmoreimportantthan genderdiffer-
Institute of Educational Planning.The assessments' ences.A secondexerciseto measurelearningout-
adherence to hightechnicalstandards allowedthese comesin other subjectsand other gradesis being
countriesto compare learningachievemeitt with that undertaken
for an expanded groupincludingfrancoph-
of othercountries at a similarlevelof development. onecountries.

with the support of the Conferenceof Ministersof
Education with French as a Common Language
(CONFEMEN). Such initiatives build countries'
capacityto collect and analyzekey educationindi-
cators. Educationassessments that regularly mea-
surethe performanceof samplesof chiLdrenin key
gradesand subjects enablepolicymakersto deter-
mine progressover time and comparethe out-
comes of different groups of children. Regular
assessmentsalso can often point teaching in a
positive direction.
In recent years several institutions and net-
works focusing on education research have
emergedin Africa. Theseinclude the Council for
the Developmentof Social Science Researchin
Africa (CODESRIA) in Senegal, the Pan African
Center for Study and Researchin International
Relations and Education for Development
(CEPARRED),and the Educational Research
Network for East and South Africa (ERNESA).
Severalrecently launchededucationjournals con-
tribute to wider knowledge and discussion of
education researchfindings.
Unwavering Commitment to Equity
Unless widely and equitably available, effective
basiceducationwill not boost social and econom-
ic development.Today'sout-of-schoolchildren are
typically membersof hard-to-reachdisadvantaged
groups, almost always poor (Filmer and Pritchett
1999), and often in remote areas.Nearly60 per-
cent of out-of-schoolchildrenin Africa are girls.
Countriesneedtargeted strategiesthat stimu-
late demand,removeadministrative obstaclesto
schooling, and adapt curricula and instructional
strategies to rural conditions. Opportunities for
learningand advancededucationmust reflect equi-
ty concernsto avoid perpetuatingsociallyembed-
ded disparities basedon gender,region, or other
groupings.Africa will haveto closethe ruraL-urban

44 COUNTRY
RESPONSES:
A QUANTUM
LEAP
IN EDUCATION
DEVELOPMENT
gap to makerapid progresstoward educationfor in the primary gross enrollment ratio exceeds20
all. Grossenrollment ratios in urban areas,espe- percentagepoints.
cialLycapitaLcities, are typicalLymuchhigherthan Within countriesdifferencesin female partici-
those in rural areas; for example,90 percent in pation rates largely relate to urban-ruraldispari-
Niamey, Niger, 85 percent in Addis Ababa, ties. A long journey to schooLis a major obstacLe
Ethiopia, and 80 percent in Bamako,MaLi,com- to the enrolLmentof girls becauseof the perceived
paredwith 20 percentor lessin the rural areasof dangersinvolved and the opportunity cost of los-
these countries. Living in rural areas usually ing femalelabor to performhouseholdchores,care
affects schoolenrollmentmorethan gender(figure for young children or sick family members,and
3.1). work on family land. Thus a key priority for much
Parentsin rural areasoften are askedto con- of Africa is to increasethe initial enrollment of
tribute more than parents in urban areasto the girls in rural areas,both for social equity and the
cost of schooling.Their contribution can take the positive impact girls' education has on agricultur-
form of labor, usually for school constructionand al productivity, fertility, family health, nutrition,
maintenance,or paymentof official and unofficial and the schoolingof the next generation.
fees and Levies.In many community schooLsin Raisingfemaleenrollmentrateswill requirecare-
countriessuch as Chad,these fees must cover the fully targeted programsinvolving supply-sideinter-
salariesof teachershired by parents. Ruraldisad-
vantageis refLectednot only in the high household
cost of educationbut also in the poor quaLityof Figure 3.1 PrimaryEnrollment
ruraleducation.Teacher
absenteeism
is morecom- Ratiosby Gradefor RuralandUrban
mon in rural than in urban areas,especiallywhere Childrenin Niger
staff must travel long distancesto collect salaries. Percent
The educational attainment of staff is typically
Lower,and textbooksand other instructional mate- 90
rials are supplied erratically or not at all. 80
Classrooms are often poorlybuilt and unusabledur- Urban Boys
ing the rainy season.Thesefactors result in low 70
student learning and high failure rates in sec- \
ondaryschoolentranceexams.
Education inequalities between maLesand 50 Urba
femalesis a further chalLenge if Africa is to accel-
erate its education deveLopment.The gendergap 40
in the primary gross enrollment ratio in Africa 30
stood at 13.6 percentagepoints in 1995-lower
than in the Middle East and North Africa (16.1 20 roys
percent) and South Asia (23.4 percent) but con- 20
siderably higher than in East Asia and Latin
America.Theregionalgendergap concealsconsid- _ RuralGirLs =
erable country variation. In 11 countries (Benin, 0
Central African Republic, Chad, C6te d'Ivoire, K 1 2 3 4 5
Republicof Congo,Ethiopia,Gambia,
Democratic Source:WorldBank2000c.
Guinea,Guinea-Bissau,Nigeria,and Togo)the gap

A CHANCE
TOLEARN 45
 SuccessFactorsin Girls'Schooling

Thewidespread genderenrollmentgap in developing * Workwith students'familiesto tutor them and

countryeducation systems hasbeenthe focusof con- providefurthersupport.
siderableresearchand policy discussionin recent * Receivegendersensitivitytrainingor havemany
years.However, genderrelationsin the cLassroom have yearsof experience.
not receivedthe sameattention.To understand the Grassrootsinitiativessuchas the followinghetp girls
keyfactorsin girls' performance at the pnrmary level, stayin school:
the WorldBankstudiedinterventions in BurkinaFaso, * Parent-teacher
associations sensitizeneighbors to
Guinea,MaLi,and Mauritania. Thestudyshowedthat the importance of girls'education,contributeto
girLsperformbetterwhen: schoolconstructionandmaintenance, andworkwith
Parents schooladministratorsto solvedisciplineproblems.
* Makea deLiberate effortto reduce theworkload at * Mothers of Students Associations in BurkinaFaso,
home. whosemainobjectiveis to raiseenrollmentand
* GivegirLstimeandspaceto dotheir homework. success rates,particularlyof girLs,offerencour-
* AreinvoLved in the chiLd'sschooL Lifeandfollow agement, advice,andfinanciaL supportfor girLsin
herworkat home. school.
*Requestutorng0by a fa ily memberor by a T study ultshalsoshowedthat girls aremore
teacheror a neighbor. likely to participateactiveLy in classestaughtin the
Teachers locaLLanguage, andthat religioustraditionsneednot
* Donot shoutat studentsor humiliatethem. be a barrierto genderequity in education.Islamic
* Callon girls to contributeto classes evenwhen Mauritania,for example,has morethan halvedthe
they do not volunteer. genderenrollment gapto only6 percentat the prima-
* Donot underestimate girls'at ry leveloverthe pastfive years.

Source:
World Bank2000c.

ventionssuchas recruitmentof femaLeteachersand enroLLment and narrowedthe genderenroLLment gap

early childhooddeveLopment programsfor sibLings. by lifting official schoolfeesfor girls.
HigherfemaleenroLLment will also requiredemand- Primarycompletion rates and transiticn rates
side interventionsto reducecuLturalconstraintsto from primary to secondaryeducation show no
girls' schoolingand increasecommunityawareness clear evidence of systematic disadvantage to
and support for the enroLLment of girls (box 3.8). African girLs (International ConsultativeForumon
Zambia'sProgramme for the Advancement of Girls' Educationfor ARl1998; UNESCO 1998d).Yetvaria-
EducationhaspiLotedseveralsuccessful demand-side tions within and betweencountries are consider-
interventions,incLudinginviting parentsto observe abLe,and higher repetition and dropout rates, as
lessonsand introducingsingle-sexcLasses, that seem weLLas lower Learningachievement,for girls have
to have increasedfemale participationin primary beenfound in severalcountries.At the sametime
schooL.SimiLarLy,Benin has increasedgirls' primary a study of literacy in Mauritius, Namibia,

46 COUNTRY
RESPONSES:
A QUANTUM
LEAPIN EDUCATION
DEVELOPMENT
Zimbabwe,
andZanzibar,
Tanzania
foundnodiffer-
ence between boys' and girls' reading (Saito
1998). Clearlymoreresearchis neededon how and
how muchlate enrollment,droppingout earLy,and
in-schooLfactors affect girls' schoolperformance.
While culturaLconstraintsfrequentLycontribute
to educationinequaLities,recentresearchsuggests
that poor parentsin rural areasare morereadythan
previousLy thoughtto enrolltheir chiLdren-including
girLs-in school,providedthe schooLs are of accept-
abLequaLity,fairly close to home,and affordable
(Glewwe1994; PROBE Team1999). BuiLdingschooLs
cLoserto girls' homesis often an effective way to
redressmany gender inequaLities.CLoserschooLs
reduce the opportunity costs of girLs' schooLing,
accommodate absencesmoreeasiLy,and makeinter-
action with teachersLessformaland threatening,so
that girLsfind it easierto enroll and stayin school.
Theseresearchfindings also suggestthat a sig-
nificant obstacleto greaterequity in educationhas
been the faiLureto adaptthe traditionaLsix-class-
room, six-teacher school to local conditions.
Expectingchildren to enroLlat a specific age and
cometo schooLin uniformwith textbooksand basic
suppLies does not fit the constraintsfaced by poor
peoplein low-densityrural areas,especiallyin the
SaheLian countries and parts of East Africa. These
probLemsare particuLarLy serious in areas where
nomadic customsprevent chiLdrenfrom reguLarly
attendingtraditional schools.In manypartsof rural
AfricaaLternativemodeLs suchas mobileschooLs and
muLtigradeschoolsare moreappropriatefor these
chiLdren(box 3.9). Multigradeschoolingis especial-
Ly effectiveif instruction is personalizedand based
on cooperative Learning and peer tutoring.
Multigrade pedagogicaLtraining and specialLy
designedmaterialsare essentiaLfor the successof
such an approach.Suchinstruction heLpseliminate
grade repetition, accommodates student absences,
and aLLows studentsto proceedat their own pace.
SeveraL Latin Americancountries,followingthe Lead
of CoLombia'sescuela nueva, impLement this
approachto ruralschooLing.
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
After teachersaLaries,
infrastructjreis the
largestcost associatedwith the provisionof school-
ing andcanadd 25-50 percentto operal:ingcosts.To
provideplacesin schoolfor all school-agechiLdren,
African countries will need to build more than
150,000new classrooms a year,manyin rural areas,
overthe next15 years.To ensurethe accessof chil-
drenin sparselypopuLated areas,educationwill have
to be providedin schooLs with three or fewercLass-
rooms.Manyof Africa'sschoolconstructionprograms
have been unnecessarily costLy(an initial reviewof
WorldBankprojectssuggeststhat the cost of class-
roomconstructionin Africais two to threetimesthe
cost in SouthAsia)and not designedior the needs
of rural areas.Achievinguniversalaccessto prmary
education will requireinvolving comrnunitiesand
NGOs in constructingsmaLL,dispersedf3ciLities.This
strategy couLdbuiLd many cLassrooms at a much
Lowercost andincreaseenroLLments witliOutcompro-
misingsafety or learning.
Strategies to invoLvecommunities in schooL
construction are part of a broader shift toward
decentraLizedpLanning, resource rianagement,
and deLivery.Thisshift is basedon the recognition
that highly centraLized education systems are
unLikeLyto meet the needs of ruraL, disadvan-
taged, and hard-to-reachgroups. Expandingthe
roLeof district educationoffices and communities
requiresa shift both in resourcesand responsibil-
ities linked to concertedcapacity bui.ding efforts.
Rapidprogresstoward universaleducationaLso
wiLLrequire many more teachers. In 1995 Sub-
SaharanAfrica had about 3 miLlionteachers,repre-
senting 3.6 percent of the nonagri(ULturaL Labor
force.Two-thirdsof theseteacherstauqht at the pri-
mary LeveL. Morethan haLfof the region'sprimary
teachersareLikeLy to leavethe teachingforcein the
next 15years.At Least1 million additionalteachers
will be requiredto achieveuniversaL pimary educa-
tion by 2015, meaningthat African countries will
haveto train about 200,000newteac[ers a year for
the next 15 years,assumingan attrition rate of 2.5
percent. This numberis probabLyunderestimated,
47
 Nigeria-Developing EducationPrograms
for Nomads

Nomad communities account for 8.5percentof Nigeria's the nomadcommunities andgivenspecialisttraining.

population, or 9.3millionpeople.Onethirdof this pop- Commnitieshave a centralrole in managingthe
ulationis of schoolage,anduntil recently few nomadic schools,andthe programhascollaborated with NGOs
childrenreceived an education. Asa resuLt literacyrates anddonors.
amongnomadgroupsrange from .2-2.0 percent Enrollmentresultshave been impressive,with
Nomads facea rangeof constraints to hher levelsof 155,000childrenenrolledin 1998 comparedwith
educational attainment. Theconstant search for pasture, 18,000in 1990.Theproportionof girls enrolledhas
andamongcoastalcommunities, for fish,togetherwith also risenmarkedly, the parityrate reaching85 per-
the importance of child lbor makemostformaland centin 1998.AdultliteracyclassesnowenrolL2,600
nonformal education systems ill-suitedto the nomadic womenacross12 states.
wayof Life. Challengesremain:quaLityis poor,and the pro-
Recognizing these constrainrtsthe government portionof trainedteachers hasfatlensincethe system
created the National Commissionfor Nomadic rapidLyexpanded.Fundingis insufficientto provide
Education in 1989.Thecommission is responsible for everyschoolwith booksfor the newcurricula,and as
providingnomads with functionaland elnt educa- a resultmanychildrenaretaughtthe sedentary school
tion andimprovingtheir survivalsills.k curriculum.Dropoutratesareexceptionally high,with
Thecommission first gatheredaccuratebaseline fewer than one-fifth of chiLdrengraduatingin the
daa to prvovea solidf ton ford ar- a dime Someproblems arebeyondthe control
nativemodeLs to meetthe needsof nomadchildren. of the commission. In manyareasvioLence between
Thesemodelsincludeprimaryeducation in collapsible nomadsandfarmershasprevented communities from
mobiLeclassrooms and boatschools,extensionaduLt participatingin educationaLprograms. Despitethese
education cLasses,and radio listening groups. challenges,the programhas demonstrated that if
Alternativecurriculahavebeendevel usin flexi- schoolmodelsare adaptedto the needsof nomad
bLetimetables, andteachershavebeenrecruitedfrom communities, demand for educationis high.

giventhe high attrition ratesamongteachersin the decisions,and implementationresponsibility in a

countriesworstaffectedby HIV/AIDS.Suchdemand small group of officials in central education min-
outstripsthe capacityof traditional teachertraining istries. Nor wiLL universal primary education be
institutions, especialLyin countrieswith Lowgross achievedwithout strategies that explicitly target
enroLlmentratios.In manycasescountrieswill need the needsand constraintsof excLuded groupssuch
alternative, cost-effectivestrategiesto train Large as the poor, ruraL populations, and girls.
numbersof additionaLteachersto accelerateeduca- MeaningfuL progresswill require:
tion deveLopment (seebox 3.4). * DeveLoping modelsof quaLityschooLingappro-
In sum, education systemsthat continue to priate for rural conditions.
operatein traditionaLwaysare unlikeLyto achieve * DeveLopingeducation strategiesthat address
universal primary education. Neither are systems the demand-and supply-sideobstaclesfacing
that concentratepoLicymaking,resourceaLLocation hard-to-reachgroups.

48 COUNTRY
RESPONSES:
A QUANTUM
LEAPIN EDUCATION
DEVELOPMENT
* Mobilizing and empowering communities to
manageclassroomconstructionand be active-
ly invoLvedin school operations.
* Increasingin-servicetraining of teachersand
restructuring the teaching profession, with
decentraLized provisionof teachersupport.
* DecentraLizing pLanningand resourcemanage-
ment responsibiLitiesto communitiesand dis-
trict educationoffices.
Without equity in accessto quaLity primary
education,significant progressin equity at higher
LeveLsis impossibLe.Countriesmust ensure that
girLshave the sameopportunities as boys to con-
tinue their education beyond the basic cycLe.
Marriagecustomsand cuLturaLpracticesassociated
with the onset of puberty are often seriousobsta-
cLesto girls' education.Overcomingthese demand-
side obstacLeswiLLrequire determinedefforts by
those who infLuencepubLicopinion and political
and reLigiousLeaders.
PoLicyoptions incLudeseparate schooLsfor
girls, schoLarshipsfor girLs,and strategiesto short-
en distances between homes and schools.
CountriesaLsowiLLhave to improve the participa-
tion and performanceof girLsin math and science
classes.Girls accountfor lessthan 25 percentof all
studentsenroLLed in these cLasses in BurkinaFaso.
In Chadin 1997-98 onLy4 percentof the students
enroLLed in sciencewere girLs. Girls aLsohave a
Lowersuccessrate than boys in sciencesubjects
(UNESCO 1998b). Tutoring and exposureto roLe
modeLsare possibLeremediesfor this probLem.
Femalesare most underrepresented in higheredu-
cation, as a direct resuLtof their disadvantageat
the secondaryLevel.Affirmativeaction programsin
higher education may heLp,but a LastingsoLution
dependsboth on tackLingequity issueswith deter-
mination at the primary and secondaryLevelsand
on deveLopingmorefLexibLemodelsof Learningat
higher educationLeveLs that allow womento com-
bine study with househoLdresponsibiLities.Where
such approacheshave been deveLoped, they have
successfuLLy expanded opportunities for women
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
and other groups with traditionally Liniited access
to higher education(box 3.10).
Evenif aLLchildrenages6-11 wele enroLLed in
school today and all completedthe primarycycLe,
Africa would needas long as 25 yearsto raisethe
averageeducationaLattainment of its aduLtpopu-
Lationto five years.Thusthe region needsto give
aduLtsand youths who have not attendedschool,
or who havedroppedout earLy,the opportunity to
continuetheir educationand acquireskills needed
in work and society.ExpandingeducationaLoppor-
tunities for Africa's 140 miLLioniLilterate aduLts,
and for millions more whoseeducation has been
Limited in duration and quaLity,is an imperative
on both equity and human deveLoprnentgrounds
in particuLar,as one of the most important effects
of aduLtbasic education is the suppcrt that suc-
cessfuLparticipants provide for the schooLingof
their chiLdren. Continuing education programs
should deveLopnot onLyLiteracyand occupational
skiLLs,but also Lifeskills in areassuchas HIV/AIDS
prevention.
Whilethe importanceof aduLtbasic education
programsfor acceLeratingeducation deveLopment
is wideLyaccepted,suchprogramshave a variabLe
track record.Manyhave had high dropout and low
pass rates, aLthough recent approaches have
improved these rates considerabLy.However,the
Lackof good data and evaLuationcoistrains judg-
ing the effectivenessof such programs(Oxenham
and Aoki 1999; LaugLo2000). Theevidencethat is
availabLesuggeststhat aduLtbasiceducationpro-
grams are more effective if they t3rget specific
audiences, receive strong support from govern-
ment, and maximize opportunities to deveLop
partnerships between governmenl: and NGOs.
SeveraL countries have invoLvedNGO;by contract-
ing out basic education programslbox 3.11) or
inviting NGOparticipation in nationaL programs
(Namibia,Mozambique,Uganda).Instructors who
receive a stipend-and sometimes voLunteer
instructors-usuaLLy deliver these programs in
national languages.
49
 The DualSystemof Face-to-Face
and DistanceEducation
at the
Universityof Namibia
Thedistanceeducation degreeprogram offeredby the
Centerfor ExternalStudiesat the Universityof
Namibia is a promisingexample of howdistanceedu-
cation programs canexpandopportunities to groups
whohavetraditionallyhadlittLeor no access to high-
er education.Sincepolitical independence in 1990,
distancelearninghas beena key dimenslion of the
Universityof Namibia's expansion program.Thedual
system-offeringthe samequalifications to full-time
anddistancelearners-reflects thegovernments com-
mitmentto makeeveTy Levelof educationavailableto
peopleexcluded underthe apartheidregime.
Since1997the Centerfor ExternalStudieshas
offereddiplomacourses in educationand Bachelor of
Educationand 8achelorof Nursingdegrees,and in
1998introduced a Bachelorof BusinessAdministration
degreeon a pilot basis.TheBachelorof Education
coursewasdesignedto increase4the
numbersof highly
qualifiedsecondary teachers in the priorisuts of
mathandEnglish,wfhilethe nursingcoursewasa prag-
maticresponse to the factthat the Ministryof Health
couldnolongeraffordto release trainednursesfor fu-
timeupgrading. Theuniversityhopesthat intermediate
qualifications
will motivateexternalstudentsfor whom
a six-yearpart-timecoursecanbe uting.
Theprogram hasbenefited fromwidespd collab-
orationwith otherinsttions. Courses werebought
from the Polytechnik oftNamibia,0 the Brits On pn
University,and the Cambridge National Extension
Up-Front Emphasison Institutional
Strengthening
AcceLeratingeducationdevelopmentaLmostaLways
requiresan explicit action pLanto strengthen the
capacity of nationaL and locaL institutions to
50 COUNTRY
RESPONSES:
Collegeto supplement existingcourses.
Linkswith the
Universityof SouthAfricaandBritishinstitutionsfund-
ed bythe Commonwealth of Learningenhanced capaci-
ty building.Nineregionalprogram centersacrossthe
countrycollectstudentfees,organizeface-to-face ses-
sions, handleexaminations, and advertisecourses
among local communities.Distancelearnersnow
accountfor a third of Universityof Namibiastudents.
TheCenterfor ExternalStudieshas beenparticuLarly
effectivein reachingwomen.Seventy-five percentof
distancelearnersarewomen,manyof whomwouldbe
unableto attendtraditionalcampus-based programs
because of householdresponsibilities.
Costsaremetentirelyby thestudentsandareset
at thesamelevelasfor full-timestudents.Asa result
the centeris 40-50percentself-financing. Whilestu-
dentretentionandtest resultsare not as highas for
ful itudets dropout rates havefalLenmarkedly,
so that 80 percentof distanceteamersnowcomplete
their courses.
Passratesamongdistance studentshave
alsoimproved,reachingalmost70 percentin 1998.
Students andacademics agreethat the distancelearn-
ing programhasmaintained quality.Thekey lessons
fromNamibia's dual-mode distancelearningprogram?
Strongleadershipfromthe highestuniversityleveland
an emphasis on staff development, decentralization,
andqualitycontrolcanmakea significantcontribution
toexpandingaccess to highereducationin Africawith-
outcompromising quality.
design and deliver education deveLopmentpro-
grams. To deliver education effectively and effi-
cientLy aLLstakehoLdersneed sensible incentives
and must operate according to reasonableand
transparent ruLeswithin efficient organizationaL
structuresand with competentstaff.
A QUANTUM
LEAPIN EDUCATION
DEVELOPMENT
 Box3.11
ProvidingBasicEducation
Opportunities
to ReduceIltiteracy:Senegal'sExperience
Senegals Literacy Program PrioritizingtheParticipation
of Women (PAFP) is partof the NationalDirectorateof
Literacyand BasicEducation's nationalliteracypro-
gram.Theprogram supportsfunctionalandpost-literacy
coursesin five regionsof Senegal andperiurban areas
of Dakar.Since1995 PAFPhas reachedmorethan
150,000learners.In the mostrecent(fifth) intakefor
thefunctionaL literacycourses, 54,000enroled.
The post-literacyprogramhas enrolled15,500
learnersin three intakes.Demandis large:183,000
appliedat thelast intake.Morethan80 percentof the
leamersare15-39yearsold,andaboutthree-quarters
arewomen.A majorachievement of the programis the
low dropoutrate,estimatedat 10 percent
Thefunctionalliteracyclassesprovideat least
300 hoursof instructionin local languages over 18
monthsfor at least20 peopleper class.Providers can
choosefrom a list of curriculaapprovedby the
Ministryof Education. PAPF alsosupportslocalnews-
papersin eachregionin the local language andpro-
jects retated to agriculture, health, and the
environment. PAPF plansa Linkto microcreditaccess
andto locallearningresource centers,whichwilLserve
a targetgroupwiderthan the program's own partici-
Accountability of providersto beneficiariesis
increasinglyrecognizedas centraLto institutionaL
effectiveness in the public sector (World Bank
1999b). In education this finding has Led to a
move away from traditional, highLy centralized
managementmodeLs.SeveraLcountriesare decon-
centrating managementauthority to fieLd-leveL
governmentofficiaLsresponsiblefor specific geo-
graphicareas(Crooke1997). Othersare searching
for waysto increaseautonomyat the LeveL of the
school, training center, or university. A few are
doing both.
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
-
pants.Ofthe total volumeof PAFP publications(101
books/booklets,including a dictionaryin Wolof)
187,000copieshavebeensold.
Teaching is outsourced to morethan 420 local
nongovemrnment providers,
upfrom77providers in 1995.
Theincrease showsthat a rapidlygrowingmarketof
trainingproviders can be createdovera short period.
Prospectiveliteracy operatorssubmit applications
accordingto a procedures manualandarescreened and
nominated by a nationalselectionboardappointedby
the ministerof education.Financialmanagement of the
contractuaLreLationswith operators (andsomeroutine
monitoring)hasbeenoutsourced to AGETIP, a state
parastatalagencyexperienced in projectadministra-
tion. Throughits executing agency,the ministrycon-
centrateson planningand programdesign,program
implementation (includingtrainingof the operators),
capacitydeveLopment, and qualityassurance. Every10
cLasses hasa supervisor. TheNationaL Directorateof
LiteracyandBasicEducation is primarilyre;ponsible for
evaluatingandmonitoring thenationatliteracyprogram
of whichPAPFis part. Eachcontracting NGOhiresits
ownteachers, mostof whomarelocalLyrecruitedand
havea lowersecondary schooldipLoma.
As more countries assign responsibiLityfor
managingeducationdeLiveryto subnationalLevels
and institutions, they need to redefine roles and
responsibilities and establish new incentive sys-
tems and financiaL and personnel management
rules. CapacitybuiLdingwiLLinvoLveall Levelsof
the system.At the national Levelthe priority wiLL
be to strengthenthe capacity to analyzekey sec-
tor issues, plan national poLicyand institutionaL
reforms,and support their implementation.
EquaLLy important are capacities to establish
benchmarksfor policy reform and to monitor and
51
evaLuateprogresstoward these benchmarks.In
particuLar,countries need stronger researchand
deveLopmentcapacities to experiment with and
pilot programs,developcurricuLaand instructionaL
materiaLs,formuLate teacher training programs,
and design schooLfaciLities.
At the local andinstitutionaLLeveLthey wiLLneed
to deveLop capacityfor new responsibiLitiessuchas
allocating resources,managingteachingstaff, and
planningand impLementing investmentprograms.
SeveraL countries are experimenting with
empoweringcommunitiesto managethe deLiveryof
education serviceseither partially or compLeteLy.
TheseexperimentstypicaLLy invoLveestabLishingor
revitaLizingschooLmanagementcommittees,par-
ent-teacherassociations,or village educationcom-
mittees and alLowingthem to decide how to use
public subsidies and community resources.Such
decisions have often been limited to schooLcon-
struction but increasinglyinvolve nonsaLary operat-
ing costs and other servicedelivery issues.Where
communitiesare given a greater role in education
management, supportfor community-LeveL capacity
buiLdingis usuaLLy a condition of success(Colletta
and Perkins1995).
Somecountrieshave gone even further, aLLow-
ing communitiesto decideon the hiring and firing
of teachers. Others have asked communitiesto
deveLopschool improvementpLansthat can be
funded from pubLic resources.In a number of
African countries communitieshave started their
own schooLswithout public subsidies. However,
these faciLities, whiLea testimonyto the commit-
ment of poor, mostLyrural communitiesto educa-
tion, are generaLLy of [ow quaLityand are attended
by a minority of chiLdren,usualLyfrom poor fami-
lies. Becausethey provideservicesthat the state
typically provides free to weaLthier parents in
urban areas,these schooLshavea regressiveeffect
on pubLicspendingcounter to the centraLeduca-
tion equity objective of excLudingno chiLdfrom
education opportunities for financiaL reasons.
Evenwhere governmentsprovide pubLicsubsidies
52 COUNTRY
RESPONSES:
with the expectationof complementarycommuni-
ty contributions, poor househoLds should not face
excessiveburdensthat wiLLrisk excluding disad-
vantagedchiLdren.
Often governmentscan use pubLicfunds to
contract private providersof essential education
services.This is a good wayto reducethe burden
on public institutions without jeopardizingequity
objectives because it concentrates government
provision on activities with no aLternative
providers(see box 3.10). Governmentagenciescan
then focuson policy, planning, and contract man-
agement, turning to service deLiveryonLy where
private providers are not cost-effective. Several
countriesare exploringwaysto contract the deLiv-
ery of adult basic education and vocational pro-
gramsto parastataLor private providers.
SimilarLy,anaLystsand university administra-
tors agree on the benefits of making universities
responsible for managing their resources and
defining institutional policy. The nature of need-
ed poLicyreformsis reasonabLy cLearand accept-
ed by most stakehoLders,but the political will and
sustained support for these urgent changes is
often Lacking.Somecountries, however,are mak-
ing progress in this direction. Universities in
Burkina Faso, C6te d'Ivoire, and Senegal have
started on the reform path. Uganda'sMakerere
University is probably Africa's most impressive
exampLeof institutional reform in higher educa-
tion (box 3.12).
Urgentreform of the managementand financ-
ing of highereducation needsto be accompanied
in many countries by a radicaL rethinking of
approachesto broadeninguniversity access.Most
Africancountriescannotmaintaincurrent universi-
ty enrollment Levelsof under 5 percent.The emer-
gence of a globaLLyintegrated knowLedge-based
economy,and the needfor LifeLonglearningoppor-
tunities for workers to upgrade their skills and
maintain their competitiveness,are creating new
pressuresto raise universityenroLLments. Yet with
severe resource and management constraints,
A QUANTUM
LEAPIN EDUCATION
DEVELOPMENT
expanding the traditionaL residentiaL campus
modeL-students pursuing a fuLL-time degree
coursefor three or moreyears-is unlikely to be
feasibLe.
Instead Africa needs new institutional
arrangementsthat can overcome current cost,
access,and quaLityprobLemsin higher education
and enabLeits universitiesto competesuccessfuL-
ly with institutions in other countries that recruit
studentsfrom a globaLpool through distanceedu-
cation programs.Theregion also needsmorefLex-
ibLe and cost-effective Learning modeLs that
harnessnew technoLogiesand aLLowstudents to
enter degree programsthat combine work and
study. Accessto computers is onLy part of the
solution. Countriesthat want to take advantageof
new technologies will need to invest in curricu-
lum-reLatedsoftware.An exampleof this approach
is the Confederationof OpenLearningInstitutions
in South Africa (COLISA),a partnership of the
country's three main higher education distance
Learning institutions. COLISA is deveLoping
Internet-based courseware,a Web-basedstudent-
teacher interaction system, and a series of local
Internet accesspoints for students. Such experi-
mentsoffer scope for enhancingaccessto higher
educationwithout compromisingquaLity.
Traditional universities are testing promising
innovationsusing new technoLogyto deliver quaLi-
ty education services. For exampLe,the African
VirtuaLUniversityis beginningto deLiverhigh-quaL-
ity degree coursesin science, engineering, and
businessthrough satellite networks (box 3.13).
Open universities are aLso broadeningaccessto
higher educationthrough moretraditional means,
as in Namibia(seebox 3.10).
Strengthening institutions and implementing
education reforms and related investments wilL
take time-often as long as 10-15 years.Thetime
frame for performancetargets, deveLopment objec-
tives, and financiaLand institutionaLsustainabiLity
goals should refLect this Long-term view.
ImpLementationstrategieswiLLhave to be expLicit-
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
Box3.12
B
MakerereUniversity:A Modelof
InstitutionalReform
Sincethe early 1990sUganda's Makerere University
has morethan doubledits enroltmertt,improved
much of its physicaland academicinfrastructure,
introduced a semester system,andestabtished new
courses, degrees,departments, and facLitties. ARlof
this wasachieved despitedecliningfinarncial support
fromthegovernment.
Theuniversitycarriedout fundamental financial
and administrative reform,intensifiedthe use of
facilities, dramaticaltyincreasedfee-payingstu-
dents,and createdfive commercial units and an
associated consultancy company. Accom Danying and
facilitatingthesechanges hasbeena newrelation-
shipwith the government that givesthe university
morecontrol over internal institutiorialmatters.
Makerere's dramaticpaceand shapeof enrollment
expansion, financialdiversification,
acadlemic devel-
opment,administrative reform,andgeneraL revital-
izationofferseveral lessons.
Reformshave included alternative financing
strategies(encouragingprivatelysponsoredstu-
dents,commercializing serviceunits, institutional-
izing consultancyarrangements), demand-driven
academicreforms(attractingprivate sftudents by
providingcoursesfor which individuaLs, families,
and companies are willingto pay),and decentral-
izedandparticipatory management (enhancing aca-
demic development,research, planning, and
staffing by restructuringmanagement to increase
autonomy andinternaLdecentraLization).
ly designed to Learn from experience and to
support programsLongenough to aLLowthem to
build capacity. The timeframe for institutional
strengtheningilLustratesthe importance of long-
term government-donorpartnerships.In addition,
53
 TheAfricanVirtualUniversity
TheAfricanVirtuaLUniversity,a universitywithout
waUls,usesmoderninformationand communication
technologiesto give the countriesof Sub-Saharan
Africa direct accessto someof the world'shighest
qualityacademic facultyand learningresources.The
AfricanVirtualUniversitybndgesthe digitaLdivideby
trainingworld-classscientists,engineers,
technicians,
businessmanagers, and otherprofessionalswhowill
promoteeconomicand sociaLdevelopment and heLp
Africaleapfroginto the knowledge age.
Sincethe launchof its piLot phasein 1997,
with World Bank support the African Virtual
Universityhas providedstudentsand professionals
in 15 Africancountriesmorethan 2,500hoursof
interactiveinstructionin Englishand French.More
than 12,000studentshavecompleted semester-long
coursesin engineeringand the sciences,and over
2,500 professionalshave attendedexecutiveand
professionaLmanagement seminarson topicssuchas
strategy and innovation, entrepreneurship, globaL
competencies, and e-commerce. TheAfricanVirtual
Universityalsoprovidesaccessto an on-Linedigital
strategiesfor innovation and reform wiLLneed to
be tested in experimentaL
settings but designedfor
Low-costrepLication.Countriescannot afford muL-
tipLe high-cost experimentsthat end up as perma-
nent pilots (Verspoor1989).
ToughChoices to EnsureFinancial
Sustainability
African countrieswill haveto ensurethat programs
for acceleratededucationdevelopmentarefinancial-
ly sustainabLe.Externalassistancecan narrowthe
financing gap that aLmostinevitabLydeveLops just
54 COUNTRY
RESPONSES:
Librarywith over1,000full-text journals,and a Web
site (www.avu.org) that alLowsaccessto e-mail for
over 10,000free accounts.
Buildingon the success of its pilot phase,the
AfricanVirtualUniversityhasbecome an independent
nonprofitorganizationwithheadquarters in Nairobiand
a supportingofficein Washington, D.C.Theuniversity
planstwo mainproductlines:the academic channel,
whichwiUofferundergraduate studentsdegrees in com-
puterscienceandelectricalandcomputerengineering
as of October2001andthe business and technoLogy
channel,whichwill delivershort courses in manage-
ment,information technology,
andforeignlanguages as
of October2000,as well as an executiveMasters in
Business Administration
soonthereafter.
In the next three years the AfricanVirtuat
UniversitypLansto expandto morecountries in Africa
andreachundergraduate students,faculty,and profes-
sionaLsthroughlearningcentersin pubLicandprivate
universities, private franchises, and on-site
proesional learningcentershousedin corporations
andNGOs.
after the adoption of significant policy reforms.
Countrieswith LowenrolLmentmayneedsuchassis-
tance for 10-15 years. But to sustain education
deveLopment over the Longterm, countrieswiLLneed
to mobiLizethe domesticresources(pubLicand pri-
vate) that the educationsystemneedsto operate,
as well as to ensureefficient useof these resources.
Nevertheless,even when opportunities for
efficiency gains and private financing are fully
expLoited,programsto acceLerate educationdeveL-
opmentwilL usualLyhave considerabLe impLications
for government budgets. Thus countries must
changethe way education is financed and man-
aged. A quantum leap in education development
A QUANTUMLEAPIN EDUCATION
DEVELOPMENT
will demandfinancial policiesthat define cLearpri-
orities for public resourceallocation, increasethe
effectivenessof public spending,include strategies
for diversifyingfunding sourcesbeyondthe public
sector, and allocate additional resourcesto the
sector.Thesetough choiceswill be feasible after
extensive consultations with stakeholdersin a
democraticand participatoryenvironment.
Settingpriorities
for publi spending
Manycountries, especiallythe poorest, can only
meet the demandfor educationif they makeclear
and consistent choices about allocating public
resourcesto purposesthat no private resourcescan
fund. The top priorities for public spending will
typically be:
* Protectingequity by ensuringthat poor people
are not excLuded from educationbecausethey
cannot payfor it. Basiceducationtypically will
be providedfree to the poor and adequatesup-
port will be availableat higherlevelsfor capa-
ble poor students.
* Allocating resourcesto deLiverquality service,
by protecting nonsalaryspending even when
resourcesare scarceand managingadmissions
beyond the basic education cycle to provide
sufficient funding for all necessaryinputs for
quality instruction.
* Providingresourcesand personnelto strength-
en the capacity of national and local institu-
tions to design and impLement reforms,
including resourcesand personnelfor evalua-
tion and knowledgedissemination.
* Developing and disseminating lessons from
innovations, particularly those involving new
technologies that can improve quality and
expandaccesscost-effectively.
Spendingresources
effectively
Reducingdropout and repetition rates through
moreeffective instruction can achievemajor effi-
A CHANCETOLEARN
ciency gains. Better instruction will often require
increasing annual costs per student, usually for
nonsalaryspending,but shouldresultin moregrad-
uates, tower costs per graduate,and a more effi-
cient flow of studentsthroughthe system.In many
countriesteacher pay and deploymentare sources
of inefficiency.TeachersaLariesmay be peggedat
levelsthat effectively precludethe enrollmentof all
children, or teachersmay be underpaid.In several
countriesthe student:teacherratio is Linnecessarily
low; in othersit is inefficiently high.
Almost all African countries allocate too few
resourcesfor instructionalmaterialsand the profes-
sionaldevelopmentof teachers.In severalcountries
administrativeexpendituresare growingfasterthan
any other expenditurecategory. Many countnes
spendtoo muchpublic moneyon too few students
in institutions of highereducation,often providing
poorlytargeted supportfor living experdituresand
inadequately funding teaching and research.
Reallocatingsuch spendingtoward better instruc-
tion usuallywill makeresourceusemoreefficient.
Diversifying
fundingsources
Operationof educationsystemsin Africa has tra-
ditionally been funded primarily from centrally
managed public resources. Many governments
needto expLorewaysto broadenthe resourcebase
for educationand training and set clear priorities
for public funding. The casefor public funding of
basic educationis strong (Lockheedand Verspoor
1991), but even at the basic education level,
financial pressureshave led governmentsto rely
on parent contributions-school fees, contribu-
tions to school developmentfunds, aid textbook
purchases-to defraythe direct costs of instruc-
tion. Combinedwith other private costs associat-
ed with schooLing (school un iforms, the
opportunity cost of labor), educationhas become
too expensivefor many poor people. In Burkina
Fasoand Ugandathe private out-of-pocketcost of
sending one child to schoolamountsto as much
55
as 20 percent of per capita income (Mehrotraand
Delamonica1998).
Thus free basic education sometimes com-
bined with targeted support-in the form of free
books and scholarships-wiLLoften be neededto
ensurethat the poorest children, especiallygirls,
are enrolled in basic education. At higher Levels,
usually beyondtower secondaryeducation, selec-
tive cost sharing is often a policy option, with a
strong equity justification. Studentsat these 1ev-
els are typicaLLybetter off. Need-basedscholar-
ships and student loan programscan assurethe
equitable accessof poor students, and universi-
ties can often generateresourcesby seLLingser-
vices (see box 3.12).
Anotherimportant eLementof pubLiceducation
spendingis reguLation that maximizesopportunities
for servicedeliveryby privatefor-profit and nonprof-
it providers.Many such providersexist, but their
quaLityis extremeLy variable.Better reguLationand
m!. A lA
Government
Sponsorshipof Studentsat PrivateInstitutions:A Caseof
Demand-Side
Financing
Studentsponsorship in privateinstitutions
is a good
exampleof the pubLicand privatesectorsworking
togetherto heLpachieve important educational and
socialobjectives.Thenumberof placesin publicinsti-
tutionsin C6ted'Ivoireis insufficientto meetstudent
demand.ToheLpbridgesomeof thegap,thegovern-
menthasbegunsponsoring publicstudentsto attend
privateinstitutions.
Privateinstitutionsplayan important roLe in the
Coted'Ivoire education system, wheretheyrepresent
12percentof primaryschooLs, 36 percentof secondary
schooLs,and67 percentof technicaltrainingcolleges.
Underthe sponsorship program, thegovernment pays
privateschoolsfor each publicstudentplaced.The
government sponsors studentsin Lower and upper sec-
56 COUNTRY
RESPONSES:
incentivescould enhancetheir contribution to edu-
cation deveLopment. Ensuringequitable accessto
quality primaryeducationfor all is a publicresponsi-
bility, but governmentdoes not alwayshaveto be
responsiblefor financing as well as deliveringthe
completegamutof educationservices.Wherepublic
authorities,privateproviders,and communitieswork
in partnership,a wide rangeof alternativessuch as
concessions to NGOsand block grantsto communi-
ties operatingtheir own schoolsmaybe feasible.
Private operators are increasingly important
partnersin educationservicedelivery in Africa, as
democraticchangeand free market policies across
the region create a new space for civil society
organizations and commercial providers. Private
institutions run by for-profit operators provide
vocationaLand technical training, especially in
business skills, computer skiLLs,and Languages.
Large employers usuaLLytrain their workers in-
house.Many NGOsoperate basic skill training for
ondary schooL andalsoin technical andprofessional
training.Students canbe sponsored to attendboth
religious andsecular privateschools. Student pLace-
mentdependspartLyon the educationaL performance
of the schools.Only"chartered'institutionsareeLigi-
bleto takeonsponsored students.
Thepayment varieswith the student'seducation
level:126,200 CFAF ($200)peryearforlower secondary
students and147,023CFAF ($233)peryearfor upper
secondary students.Untilrecently
students wereeligible
for partialsubsidies (50 percent),but thesearebeing
phasedout. In 1997the government paidabout$10.3
millionto sponsor over162,000 students in privatepri-
maryandsecondary schooLs.In 1995-96,40 percentof
students in privateinstitutions
werestatesponsored.
A QUANTUM
LEAPIN EDUCATION
DEVELOPMENT
youth and adults. The numberof private secondary
schoolsis increasingrapidLyin manycountries,and
about 40 private universities have been estab-
Lishedin the 1990sin Africa. Severalcountriesgive
students attending private institutions public
financial supportthrough scholarshipsor vouchers.
This kind of demand-sidefinancing (box 3.14),
especialtywhen targeted to eLigibLestudentsfrom
poor families, canincreasethe equity and efficien-
cy of public expendituresfor education.
Governments mayalso want to reconsidertheir
invoLvement in pubLishingtextbooks,buiLdingclass-
rooms,and providingcateringservicesto secondary
schoolsand universities,alL of which the private
sectorusualLydoesmoreeffectively.SeveralAfrcan
countries have started to move in this direction,
with promisingresuLts.Examplesinclude textbook
provisionin Kenya(box 3.15), cLassroom construc-
Box3.15
Privatization
andDecentratization
of Textbook
Provision
in Kenya
In recentyearsa growingnumberof Africancountries
haveshiftedthe responsibilityfor textbookprovision
from governmentagencies to privatepublishers.In
mostcases this shift hasinvolveda movefrommonop-
olyto competitive textbookprovision.As partof this
process,governments havehad to devetopsystems
that give schoolsthe purchasing powerandresponsi-
bility for selectingtextbooks.
Kenyaundertook a pilot projectin textbookpro-
visionduring1996-98,covering533primaryschools
in the districtsof Machakos and Laikipia.Theschoots
weredividedinto threegroups,eachgroupgivena
percapitabudgetfor textbookpurchase andselection
basedon a list compiledby the Ministryof Education
andSports.Thefirst groupreceivedcashdepositedin
a schoolbankaccount.Thesecondgroupreceiveda
localpurchase order.Thethird groupschoolsreceived
an orderformon whichtheycouldorderbooksup to
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
tion in WestAfrca, and prvatization of food and
housingservicesin institutions of high2reducation
in BurkinaFaso,C6ted'Ivoire, and Seneqal.
Providingadditionalpublicfunding
Macroeconomic strategiesmust prioritize improving
and expandingeducation.To achieverapid progress
in educationdeveLopment, manycounties will have
to increasepubLiceducation expendituressignifi-
cantLy,even after redirecting public resourcesto
high-priority areas.Oneestimateof suchexpendi-
tures is an increaseeach year over the next decade
by 5-6 percent in reaLterms (Mehrotra 1997).
Anotheris an annualadditionaLexpenditureof $3.6
billion to put Sub-SaharanAfrica on track toward
universaLprimaryeducationby 2015 (Oxfam1999).
ThesecaLcuLations ilLustratethe magnitudeof the
-
the limritof their allocatedtextbookbudget.School
orderswere then consolidated at the d4strictlevel,
and supptycorntracts were awardedbased on tocal
competitivebidding.
A detailedevaLuation of the threemethodsof
selectionandprocurement, aswellasthe performance
of publishers andlocalretaiLbooksellers, showed that
all threeapproaches produced goodresults,atthough
district procurement createddistribution problems,
and the local purchase orderscreatedadministrative
problems.Publishers and bookselters performed wetl,
and schoolsnoted that decentralizedsupptyand
school-based decisionmaking ledto lowerprices,effi-
cientandfastdeliveryby booksetlers,and rapidcor-
rection of order inaccuracies,benefitsthat were
lackingduringthe periodof statepubtishing andsup-
ply.Thepilot projecthassincebecome partof Kenya's
nationaL textbookprovisionpoLicy,
57
expense,but in practicea sustainableframeworkfor
each country wiLLrequire country-specificcaLcuLa-
tions. Not aLLcountries will be abLeto produce
national plansfor reformand financingframeworks
in the sametime frame.
Africa'shigh dependencyratios and its needto
catch up with educationsystemseLsewhere makeit
aLmostinevitabLethat it will spendmoreon educa-
tion as a shareof GDPthan other regions.The$3.6
billion figurejust mentionedrepresents2 percentof
the GNPof the region, excLudingSouthAfrica,or an
increaseof 35 percentover currentregionaLspend-
ing. By comparison,debt paymentstotaL 14.5 biL-
Lion a year and miLitary expenditures$7 biLLion
(Oxfam 1999). However,improving both internaL
efficiency(by reducingdropoutand repetition rates
and high teachersalaries)and aLlocativeefficiency
(by shifting spendingbiasawayfrom secondaryand
higher education and administrative and salary
expenditures)can achieveenormousgains.
Better economicmanagementwiLLbe essential
to ease constraintson public spendingdecisions.
PublicexpenditurereviewswiLLneedto pay special
attention to the needsof the educationsector,in
Linewith equity objectives. ConverseLy, education
financing strategiesshouLdlink expLicitlyto over-
aLLpubLicspendingreforms,including the develop-
ment of medium-term expenditure frameworks.
Debt reLiefin the frameworkof the HIPCinitiative
wilLheLpcountriesreordertheir resourceaLLocation
priorities to ensurea soundand sustainabLe finan-
ciaLframeworkfor the sector.Similarly,the end of
war and civil strife can free money spent on
weaponsand miLitarypersonneL.
The WayForward:NationaLReform,
RegionaL
Cooperation,and International
Partnerships
The poorperformanceof educationsystemsin many
African countries impedes sustained economic
growth, povertyreduction,and sociaLdevelopment.
58 COUNTRY
RESPONSES:
Bold reformsare needed,as welLas a strongerbase
of knowledgeand capacity for effective action.
Educational,institutionaL, and financial reforms
must reinforceeach other. Many countries in the
region have started the reform processand are
readyto moveahead,but they have difficuLtchoic-
es to makeand country-specificlessonsto Learn.
RegionaL cooperationand internationaLpartner-
ships can acceLerate education developmentin at
Leastthree areas. First, regional and subregional
forumscan helpcountrieslearnfrom eachotherand
strengthenthe AfricanknowLedge basein education.
Although countries exchange some information
abouttheir educationdevelopment experience,more
systematicand rigorousevaluationwouldadd vaLue
to these exchanges. The Association for the
Developmentof Educationin Africa and its working
groupsareincreasingLy effectivefor suchexchanges.
Moreover,programssponsoredby UNESCO and CON-
FEMEN have createda frameworkfor regionalcoop-
eration. As these programs expand, they can
contributeto poLicyand planning.
Second,a region with manysmall, Low-income
countrieshasconsiderablepotentiaLto take advan-
tage of economiesof scaLethrough muLtinational
cooperationin activities suchas book production,
distance education, and research, analysis, and
evaluation.A strongAfrican pubLishingincustry is
an imperativethat wiLlrequireremovingtrade bar-
riers betweencountriesand allowing pubLishersto
competefreely in the region. Distanceeducation
programscan improve quaLityand access,but will
haveto spreadhigh upfront costs over manyusers
to be financiaLLyviable.
Third, a few worLd-classcentersfor graduate
educationand basicand appliedresearchcouldcon-
tribute significantLy
to regionaleducationdeveLop-
ment.AlthoughAfricahasatraditionof cooperation
in higher education,such arrangementspLacedis-
proportionateburdenson the host countrieswhen
partnercountriesfaiLto maketheir contributions.A
regional network of institutions that can sustain
regional cooperationprogramswiLLrequireinstitu-
A QUANTUM
LEAPIN EDUCATION
DEVELOPMENT
tions that can generatetheir own resourcesfrom
student fees, consuLtancy,and researchand offer
internationaLLy competitiveremunerationto attract
AfricanschoLars in the diaspora.
Thusa quantumleapin educationdeveLopment
wiLLrequirea radicaLshift in the priorities, scaLe,
speed, and impLementationof education reform,
adjustment,and investment,as weLLas in education
financeand management. Thesechangesare unLike-
Ly to succeedunLessgovernment-Led partnerships
repLace traditional, narrowLyfocused,externallydri-
ven aid programs.Countriesmust invest in the
entire sector, including early chiLdhooddeveLop-
ment, basic education,secondaryeducation,skiLLs
training, highereducation,and aduLteducation.
Becauseeach leveLis important, the question
is not whether to providethese services,but how
fast and through what financing and management
mechanisms.Investmentsmust be groundedin a
soLidunderstandingof what worksand what does
not. Tothis end, countrieswiLLneedstronger ana-
lyticaL and evaLuationcapacity. This broad, sec-
toraLapproachto educationdeveLopment must be
Linked to sound macroeconomic policies and
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
embeddedin a stabLepublic expendituleprogram.
At the sametime, countriescan take ztcdvantageof
the knowLedge, experience,and resourcesof inter-
nationaLpartners.The challengewiLLbeto manage
donor contributions to maximumnaticnal advan-
tage. Eachdonor-incLuding the Bank--wiLLhave
to give up some pride and prejudice 'to create a
frameworkfor effective cooperation.
After a Longperiodof disappointingprogressin
manyAfricancountries,the prospectsfor education
deveLopmenthave improved. Many countries are
testing newwaysof deLivering,financing,and man-
aging education services.NewtechnologiescouLd
acceLerate this processdramatically.Moreover,the
successof some countries in improving Learning
and equitabLeaccess is heLping o:ihers design
nationaL programs of innovation and reform.
Governments and donorswilL needtc renewtheir
commitment to transLate these prospects for
changeinto genuinelyimprovedlearning opportu-
nities. The centralchallengeis to developnationaL
capacity in pLanningand implementationto give
the miLLionsof Africans currentLyexcludedfrom
educationthe chanceto learn.
59
4. The WorldBank'sResponse:Doing oritiesthroughdonorforums,country-specific ana-
Moreand DoingBetter lytical and projectdeveLopment work,anddiscus-
sions with national economic and financial
It is unacceptabLe, at the beginningof the 21st authorities.TheBank's1988regionaL poLicypaper
century,that 40 miLLion Africanchildrencannot "Educationin Sub-Saharan Africa: PoLiciesfor
exercise their rightto education. It is equalLy unac- Adjustment,RevitaLization, andExpansion" (World
ceptable that a continentof morethan 600milLion Bank1988)initiateda dialoguebetweenaidagen-
peopLe is not participatingin the globalknowledge ciesandAfricanministersof educationthat even-
economy andthat morethan40 percentof its pop- tualLyled to the estabLishment of the Association
ulationLiveson lessthan a $1 a day(WorldBank forthe DeveLopment of Educationin Africa.A sense
2000b).Accelerating educationdevelopment must of partnershipbetweennationalpolicymakers and
be a keyelementin efforts to eliminatepoverty the internationaL educationaid communityis now
andprovideAfrica'schiLdren with brighterfutures. weLL-estabLished.
Since1994progress in education development In manycountriesthe chalLenges of education
has resumedin manycountriesin Sub-Saharan development havebecomeevenmoreurgentand
Africa.Thedisappointments of the 1980s;the exam- morecruciaL to growthandpovertyelimination than
pLesof countriesthat havebeenabLeto movefor- theywerein 1988.Governments, civil society,and
ward;the increasing recognitionof the importance the education aidcommunity-incLuding the Bank-
of educationfor povertyelimination,competitive- aresearching forwaysto worktogetherto breakthe
ness,andeconomic growth;the prospect of acceler- stagnationof the pasttwo decades. But questions
ated debt relief-all havecreatedan environment havebeenraised-insideand outsidethe Bank-
morefavorableto educationdevelopment than at aboutthescopeandeffectiveness of Bankassistance
anytimein the past10years.Manycountries in the to educationin Africa.Forexample, Oxfam(1999)
regionarereadyto moveforwardwith much-needed characterizes the Bank'srecordin supportof basic
poLicyreformsand innovations.But few countries education in Africaas"underperformance."
will be abLeto tacklethis challenge alone. Manyof these questionsare valid and have
TheWorLd Bankis readyto supportactiveLy the encouraged the AfricaRegionto reflecton its pri-
acceLeration of education development in Africa.To orities and approaches to Lendingfor education.
do this effectively,the AfricaRegionof the World WorLdBankLendingfor educationin Africa has
BankwilLexpandits supportfor educationdevel- stagnatedat Lessthan $200million a year since
opmentand move aggressiveLy to improvethe 1995.Strategies to ensureequitableaccessof the
scopeand effectiveness of its Lendingand non- poorto education serviceshaveoftenbeenunder-
Lendingservices.It will ensurethat a strategic designed.Secondary, vocationaL,and technical
focus on povertyeLimination,technicalquality, educationmayhavereceivedtoo little attention.
and support for government-Led partnerships The educationaL potentiaLof oLdand new tech-
become the definingfeaturesof the Bank'sworkin noLogies hasrareLy beenexploited.TheBank'spoL-
the sector. icy support often rests on narrow analytical
The WorLdBankis one of manysourcesof foundations.Linkagesto macroeconomic reform
externalassistance to educationin Africa,provid- have often been weak. The sustainabilityand
ing 20-25 percentof externaL aid (Ridker1994, institutional impact of Bankinvestmentscause
ADEA1998). In addition to providingfinancial concern,aLthoughthe impLementation perfor-
support,the Bankhas madeimportantcontribu- manceof the currentportfoLiohasimprovedsig-
tionsto the discussion of poLicyissuesandaidpri- nificantLysince1998.

60 THEWORLD
BANK'SRESPONSE:
DOINGMORE
ANDDOING
BETTER
 Thischapterdiscusseshowthe Bankproposes to Bank's expLicit centraL mission, education has
be a moreeffectivepartner for educationdevelop- gained prominencein the lending program for
mentin Africa.In summary, the BankpLans to be an Africa. The BankmademoreLoansfor educationin
activeparticipantin country-Led partnershipsfor edu- the 1990sthan in the previous27 years-$2.9 biL-
cation deveLopment, inspiringinnovationand change Lion, or 9 percent of Lendingto the region com-
with a focuson fosteringLearningopportunitiesfor paredwith a Bankwideaverageof 8 percent.
the poor in systemsthat measureperformanceby ThecurrenteducationportfoLiocontains35 pro-
learningachievementand financiaLsustainability.To jects invoLvinga commitmentof $1.13 jiLlion. These
this end, the Bank wilL draw on its comparative projectsare implementedin 27 countriescontaining
advantage-its macroeconomic and pubLicexpendi- about 70 percentof Africa'spopulation. In about
ture perspective,its sectorwideview of poLicy half of the 21 countrieswithout educationprojects,
reforms,and its abilitiesto identify anddeveLop link- protractedconfLictand economicchaos have pre-
ageswith other sectors,andto tap into a widerange cLudedBank investment. Most of the remaining
of internationaLknowLedge and experience. countries are not eligibLe for ]:nternationaL
Development Associationfundsand, with oneor two
exceptions,have eLectednot to borrcvwfor educa-
Opportunities-andChallenges- tion on InternationaL
Bankfor Reconstruction
and
for ExpandedLendingServices DeveLopment (IBRD)terms.
Bankcommitmentsfor educationLendingaver-
Banksupport for educationin Africa beganin 1963 aged Lessthan $150 miLLiona year in the Late
and hastotaLed$4.8 biLLionfor alLleveLsof the for- 1980s, increasedto about $350 milLion a year in
maLsystemas weLLas for aduLtLiteracy,earLychiLd- the earLy1990s, and decLinedto Lessthan $200
hood education, and skilL development.Over the million a year during 1995-00 i'figure 4.1).
past 10 years, as poverty elimination becamethe Disbursements haveaveragedabout $200 miLLion a

Figure4.1 NewCommitments
for BankLending
to AfricanEducation
_ AFR Cobmitments
I_-& AlR DistCFR
450 . .... ----- -.

400
350
300~
0

2500

19861987198 198919901991199219931994199519961997199819992000
Fiscal
year
Source:
WortdBankdata.

A CHANCE
TOLEARN 61
year since 1995. EducationLendinghas declined
since the mid-1990sfor severalreasons,including
the turmoil in somelargecountries,the reluctance
of othersto reformeducationpolicy, and the weak
absorptivecapacity of key institutions throughout
the region. Moreover,the 1995 reorganizationof
the Bank'sAfrica Regionand the time requiredto
"retool" the sector in the face of intensifying chal-
lengesand evoLvingpriorities madequick respons-
es to new requestsfor funding support difficult.
In addition,the Bankmight havefocusedits lim-
ited staff resourcestoo narrowlyon basiceducation
at the expenseof other subsectorsand portfolio
diversity.The difficulty of designingand sustaining
impLementation of investmentprogramssupporting
reformsin vocational,secondary,and highereduca-
tion reinforcedthis trend. As a result, the composi-
tion of educationLendingshiftedin the 1990s(figure
4.2). In 1985-89Lessthan 25 percentof Banklend-
ing wasfor primaryeducationin Africa, whiLemore
than 50 percentwasfor vocational,secondary,and
highereducation.Sincethen the emphasison prima-
ry educationhasincreasedmarkedly.In 1995-99,48
percentof Banklendingfor educationin Africa sup-
ported pre-primaryand primaryeducation,and less
Figure4.2 Sb o iLndingi
85-89:
IFY
Permary
0%Pre-prnay2
Other24%Ote19
Primary
29%
Higher17%-9
Teacher
training 12%
SouceWork Bankdaa
62 THEWORLDBANK'SRESPONSE:
than 30 percentsupportedvocational,secondary, and
highereducation.TheBank'scommitmentto provide
balancedsupportto all parts of the systemin line
with nationaLprioritiesmakesa primafacie casefor
developinga morebalancedportfolio of education
projects.Thiswill involveincreasingsupportfor post-
primaryeducationwhile maintainingstrongsupport
for basiceducationdevelopment.
NewLendinginstrumentsare changingthe way
the Banksupportseducationdevelopmentin Africa.
Of the 16 projectspresentedto the Boardin fiscal
1999 and 2000, 4-for The Gambia, Lesotho,
Senegal, and Zambia-were adaptabLeprogram
loans designedto support long-term, sectorwide
educationdevelopmentthrough a seriesof invest-
ments.In all four the first loan tranchefocusedon
primaryeducation.Investmentsin otherpartsof the
systemare expectedto be funded by future tranch-
es activatedby predetermined poLicytriggers.Seven
of the fiscal 1999/2000projectswere Learningand
innovation loans designedto test new approaches
to technicaland policy problemsin primaryteacher
training in Guinea,adult literacy in the Ivory Coast,
nationaLlanguageinstruction in Mali, and distance
educationin four countries(see box 3.4).
intheA Rgion Eatio Sector
FY95-99:
Hgher7%~-
riig5
Vocational
4%~P'm4y~46
~~~secondr
General 7 rmr 6
DOINGMOREAND DOINGBETTER
 Opportunities exist to expand support for
education development. The reemergence of
Nigeria as an active borrower could have an
important impact on lending commitments.And
a number of IBRD countries in the region are
considering borrowing for education. Several
countries are readyto makethe tough decisions
and impLementthe poLicy reforms needed to
accelerate education deveLopment.In war-torn
countries such as Burundi and Rwanda where
poLiticaLagreementsresuLtin increasedstabiLity
and peace the Bank wiLL support post-confLict
reconstruction.
Lending for education deveLopmentthrough
traditionaL direct investments in the sector is
currentLyprogrammedto increaseto an average
of around $300-350 million a year over the
period 2000-03. In addition substantial support
for educationis programmedthrough budget sup-
port programsas part of the HIPCdebt initiative,
and through Public ExpenditureCredits(PERC)or
Poverty Reduction Support Credits (PRSC).
Expandeddebt reLief under the HIPCinitiative
presentsopportunities to free funds to strength-
en the nationaLresourcebaseto sustain acceLer-
ated education deveLopment.Uganda, an early
beneficiary of debt stock reduction under the
HIPCinitiative, is a promising exampLe:budget
savings from debt relief have been channeLed
into the national poverty action fund and have
heLpedfinance the drive for quality basic educa-
tion for alL chiLdren.Approximately 20 countries
in the region shouLdbecome eLigibLefor HIPC
relief in the next five years. In each case debt
relief will be able to contribute to expandededu-
cation opportunities (tabLe4.1). For exampLe,in
MaLi education expenditures are expected to
increasefrom 24 percent to 27 percent of a larg-
er budget, while in Niger an increasein educa-
tion expenditurefrom 3.6 percent to 4.5 percent
is being considered.PoLicyreform and increased
budget aLLocationfor education typically are pri-
orities in PERCsand PRSCs,which the Bank is
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
considering in several Africa countries such as
Benin, Chad,and Uganda.
The Bankstrategy thus wiLLbe to heLpcoun-
tries build the human capital foundation for
accelerated growth and poverty alleviation
through a combination of direct inve;tments and
budget support. The total of this su)port wouLd
represent a significant increase--possibLy a
tripLing of the LeveLsof education financing of
the Late 1990s. This will allow the Bankto con-
tribute to acceLerating African education
developmentin line with its internzationalcom-
mitments and institutionaL emphasison poverty
eLimination.
Reachingthese Levelsof support for education
deveLopmentwiLLrequire changesin the way the
Bank conductsits business.It wiLLrequire much
cLoserLinkagesbetweenmacroeconomicand sec-
toraLpoLicydiaLogueand financial support as welL
as changesin internaLpracticesand lending poLi-
cies and priorities. It will also requireadministra-
tive budget and staffing levels that wiLLalLowthe
Bank to support these programsfinancially and
professionally.But ultimateLythe feasibility of a
major increase in Bank support for education
deveLopmentin Africa will aLso depend on the
willingness of countries to pLaceeducation high
on their poLicyagendas,initiate nationaLprogams
Table 4.1 Debt Relief Relative
to Spendingon Education :
(millions of dotlars)
AverageAnnual
Debt Relief
Country 2000-09
Mauritania 34
Mozambigue 72
Tanzania 150
Uganda 220
l_l_______X__
63
of innovation and reform, strengthen nationaL
capacity for poLicyformuLationand impLementa-
tion, and resoLveconfLictspeacefully.
GreaterEmphasison NonlendingServices
Tobe an effectiveLender for educationdevelopment,
the Bankmust be an effectivesourceof knowledge,
ideas, and poLicyadvice. Bankstaff have provided
suchnonlendingservicesthroughtheir workon Lend-
ing operationsand throughseminarsand workshops,
often in coLlaboration
with the WorldBankInstitute.
EffectivenonLending servicesare an important part
of the Bank'sassistancepackagebecausethey can
helpcountriesbuild a solid analyticalfoundationfor
expanded lending and strengthen the nationaL
knowledgebasefor poLicyreformand the capacity
for effectiveimpLementation.
Refocusing economic and sector work
GoodanalyticaLworkcan contributesignificantlyto
project outcomes.A recent analysisof Bank pro-
jects showedthat anaLyticaL work hasa high pay-
off: even after controlling for country, sector, and
economic conditions and staff preparation and
supervisioncosts, benefits were nine times staff
costs (Deininger,Squire,and Basu1998). Thesame
study found that the Bankunderinvestedin these
activities and recommended shifting resourcesfrom
project preparation to anaLyticalwork. ALthough
this approachwouLdLikelylead to fewer projects
and Lowercommitments,projects wouLdbe better
designed,better impLemented, and moresuccessful.
FormaLanalysestypically have been the foun-
dation of the educationdiaLoguebetweenthe Bank
and its cLients.Before 1990 most Bank-sponsored
sector analysis was done by Bank staff (or by
UNESCO staff under a cooperativeagreementwith
the Bank), with varying but usually limited
involvementof national staff, and funded from the
Bank'sbudget for economicand sector work. The
64 THEWORLD
poLicyimpact of these reports wasusuallyLimited.
A review of education sector anaLysisin Africa
(UNESO 1996) found that manystudies by interna-
tionaL funding and technical assistanceagencies,
including the Bank, have had Little nationaLown-
ership,haverarelybeenusedby poLicymakers,
and
have focused on issues that were high on the
agencies'policy agendasbut of LimitedreLevance
to pressingnational poLicy.Takentogether, these
studies show considerabLeduplication without
much national capacity building.
There have been exceptionsto this approach,
however.In 1972 an Ethiopianteam undertooka
national educationsector study. In 1980 a Sierra
Leonianteam's review of educationissuesformed
the basisfor a nationalbasiceducationdeveLopment
programsupportedby the Bank, and in the mid-
1980sthe Bankand UNESCO collaboratedto support
country-ledsector work in severaLFrench-speaking
countries.Startingin the late 1980s,the Bankmade
a moreconsciouseffort to deveLopthe capacityof
national staff for analytical work in the context of
sector studies and project preparation. In many
instances,however,internationaLconsuLta-itshave
continuedto play a Largerole.
Problemswith the traditional approachto eco-
nomic and sector workin the educationsectorare
widelyrecognized.TheBankis now trying to ensure
a Leadershiprole for nationalanalystsandresearchers
in sectoranaLyses (box4.1). In somecasesworkshops
with nationaLeducationspeciaLists have been the
basisof study design,reviewof findings,and devel-
opmentof an action plan.
In recent years budget aLLocationsfor eco-
nomic and sector work on African education have
declined drastically. Bank-fundedsector wvorkis,
however,onLya small part of the Bank'sanaLyti-
caLwork. National staff carry out many studies
with funding from the PoLicy and Human
ResourcesDevelopmentfund estabLishedby the
Japanesegovernmentfor project preparation, or
from funds earmarkedfor that purposein existing
projects.
BANK'SRESPONSE:
DOING
MORE
ANDDOINGBETTER
 Box4.1
A Collaborative
Effortto Prepare
a Strategy
Paperin Madagascar
In late 1992the Government of Madagascar and the
WorldBankagreedto developan operational strategy
for reformingprimaryandsecondary education.A work-
ing group of 12 professionals from the Ministryof
Education's Research
andPtanning Unitwasestablished
in early1993to studyquatitative
improvements at both
tevels.
Followinga 10-dayworkshopin July 1993,the
workinggroupdeveLoped a researchframework to test
waysto improvethe qualityandefficiencyof primary
andsecondary education.
flataandobservationswerecotlectedduringtwo-
day visits to 36 publicschoolsin all six regionsof
Madagascar. The data werethen anatyzed,and the
resultswerediscussed and vatidatedin 1994before
draftversionsof the reportswereprepared and circu-
tated in eary 1995.
Thesestudies are, however,rarelyreviewedby
peersor by Bankstaff otherthan task managers. As
a resuLttheir quaLityis extremelyvariabLeand their
coverageuneven. ClearLythe Bank wiLLneed to
rethink the pLaceof sector work in its assistance
package, as weLl as funding arrangementsand
reviewprocedures,if it wants to play an effective
cataLyticroLefor reformand innovationin Africa. In
fact, new processeshave been estabLishedin the
Africa Regionto improvethe management and quaL-
ity reviewprocessesof economicand sectorwork.
Reviewsof recent project appraisaLdocuments
suggestthat financial, institutional, and technicaL
issueshave not been anaLyzed routineLyor in suf-
ficient depth. Moreover,most project appraisal
documents point out continued weaknessesin
national capacity for education data collection,
poLicyanaLysisand evaLuation,and programimple-
mentation. Addressing these weaknesseswill
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
-
Theprocess had threeimportantfeatures.First,
the Bankwasableto leveragehigh-qualitydomestic
expertiseandqualityresearchwithlimitedbutstrategic
inputs. Bankresources incLudedfour short visits to
Madagascar (about eight staff-weeks).Second,the
researchcontributedto capacity building in the
Ministryof Education
andinstitutionaLstrengthening in
its Research and PlanningUnit. Expertise developed
duringthis researchhasbeenusedin siriilar research
sincethen,aswellasin severaLotherAfricancountries,
includingComoros, Mtali,andSenegaL.Third,the results
and recommendations of the study shapeda pilot
school-baseddevelopmentprogram impLemented
between 1994and1998.Thatprogram fornedthebasis
for a revisednationatstrategyfor education improve-
ment adoptedby the government of Madagascar in
December 1997.
require nationally implementedsector anaLysesas
weLLas formal and informaL Bank reports that
include arrangementsfor peer reviewto heLptask
managerscontribute state-of-the-art knowLedge
and experienceto poLicy discussions. A smaLL,
recentLyestabLishedregionaLteam wiLL support
task managerswith the economic and financial
analysisrequiredto underpinthe educationcom-
ponent of HIPC-supportedreform programs.This
supportalreadyhas noticeabLyimprovedthe depth
of economicanaLysis.
Reorientingpolicydiscussions
In recentyearsthe Africa Regionhas tried to sup-
port subregionaLand nationaLdiscussionsof poLicy
obstacLes to basic education deveLopment.
Seminarsand training workshopsfor borrowerstaff
and Bank task managershave been organized
65
under the United Nations Special Initiative for
Africa (UNSIA),which targets the 16 African coun-
tries with the Lowestenrollments.UNESCO and the
World Bank are co-Leadersof the education
componentof UNSIA,which is impLemented in coL-
laboration with UNESCO and the United Nations
Children'sFund (UNICEF),with support from the
NorwegianEducationTrust Fund.This component
will focus on the 16 countries with less than 60
percentof their childrenin primaryschool.
The Bank'sAfrica Regionwill continueto sup-
port these discussionsand to encourageregional
and globat developing country partnerships.
Important regional experience and expertise
shouldinform national strategiesand foster mech-
anisms for regional and subregionalcooperation.
Severalregional partnershipshave been influen-
tial, such as the Forum for African Women
Educationatists(FAWE)on policy discussionson
female education, and the EducationalResearch
Networkin Easternand SouthernAfrica (ERNESA)
and the Council for the Developmentof social
Science Researchin Africa (CODESRIA) on the
exchange of information on education develop-
ment issues. In addition, Latin America, South
Asia, and other regions can teach important
lessons on such key issues as early chiLdhood
deveLopment,adult education, multigrade teach-
ing, and school management.Severalstudy visits
have been organized in collaboration with the
WorldBankInstitute to give African plannersand
policymakersan opportunity to reviewinnovations
suchas Colombia'sescuelanuevaand the Republic
of Korea'seducation developmentstrategy. The
Africa Regionintends to continuesuchefforts and
intensify them as appropriate.
The BankhasaLsoactively supportedthe ADEA
working groups that promote capacity buiLding
and analysis.All of these activities can add to the
local knowledgebase for innovation and reform
and createan environmentfor deveLopingnation-
al solutions-informed by regionaLand interna-
tionaL experience-to national problems. But
66 THEWORLD
BANK'SRESPONSE:
unless national staff internalize the findings of
the analytical work and exchangesof experiences
and translate them into action, they are unlikely
to reaLizethe potentiaLbenefits. The chaLLenge is
to ensurethat these activities build local capaci-
ty and generateanalytical workrelevantto nation-
al policy reformand used by policymakers.
The Imperativeof Better Portfolio
Performance
Implementationratingsof Bankeducationprojects
in Africa have traditionalty been lower than those
in other regions.WhiLethere have beenfew mean-
ingful assessments of project impact, there is a
perception-and mounting evidence-that Bank
Lendinghas not been as effective as it could have
been.Portfolio ratingsimprovedsignificantlyin fis-
cal 2000 when all probtemprojectswere targeted
for intensivesupervision,severatwere restructured,
and others were closed. Only 3 of the 41 current
education projects are rated as unsatisfactoryor
highly unsatisfactoryin terms of implementation
and progresstoward developmentobjectives.
Yet nearLy a third of Africa's education
projects-twice the Bankwide average for
education-are consideredat risk by the Bank's
QualityAssuranceGroup,mainly becauseunfavor-
abLe country conditions may affect impLementa-
tion. In addition, performanceratings by the
Bank's Operations Evaluation Department for
African education projects completed during
1993-2000show that 61 percent achievedsatis-
factory outcomes(the Bankwideaveragefor educa-
tion is 69 percent), and 22 percentare likely to be
sustained(comparedwith the Bankwideaverageof
49 percent). But only 10 percentshowsubstantial
institutional deveLopment impact (comparedwith
the Bankwide34 percent).
Theseresultsin part reflect exogenousfactors
beyondthe Bank'scontrol, especialtywidespread
armed confLictin the region. Yet the BankcouLd
DOING
MORE
ANDDOINGBETTER
do muchto improveprojectperformance. A 1998 development with a better performingand more
Bankwidereviewof quaLityat entry found that diversifiedportfolio.If the Bankis to continueto
including systematicinstitutionaLanaLysisand pLayits roLeasa keysourceof sectorpoLicyadvice,
socialassessments in the preparation workcouLd improvethe performance of its educationportfolio,
improvethe initial designof projectsin Africa andexpandsupportfor education development, the
significantLy.
ThesegeneraL findingsareundoubt- AfricaRegionwilLneedto changethe wayit does
edlyfully applicabLe to the educationportfolio. business. Specific
actionsareproposed on the devel-
In recentyearsthe Africa Regionhastaken opmentandimplementation of lendingoperations in
stepstowardmoreeffectiveandextensivesupport five areas:sharpening the strategic focusof Lending,
for educationdeveLopment in Africa.Lendinghas improving the Lendingdevelopment process, promot-
becomemorecountryfocused,portfoLioratings ing partnerships, matchingLendingstrategiesto
have improved,and targeted supervisionhas countryconditions,and applyingstate-of-the-art
improvedimplementation performance. Morestaff knowLedge. In addition,and perhapsmostimpor-
arebeingrecruited,andexperience with nearLy 10 tant, the regionwilLhaveto enhance st:afftechnicaL
yearsof supportfor sectorinvestmentandadjust- skilLsandknowledge for a betterandlairger program
mentprograms is beingusedto guidethe design of supportto education development in Africa.
of sectorwide assistance strategies.Severalcoun-
tries areexpLoring the possibilityof implementing Sharpeningthe strategicfocusof lending
suchstrategieswithin a comprehensive develop-
mentframework.ColLaboration with otherdonors An expanded lendingprogramshouldheLpcoun-
is stronger,andincreasinglyborrowers aretaking triesimplementpolicyreformsthat wiLLhelpthem
responsibilityfor sector analysisand project movetowardthe strategicobjectivesdiscussed in
deveLopment, implementation, andsupervision. chapter3:
But the BankcouLddo moreto improvethe * ImprovingLearning, notjust expanding access
effectivenessof its assistance. First,it shouLdcon- andmeetingenroLLment targets.
tribute to educationdevelopment in Linewith its * Providing equitableaccess to educationoppor-
comparativeadvantage-its macroeconomic and tunities,especiaLLy for the poorandfor girLs.
pubLicexpenditure perspective, its sectorwide view * BuiLdingcapacityand strengthening institu-
of poLicyreforms,andits abiLitiesto identifyand tions.
developlinkageswith other sectors,and to tap & AchievingLong-term financialsust,ainability so
into a wide rangeof internationaL knowledge and that successful reformscanbetakento scale.
experience. Second, it shoulddesignits operations, Withmorethan40 potentialborroNers in Africa,
consistentwith its overaLL objectivesin the sector regionaLLending prioritieswill be neithersimplenor
(WorldBank1999a),to emphasize: uniform.Thusthe Bankshouldbeready to respond to
* Equitable access of excluded groups-thepoor, a wide rangeof education development situations,
rural popuLations,girls-to reaL learning depLoyingdifferentstrategies for differentcountries.
opportunities. Nevertheless,formaL primaryeducatiorwill remaina
* QuaLityservice, as measuredby Learning top priorityfortheBank's investments iriAfricanedu-
achievements. cation.Education deveLopment cannotbe balanced
* SustainabLe financing. withouta quaLity systemof basiceducation accessi-
TheBankmustensurethat it responds effec- bleto alLchildrenof primary schooL acge.
tively to emergingopportunitiesand matches OfparticuLarconcernarethe 16UNSIA countries
countries'commitmentto acceleratededucation withoutthe capacityto enroLL morethan 60percent

A CHANCE
TOLEARN 67
 The FRESHStart Partnership:FocusingResources
on EffectiveSchoolHealth
Goodhealthand nutrition areessentialfor Learning.
Effectiveschoolhealth programs wilL contributeto
reduced absenteeism anddrop-out,andtheenrollment
andretentionof moreof the poorestandmostdisad-
vantae childrenin schoo.Tee rnanyof
whomaregirls-are oftenthe leastheatthyandmost
maLnourished, andhavethe mostto gaineducational-
ly fromimproved health.
An interagencyinitiative of UNESCO, WHO,
UNICEF, and the WorldBankhasidentified a core
groupof activities,eachalreadyrecommended by the
participatingagencies,that capturesthe bestpracti-
ciesfromprogram experiences.
Effective
E curriculumand schoolpolicieson health
issuessuch as tobao, epro e health, and
HIV/AIDS.
* Safewaterandsanitationin alt schools.
of the age groupin primaryschool.SeveraL of these
countriesare emergingfrom civiLstrife and needto
rebuild systemsthat have atLbut coLLapsed. They
often face acute resourceconstraintsand require
major financiaL assistance in the immediate
post-confLictperiod. But others, incLudingmany
francophoneWestAfrican countries,requireradicaL
reformsin deliverymodes,resourceallocationprior-
ities, and managementsystemsto Laythe founda-
tion for education systems that contribute to
sustainedeconomicand sociaLdevelopment.Several
are preparingambitious sector deveLopmentpro-
grams-with primaryeducationdeveLopment as the
top priority.
In manyother countries-incLudingthose that
already have the capacity to enrolL aLl their
chiLdren-continuedsupport for primaryeducation
will be essentialto ensurethat this capacityis used
efficientLyand effectivelyto allow studentsto com-
68 THEWORLD
* SkillsbasedhealtheducationtargetsHIV/AIDS,
goodnutrition,andhygiene.
* Schoolbasedhealthandnutrition servicesthat
deliversafe,simple,and familiarinterventions,such
as deworminr andgoodnutrition.
Bank-fundedprojects exist today in Guinea,
BurkinaFaso,and Coted'Ivoirewhile a numberof
other countriesin Sub-Saharan Africa are develop-
ing school heaLthcomponentsto be folded into
existingprojects.Theprogramprovidesan unprece-
dentedopportunityfor new partnershipacrosssec-
tors andtraditional boundaries,
suchas the private
sectorsupport from SmithKlineBeecham.Overall,
the interagencyaction is perceivedas focusing
resourceson effectiveschoolhealth,and giving a
FRESH Start to improvingthe quality and equity of
education.
pLetethe basic educationcycLeand graduatewith
the knowLedge and skiLLsspecifiedin the curriculum.
Reducingrepetitionis cruciaLto achievingthis goaL,
since high repetition rates resuLtnot onLyin occu-
piedschoolpLaces that could otherwisebe takenby
other chiLdrenbut aLsoin high dropoutrates.Sofar
Bank lending has typicaLlyemphasizedproviding
inputs into the educationprocess,which is clearLy
insufficient. Henceforththe BankwilL give priority
attention to the processand outcomesof learning.
Achieving quality basic education for all wiMl
require morethan reformsof and investmentsin
the formaLsystem. It wiLLaLsorequire broad sup-
port for basic education through investments in
earLychiLdhoodeducationprograms,school health
(box 4.2), and aduLtliteracy. In all three areasthe
Bank and its borrowerswill need to Learnlessons
from international experienceas well as from the
few Bank-supportedprogramscurrentlyimpLement-
BANK'SRESPONSE:
DOINGMOREANDDOINGBETTER
ed, whiLediversifyingprogramdesignsand experi-
menting with new approachesthrough [earning
and innovation Loans.
CentralLymanagedsystemshave typically had
great difficulty in respondingto different locaL
needs and effectively managing rapid system
expansion.The effectivenessof Bank support for
acceLerated deveLopment of basiceducationin Sub-
SaharanAfrica wiLLdepend largeLyon how well
Lendingoperationscan be designedto heLpgovern-
mentsmobiLizecommunitiesfor educationdevelop-
ment. This will invoLvesupport for strengthening
community organizationssuch as parent-teacher
associationsand viLlageeducationcommittees,cre-
ating mechanisms to transferresourcesand respon-
sibiLity to these organizations, and deveLoping
working reLations with locaLgovernmentauthorities
who will be increasingLy invoLvedin deLiveringedu-
cation and training services.
Thus Bank support for basic education wiLL
increasinglycoverthe full rangeof basiceducation
serviceswhiLegiving priority support to programs
that:
• Ensure equaL opportunities for excLuded
chiLdren-poor, ruraL,and femaLe-to access
quaLitybasiceducation.
* Adapt service modeLs-muLtigradeschooLs,
flexible staffing arrangements,local language
instruction, choice of textbooks and instruc-
tionaLmateriaLs-to locaLconditions.
* DeconcentratemanagementresponsibiLityand
empowercommunityorganizationsto support
education.
Thereis increasingLystrong demandthrough-
out the region to expandaccessto upper primary
(sometimes called Lower secondary)programs-
typicaLlygrades6-9. Manycountriesconsiderthis
Levelto be part of the basic education cycLe.
Expansionat this LeveLwilL be particuLarLy rapid
where the primary gross enrollment ratio
approaches100 percent. Bank support at this
leveLwiLLstress the need to deveLopmore cost-
effective delivery modes, improve teaching and
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
Learning,and ensureequitabLeaccessfor girLsand
ruraLresidents.In countrieswith LowqrossenroLL-
ment ratios or significant underfinancing and
quaLityprobLemsat the primary Level, Banksup-
port will be set in the context of a sectoraLpolicy
and financiaL framework that ensures sustained
progresstoward universaLaccessto and compLe-
tion of primary education.
WhiLeBanksupportfor educationdeveLopment
in the past two decadeshas not excLudeda priori
any subsector, the Africa Region's ending and
nonLendingwork needsto give higher priority to
educationbeyondthe basic cycLe.Recognizingthe
importance of opportunities for continued Learn-
ing and skill acquisition for youth, the Bankplans
to strengthenits capacity to supportthe develop-
ment of secondary education, particularly the
teaching of math, science, and techriology. The
Bank wiLLalso be readyto support seill deveLop-
ment systems that respond to Labor market
demand.An emerging Lendingarea is continuing
education, incLudingaduLtbasic education. Bank
support will be directed especiaLlyto programs
that target poor people. But much is still to be
Learnedabout cost-effective delivery modes-
including the role of the private sector and the
potentiaLof new technologies.
In higher education, considerablepoLicywork
has been done by the Bank and other organiza-
tions, incLudingADEAsHigher EducationWorking
Group. In most countries the options for policy
reform and institutional strengthening are rea-
sonabLycLear.The challengehasbeer to makethe
tough decisions required to revitaLizekey higher
education institutions and develop the necessary
stakehoLder(especiaLLy student and faculty) sup-
port. As a resuLt,reformimpLementationhas been
slow, and the Bank's portfolio and lending for
highereducationin Africa remainrelativeLysmalL.
The Bank wilL continue to expLoreopportunities
to support higher education development,includ-
ing graduate programs and scientific research.
Suchsupport is expected to focus crl reformsto
69
improve teaching and research,in part through Improvinglending development
moreeffective useof new educationtechnologies.
ThesereformswiLLneedto be implementedin the Recentchangesin the Bank'soperationaland sector
context of a long-term, financiaLLysustainabLe work are designedto foster client ownership,put
framework for institutionaL strengthening and borrowersin the driver'sseat, encouragenational
selective expansion. (ratherthan international)solutions,and emphasize
EducationtechnoLogy,when usedjudiciously, the transfer and adaptation of knowledge.These
can broadenaccessto and improve the quality of new approacheswill need further development.
education services (see box 3.5). The record of Ideally, nationaLspeciaListswouldcarryout all oper-
education technoLogyprojects has been disap- ational tasksexceptappraisal,with Bankstaff serv-
pointing however,and BankLendingfor this pur- ing as a soundingboardfor ideasand contributing
pose has been Limited. Yet much has been international expertise.This is an important shift
Learnedabout the potential of education tech- from the Bank'straditional way of doingbusiness-
noLogyand the pitfalls of its impLementation. staff and internationaLconsultantstaking primary
Newinteractive computerand Internet technolo- responsibilityfor sector anaLysis,project prepara-
gies are creating promising but still untested tion, and supervision,with varyingbut often Limit-
opportunities. The Bank will ensureits readiness ed colLaboration with nationalstaff (seechapter3).
to assist countries with the introduction of edu- In somecountriesthe Bankhas madeconsider-
cation technology and distance Learningsystems ableprogressin this direction, but it needsto inten-
(box 4.3). sify its effortsto ensurethat the ideaLbecomesthe

lncasing ot o fductonTechnotogy
Witha fewe exceptions,educatioechnology hasnot * EnsurethatTheexperiencen of the AfricanVirtuat
beena prominent ei l n uca- Univesity, WorldLinks,and the Global Distance
tion in Sub-Sah so te gies Lea g is availableto countriesand task
that use surfacemail, radaio,tlviso,adoaand is adequatelyconsidred in the
videocassettes, andothenewour andtd f newlendingoperations.
basedtechnoo lp at siderthe impliions of introducin educa-
developmet,th Ba n t ies in the designof education fiancing
* Strengtthen tekoldebsbycmisoiga ndapcity-buitding strategies.
paperviewing ti * Mov aggressivelytosupport the large-scale
* Establishcls w n t indcte ce t technologies as
organizations
suchastheCmowat of Leanin and partofeducationlendin
theAfrican r suppotthg project
Buil in-housec and innovation loans for
tion;specialiststo supporttask teamleadersin the promisingexperiments and innovationsthat require
designof distanceeducation andeducation technolo- further testing and piloting-especiallythwosusing
gy coponaentsin newlen atios. n communicatnd computertechnology

70 THEWORLD
BANK'SRESPONSE:
DOING
MORE
ANDDOING
BETTER
norm.The Africa Regionwill needto think through
the implicationsfor managingthe project cycleand
adapt its operationaLproceduresand staff perfor-
manceexpectationsto the fact that controLover
project deveLopment and processingwiLLrest largeLy
with the borrower.The Bankwill needto communi-
cate expectationsfor quality at entry standards
clearly to staff and agree on them with clients.
Thesechangeswill require:
* Building capacity for country-led education
development.
* Greateruseof sectorwideapproaches.
* Better quality at entry.
* MorefLexibility in applying Bank poLiciesand
procedures.
* Enhancedfield presence.
Building capacity for country-led education
development.BankLendingand project preparation
assistance will be structured to help develop
national capacity to analyze sectors, prepare
investment programs,and supervisetheir impLe-
mentation.Processes and timetableswiLLneedto be
designedso that national staff can carry out quali-
ty work. The Bank has an array of instruments-
learning and innovation loans, adaptableprogram
loans, and institutional developmentgrants, in
addition to traditional investment loans-to sup-
port intensive capacity building as countries
embarkon Large-scaLe investmentprograms.
Greateruseof sectorwideapproaches. Bankassis-
tanceincreasinglywill be designedin the contextof
a sectorwideapproachto education deveLopment.
Sectorwideapproaches have beenusedto meetsev-
eral objectives.Mostimportant,they havebeenused
to developa broad policy frameworkwithin which
donorsand governmentworkin partnershipto accel-
erateprogresstowardkeypolicy objectives,with the
aim of fostering countryownershipand sustainable
nationalsolutions.Thesectorwideapproachalsopro-
videsa foundationfor investmentprogramsthat seek
to accelerateprogresstowardkey policy objectives.
Although experiencewith sector investment
programsin education is limited (box 4.4), such
A CHANCE
TOLEARN
programsare clearly promisingfor coherentpolicy
reform and more effective externaLaid. However,
sectorwideprogramscannot be expectedto soLve
aLLthe problems that have affectecl education
deveLopment projects,nor are they suitable for alL
countries.
Moreover,sectorwide approachesshould not
divert attention from the continuing importanceof
experimentationand pilots in the developmentof
policy frameworks.
The sectorwide approach usually increases
demandson national planningand imFlementation
capacity. Giventhese demands,the Bankis ready
to design flexibLefinanciaLassistancepackagesto
help governmentsmoveforwardexpeditiouslywith
reform programs,even when all parts of financing
planshave not been formallyagreedon. Moreover,
the needto reachconsensuson a range of poLicy
issueswith a large numberof stakehoLders usually
meansmoretime and resourcesfor programdevel-
opmentand preparation.
Giventhe time framesinvolved, the successof
sectorwideprogramswill dependon deepeningand
strengtheningthe Bank's long-term partnerships
with governmentsand other donors.Countriesand
donorswill needto reviewcarefullythe lessonsfrom
first-generationsector investmentproqramsand be
flexible in the designand implementationof new
programs.SincemanyAfricancountriesdo not have
sufficiently strong institutions to simultaneously
designand implementall elementsof often techni-
cally complexand politically sensitivesectorinvest-
ment programs,investmentswill often have to be
sequencedby subsector.But even these caseswill
demandfinancialanalysiscoveringthe wholesector.
Others will need aLternativeapproachessuch as
longerterm subsectoralinvestmentprograms.
In addition, financial assistancestrategieswiLL
need to recognize that sectorwide reform and
developmentprogramstake a long time (often 10
years or more) to implement and institutionalize.
Adaptableprogramloans provide a f:rameworkfor
supporting Long-termsector investment programs.
71
 Sectorwide
Approaches

A recentstudy(Johanson2000)reviewsthe Bank's at reviews.Duringimplementation problemsare the

stilt-limitedexperience withsectorwide approaches in ruLeratherthan the exception.
the Africa Regionto identify strengths,weaknesses, Goodpracticerecommendations include:
andgoodpractice. * OnLyundertake a sectorwide approachwhenthe
Strengths of sectorapproaches were noted in countryis cLearlycommittedto coLLaborating and has
severalareas.All casesrevieweddeveloped compre- demonstrated a minimumlevel of implementation
hensiveplansand strategies,and in somecountries capacity.
capacitywas developed for decentralized planning. * EstabLish a government-ted collaborationfromthe
Strongerlinks wereforgedbetweenpolicies,alloca- outsetbasedona clearunderstanding of therightsand
tion of funds,andperformance. Stakeholder consulta- responsibilities
of all partners,mutuaL trust, andade-
tions werestrengthened and frameworks for donor quatetimeto reviewpoLicies anddiscuss agreements.
coordinationestablished.Donorsadoptedcommon * Establisha comprehensive policyframeworkfor
procedures, especialLyfor joint missions,monitoring, analyticpurposes, recognizing that policyanaLysis will
and progressreporting,thus reducingthe burdenof beongoingandthat an initiaLinvestment maybe lim-
aid administration for governments. Someprograms ited to a particuLar subsector.
have begunto moveto budgetsupportby pooLing * Developfinancialparameters, whenever possible
external resourcesand channeLingthem through basedon publicexpenditure reviews,to ensurerea-
nationalbudgets.Resources altocatedto the sectors sonable intrasectoraL resourceallocations with a cLear
increased. longer-term commitment to pooledfunding.
Weaknesses includedthe lackof rigoroussector * Buildmarnagement systemsandcapacitybasedon
analysisin somecases,the lackof systematic analy- explict institutionaLandcapacityanalyses, incLuding
sis of institutionaLand implementationcapacityin monitorng;andevaluation systemsasweLlas arrange-
most cases,and inadequatedesignof monitoring mentsfor financialmanagement, commonprocedures
indicators.OtherprobLems wereweakdatacoLLection for joint reviewand reporting,and contingency plan-
anddisappointment with the outcomes of semiannu- ningand risk analysis.

An increasingshareof support for Africa's educa- financial frameworkwith monitorabLeparameters,

tion investment programsis expected to come
through these kinds of loans.
Better quality at entry. The initial design of
Lendingoperations,referredto in the Bankas quaL-
ity at entry, is an essentialelementin translating
sector anaLysisinto results on the ground. Clear
standardsmust be established,and staff must be
awarethat thesestandardsmust be refLected in pro-
ject appraisaldocuments.Minimumstandardswill
include a crediblequality improvementstrategy, a
an agreedplanfor organizationalstrengtheningand
capacity building with monitorablebenchmarks,a
sociaLassessment for every project that focuseson
the needsand constraintsof sociallydisadvantaged
groups,and a projectimplementationplan.
To help staff achieve these goals, the Africa
Regionwill:
* Strengthenits peer reviewprocedures.
* Enhancetechnical adviceto country directors
and sector managersthrough a review by the

72 THEWORLD
BANK'SRESPONSE:
DOINGMORE
ANDDOING
BETTER
 educationsectorleaderor otherseniorstaffof educationdevelopmentprograms.This includes
all economic andsectorwork,projectconcept poLiciesandprocedures for incremental.operating
documents, andprojectappraisaL documents. costs(includingteachersaLaries), communitycon-
* Establishmechanisms for systematicaLly pro-
structionof classrooms, procurement andaccount-
viding adviceand guidanceto inexperienced ing (whenresponsibility for implementation and
staff. spendingis highlydecentralized), budigetsupport
TheBankwill makea speciaL effort to invoLve
in the contextof multidonorsectorinvestment
senioreducationspecialists from otherregionsin programs, andlendingfor regionalprcgrams.
peerreviews.Forprograms that address especially WorLdBank Lendingfor educationdeveLop-
difficult challenges-strategies for universaL mentin the AfricaRegionhasLargeL~ beenlimit-
primary education,the renewalof vocational ed to support for investmentcosts. Only in
training, better secondaryscience and math exceptionaLcaseshave loans supportedincre-
teaching-speciaL advisorygroupswith staff from mentaLteachersalariesand recurrentcosts.In
outsidethe regionand outsidethe BankwiLLbe reaLity,the distinction between capitaL and
createdto supporttask teams.VoLuntary Quality
recurrenteducationexpendituresis often an
Assurance GroupreviewswiLL be requested as need-
arbitraryone, whiLesupportingrecurrentcosts
ed. ProjecttimetabLes wiLLbe designedto ensure suchasteachers'payroLLs maybethe mosteffec-
adequate time betweenthe projectconceptdocu- tive contributionto a country'shumancapitaL
mentandthe projectappraisaL document to foLLow
base(CoLcLough andLewin1993).Moreover, in a
up on the comments of the peerreviewers. rapidlyexpandingsystemsuchcostscan be sig-
Effortsto ensurequaLityat entry arewasted nificant, and underfundingthem can undermine
without effective impLementation. Whenprob- the effectivenessof donor interveritionseLse-
Lemsare understoodand soLutionsare known, wherein the educationsector.
implementation issues can and should be In the contextof sectorwide investmentpro-
addressedbeforeLoanapproval.But wherepro- grams,in which alLexternalresources are chan-
jects supportinvestmentsor strategiesfor which neLed throughthe government budgel: andthusare
the knowLedge baseis weak,or wherethe eco- fungibLe,the reluctanceto fund operatingcosts
nomic and political environmentis uncertain, hasno cLear justification,providedtnerearecLear
projectdesignswiLLneedto be fLexible.TheywilL agreements on a financiaLframeworkandteacher
needto includemechanisms for adjustingprojectremuneration and deploymentpolicy.Wherepro-
designsin light of lessonslearnedduringimple- gramsincLude suchagreements, the AfricaRegion
mentation,throughpreparationof annuaL action
wiLlbe readyto supportspendingon incrementaL
pLansand midtermreviews.In addition, man- teachersalariesand other recurrentexpenditures
agersshould recognizethat the need for peer in accordance with established BankpoLicy.
reviewandsupportdoesnot endoncea Loanhas IncreasingLy,responsibilityfor implementing
been approved.SeveralBankregionshavehad keyeLements of educationdeveLopment programs,
positive experiences in estabLishing reviewand often accompanied by a transferof authorityfor
supportgroupsfor task managers overseeing at-
resourceaLLocation, is beingassignedto Lower-
risk andprobLem projects.Thisapproachwill also level governmentofficials, schools,and schooL
be tried in the AfricaRegion. management committees.ThesegrIoupswill be
Flexibility in applying Bankpoticiesand proce- expected to takeresponsibiLity for buildingclass-
dures. Operationalpolicies and procedures wiLL rooms,maintaininginfrastructure, andbuyingfur-
needto be appliedfLexibLy to supportacceLerated nitureandinstructionaL materiaLs.

A CHANCE
TOLEARN 73
 This shift has important implications for pro-
curement,financial management,accounting, and
auditing. The Bank's traditional approach to
contractor-executedconstruction-supervised by
national departmentsor ministriesand awardedon
the basis of national competitive bidding-is
inappropriatefor buiLdingthe tens of thousandsof
two- and three-classroomblocks that wiLl be
requiredto provideeducationopportunitiesto ruraL
children.Experience in SouthAsiashowsthat com-
munity-managed constructioncan resultin the con-
struction of a Largenumberof small schoolsat Low
cost-provided there is adequatetechnicalsupport
(DPEP1999).
Similarly, procurementproceduresmust recog-
nize that local needsfor goods and serviceswiLL
differ in kind, in quantity, and over time. Thus
bulk procurementis often impracticaLand incon-
sistent with community or other forms of decen-
tralized managementof resources, making LocaL
shopping the preferredmethod. Procurementpro-
ceduresin credit agreementsneed to be formu-
lated so that community construction is allowed
for the bulk of construction in rural areasand so
that Local shopping is recognized as the most
cost-effective way to procure small amounts of
building supplies and instructional materials.
Accounting and auditing proceduresneed to be
designed to aLLoweffective financiaLcontrol of
expenditures by a large number of dispersed
implementing agents.
Procurement and financial management arrange-
ments in sector investment programsinvoLving
severaldonorsoften are not easily accommodated
within traditional Bank guidelines. Special
arrangements involving compromises by all parties,
includingthe Bank,mayneedto be negotiated.More
flexibiLityimpLiesthe needto agreeat appraisalon
a procedures manualfor procurement,financialman-
agement,accounting,andauditing.Financialofficers
in district educationoffices,headteachers,andtrea-
surersof schooLmanagementcommitteesmust be
trained in procurement and basicaccounting.
74 THEWORLD
A constraint on Bank Lendingso far has been
the difficuLty of supportingregionaLor subregional
programs.Yet such programs have considerable
potential in a fragmentedregionwheresubregion-
aLcooperationoften can yield substantialbenefits
through pooLingknowledgeand skills, tapping into
economiesof scale, and reducing unit cost. The
potential benefits of regionaLprogramsare espe-
cialty attractive in highereducation-in particular
at the graduateand post-graduatelevels, in cur-
riculum deveLopmentfor programs with limited
country-specificcontent, and in the useof educa-
tion technoLogyto support math, science, and
technology education in secondaryschools and
undergraduateuniversity programs. Efforts are
underwayto developnew lendinginstrumentsand
proceduresdesignedspecifically to overcomethe
obstacLes to Lendingfor regional programs.
Enhancedfield presence.Changesin the way
the Bank carries out its operational work will
require makingadequatetime and resourcesavaiL-
able to ensure:
* First-ratetechnical support for nationalteams.
* Sufficient time for clients to work through
analysis and project designs to ensure that
technicaLinterventions are viabLe.
* Effective monitoring of impLementation
progressand use of resources.
Washington, D.C.-based teams that visit a
countrytwo or three times a year for two weeksof
discussiondriven by the needto reachagreement
and closurewilLfind it difficult to sustainthe sup-
port and dialoguethat suchefforts entail and that
are essential to building colLaborativebusiness
procedures.Muchof this work canonly be done by
local and international technical specialistsbased
in BankfieLd offices. Sucha needposesan impor-
tant chalLengein Africa, wheremost countries are
smaLland operationsare often affected by politi-
caLand economicinstability. The strategy to test
will be one of posting senior educationspecialists
in the fieLd offices of major education borrowers
and locally recruited education professionaLsin
BANK'SRESPONSE:
DOINGMORE
ANDDOING
BETTER
the fieLd office of every country wherethe Bank With the movetoward more open, democratic
has or is preparing a major education program. societies in Africa, broader goverminent-donor
ThesespeciaListswouLdthen aLsosupport Locally partnershipsand engagementof civiL society-
recruitedand Lessexperiencedstaff in neighboring including nationaLNGOs,trade unions,and student
countries. organizations-in an opendebate about education
poLiciesand deveLopmentstrategies will become
Promoting partnerships more important. The Bank and its borrowerswill
needto enterinto a systematicdiaLogue? with these
Thedauntingdemandsof educationdeveLopment in stakehoLders and deveLopnew modesof coLlabora-
Africa can onLy be met when donors and govern- tion and partnershipappropriateto the capacity
mentswork together toward commongoaLs.At the and needs of civiL society organizations. The
regionaLLevel,donorsand governmentscan coLLab- strengtheningof civiL society institutions during
orate in severaLorganizations-ADEA, UNESCO, the 1990s has greatLy faciLitated this process,
UNICEF,CONFEMEN, the Organizationfor African which needsto be supportedby externalfinancing.
Unity, and international NGOs. At the countryleveL, The Bankhas begunsuch dialogueand collabora-
however,muchremainsto be done to promotecoL- tion with the support of the NorwegianEducation
Laborationand partnership.In programssupported Trust Fund,but needsto intensify its efforts.
by multipLedonors,governmentswill haveto take
chargeof donor coordinationand work with donors Matching lending strategies to country
and nationaL stakehoLdersto define the rules. conditions
Donorsand governmentsneedto shareinformation
and frankLydiscussanalytical findings. Wherever Improvedportfolio performanceand rEsuLts orienta-
feasibLeand desirabLe,the Bankwill be ready to tion wiLLrequirethe Bankto be selectiveabouttar-
coLLaborate cLoselywith governmentsand other get countries, support, and conditions. Different
donors.Overtime, suchcoLLaboration shouLddeveL- country conditionswill requirediffereit assistance
op into full partnership,basedon commonobjec- strategies(box 4.5). Soundmacroeconomic and fis-
tives and a readinessto share risks and rewards caLpoLicies,a demonstratedcommitmentto good
with partners. governance, a cLearLy specifiedsectorpoLicyframe-
In a numberof instancesin which the Bankhas work, and readinessand capacityto impLementthe
workedwith partners,its role has been limited to often difficuLt poLicydecisionsassociatedwith edu-
that of "Lenderof Lastresort," especiallyin the con- cation and financiaLpoLicyreformsmust be prereq-
text of sectorinvestmentprograms.Whileappropri- uisites for large-scale Bank investments in
ate in pureLyfinancial terms,this roLeoccasionally education.
has beenmisinterpretedand has resultedin a dis- In countries that meet these conditions,the
proportionateaLLocationof Bank funding for civiL Bankis readyto providebudgetsupportundercofi-
worksspending.This hasreducedthe Bank'sabiLity nancingarrangements or in cLosecoordinationwith
to support the design and impLementation of key the support provided by other exterrial financiers
poLicyand institutional reforms. IncreasingLy,the and NGOs.In many casesthe Bankwill be able to
BankwiLLseekto cataLyze innovationand reformby support broadsectordevelopmentstiategiesover a
contributing its knowledgeto the design of sector long periodthrough adaptabLe prograrnloans.Such
investment programs,when possibLeunder cofi- Loansprovidea frameworkfor Lendng operations
nancingarrangements,and otherwiseby targeting based on clearLyagreed benchmarksand triggers
its financiaLresourcesto key programeLements. over a periodas Longas 10 years.

A CHANCE
TOLEARN 75
 Bn Support
udrDfferet: \05Countr
Conditions:f

Case11
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liv caact an guianc base on 000

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Cas 3: Soun ecnoi poi Trnfern knweg an Nolndn sevie suc as sec-
cis goo goenne mae idas suprtn anaytca to wok wokhos an study0
quteseco plcyfamwrk or n plcyepeiens vst; ianil upotthog
liie bopiecpct ulig aaiyadipoiglann n innovatioX
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Cas 5 Pos
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si:tua;tEn;a;CC:0ions reontr;\uction
i\\tSuppor\tingXE Grnt specificinvestmentADW;tStA;X
loans

76 THEWORLDBANK'SRESPONSE:
DOINGMOREAND DOINGBfETTER
 FewAfricancountrieshavein placeall the con-
ditionsrequiredfor successful large-scaLebudget
supportfor educationdevelopment. SeveraL coun-
tries haveimprovedmacroeconomic management
and governance, but the framework for education
policy reformsoften remainsunspecified.Even
moreoften,countrieshaveinsufficientcapacityto
impLement neededreformsand absorblarge-scaLe
externalassistance.
In countrieswith cLearlyspecifiedsectorpolicy
frameworksbut weak institutions and Limited
impLementation capacity,it maystill be possibLeto
supporta sectorinvestmentprogramor a Long-
termsubsector programsupported by an adaptabLe
programloan, providedan institutionaldevelop-
mentprogramis cLearlyagreedand implemented
up front. InstitutionaLdeveLopment benchmarks
wouLdthentriggerlarger-scaLe financialsupport.
Where the direction of poLicy reform is
uncLear or unsustainable, the transferof knowl-
edgeand experience becomes an additionaL task
to tackLein conjunctionwith capacitybuiLding.
But the absenceof a clearlyagreedpolicyframe-
work will precludedesigningan adaptablepro-
gram Loan.Instead,a Learningand innovation
loanor a moretraditionaLinvestmentloanwill be
the best vehiclefor supportinginnovationand
policydevelopment.
Soundeconomic policiesarea necessary condi-
tion of sustainabLe educationdeveLopment. Even
with a weLl-designed sectorpoLicyframework and
impLementationcapacity,a country mayhave such
a weak macroeconomicenvironmentthat broad
support for education is unlikeLy to succeed.
Though there may still be opportunities for the
Bankto providesupport,undersuchconditionsthe
priority must be sharing knowLedge and ideas
ratherthanfinancinglargeprojects.It maybepos-
sibLefor the Bankto workwith potentiaL
reformers,
to pilot innovations,and to lay the foundationfor
rapid progress once macroeconomicconditions
improve.In manycasesNGOsand communitieswill
be key partnersin these efforts.
A CHANCETOLEARN
In countriesemerging fromcivil waror unrest,
investingin education hasa vitaLroLeto pLayin the
transitionto peace.In the short tern7countries
emerging fromconflictoftenrequirequickrespons-
esto helprestartthe deliveryof educalionservices.
Emergency interventions impLemented in colLabora-
tion with a rangeof actors,whichmayincludegov-
ernment, United Nations agencies,NGOs,and
communities, will typicallybe neededto rehabiLi-
tate physicalinfrastructure and provicleemergency
suppLies. At the sametime,suchoperations shouLd
supportthe Long-term resumption of rormaLopera-
tionsin the education sector,recognizing the con-
tinuumbetweenreliefanddeveLopment.
TheBankmustworkmoredeLiberateLy to help
preventconflictand to assistcountriesemerging
fromconfLict.Confronting equityissues-especiaLLy
in education-is often an important preventive
measure, giventhe roLeof inequaLities in fomenting
vioLentconfLict.Wherethe Bankis forcedto with-
drawfrom a country,it maybe ab.eto protect
aspectsof its educationportfoLiothroughmore
activecoLlaboration with humanitarian agencies and
NGOs. TheAfricaRegionis preparinga paperthat
reviewsissuesand strategies for supportingcoun-
tries in conflictand post-conflictcountriesin the
socialsectors, incLuding education.
Support for education development--in termsof
publicspendingandlendingopportunities-should
be expLicitLy discussed in the countryassistance
strategies prepared bythe Bankin collaboration with
country authorities. In many countries education
shouLdbe a keyeLementin the macroeconomic poLi-
cy diaLogue.Thishasnot beenalwaysthe case.Often
fiscal targets have been set-particularLy under
adjustmentprograms-without properconsideration
of the needto protectprioritysocialinvestments.
Increasingly,
it is recognized
that choicesaboutthe
aLLocation
of pubLic resources
andtargetingof Bank
resourcescannot be decidedsolely at the sectoral
Level,andthat thesechoicesarea keypart of nation-
al resourcealLocationdecisionsand countryassis-
tance strategies.
77
 The Bank's Comprehensive Development
Frameworkprovidesa powerful analytical tooL to
addressthese social and economic development
issues in concert, in the context of country-led
partnerships.The introduction of national Poverty
ReductionStrategyPapers,which will enablecoun-
tries to set poverty reductiongoals as a basisfor
collaborationwith the Bank, is an important step
towardimplementingthis approachon the ground.
Similarly, the replacementof the InternationaL
Monetary Fund'sEnhancedStructural Adjustment
Facility by the new PovertyReductionand Growth
Facility will further help createeducationdevelop-
ment strategiesconsistentwith and supportedby
wider macroeconomic reforms.
In countries where the absenceof a credibLe
educationdevelopmentstrategyjeopardizesoverall
prospectsfor deveLopment, educationdeveLopment
shouldbe at the centerof the macroeconomic pol-
icy dialogue, especiallyin the context of issuesof
competitivenessand poverty reduction. In such
countriesthe Bankwill not be ableto Lendfor edu-
cation development,but it may have to consider
progressin educationdevelopmentas a key factor
in determiningtotal Bankassistance.Conversely,
wherean effective and efficient educationprogram
is integrated in the macroeconomicdevelopment
framework,the Bankcan help developthe neces-
sary medium- and long-term public expenditure
frameworksand mobilizeexternal resources.
Applying state-of-the-art knowledge
Much has been Learnedabout what works in edu-
cation development(see chapter 3). There is a
growingbody of knowledgeon the key eLementsof
effective instruction, on organizational arrange-
mentsfor efficient servicedelivery,and on strate-
gies for ensuring equitable access.Yet in many
casesprogramstrategies and project components
do not reflect the latest technical knowledge.The
main issues-poor quaLity, insufficient and
inequitable access,weak institutions, and inade-
78 THEWORLD
quate and poorly used resources-are well-known
and discussedin aLmostevery project conceptdoc-
umentand project appraisaLdocument.
But these diagnosesoften are not groundedin
thorough sector analysisthat addresses economic,
financiaL,educational,and institutional issues.Nor
are they often translatedinto operationaLinterven-
tions. Sectorinvestmentprogramstypically should
be basedon public expenditurereviewsbeforethey
can addresssociaLsector spendingand fiscal sus-
tainabiLity.And meetingequity and efficiencyobjec-
tives requiresa moredetailedanalysisof subnationaL
and school-levelvariation. Moreover,the Bankcan-
not expect to play a crediblepartnershiprole, let
alone exerciseleadershipin external support pro-
grams,if it cannot providethe first-rate technicaL
knowLedge that clientsdemandand deserve.
NevertheLess, severalissuesrequire moreana-
lytical work and review of experience. These
incLudethe usesof educationtechnologyand sec-
torwide approaches(see boxes4.3 and 4.4), Bank
supportin post-conflict settings, skill development
(box 4.6), secondaryeducation,and strategiesfor
institutional development and quality improve-
ment. Reviewsof education technoLogy,quaLity
improvement,and post-conflict support are under
way; work on skill developmentis about to start;
and work on secondaryeducationis scheduledfor
fiscal 2002.A work programfor institutional devel-
opment and capacity buiLdingis being prepared.
Within the Bank,the Africa Regionwill collab-
orate with the Development Economics Vice
Presidency,the World Bank Institute, and the
Human DevelopmentNetwork EducationTeam to
ensurethat Africa-specificknowledgeis generated
and disseminated.Workhas started on the design
of early childhoodprograms,strategiesto improve
teaching and learning, documentation of good
practicein support of private education,and more
effective approaches to capacitybuilding. In addi-
tion, educationstaff will needto build their under-
standing of effective aduLt basic education
programsand post-conflictinterventionsas well as
BANK'SRESPONSE:
DOINGMORE
ANDDOING
BETTER
 Box4.6 -
Buildinga KnowledgeBase for Skill Development

Banklendingfor educationandtraininghassupport- hasnot beenupdated.TheBankhasgatheredLittle

ed skill deveLopment at the post-basic tevel through evidenceon the effectiveness of innovationsintro-
"practicatlsubjectsin secondary curricula,specialized duced in the 1990s: consolidationof training
secondary technicalschools,and vocationaltraining authorities,estabLishment of labor marketinforma-
institutes.Theperformance of this technicalandvoca- tion systems,supportfor privatetrainingproviders,
tional training portfolio has beendisappointing.A useof vouchersand trainingfunds,and supportfor
1990Bankwide reviewrecommended strongerjustifi- trainingfor the informalsector.
cationfor publicfundingandevidence of labormarket TheBankplansa regionalreviewof technical
demand for the skills. and vocationaL training in 2000-01to examinethe
Partly in response to this policy work, Bank performartce of its portfolio,exploreindividualcoun-
investments in Sub-Saharan Africa for technicaland try cases,highlight and assesssector issues,and
vocationaltraining-oncethe mainstay of the educa- collectinternationalandregionalexperience to form
tion portfolio-decliriedin the 1990sto lessthan 6 a solid knowledgebasefor dialoguewith clients.
percentof lendingfor educationand training. Yet DFID,ILO, and UNESCO have expressed interest in
clientsare requestingmorelendingand nontending collaboratingin the review.Keyquestionswill be:
assistance for technicalandvocationaL training,in part Whatbestpracticesare suggested by recentexperi-
because of the iUusionthat trainingcansolveyouth encein Africa and elsewhere undera variety of cir-
unemployment. Otherreasonsfor the risingdemand cumstances? What adviceshouldthe Bankgive to
incLudeconcernsabout Low productivity,personnel supportthe development of countrytechnicaland
shortages (exacerbated by the AIDScrisis),and more vocationaltraining strategies?Specificquestions
demand for furthereducation and trainingfrom basic includethe impactof labormarketpolicieson train-
educationgraduates. Because of the lackof analysis ing needs,the effectiveness of supply-sitteinterven-
andconsensus aroundtheseissues, the Bankhasfound tions, the implications of different curriculum
it difficultto rebuiLdits technicalandvocational train- choicesin formaleducation,the outcomes of reforms
ing portfolio. in training provision,the role of privatetraining
TheAfricaRegion'sknowledgebaseon techni- marketsand enterprisetraining,the effectiveness of
cal and vocationaL training is weak.Knowledge of training for the informal sectorand entrepreneur-
recent experiencewith technicaLand vocational ship, and Lessons learnedin usingdifferentfinanc-
training in Africa or from other partsof the world ing mechanisms.

expLoreoptions for improving skill development
programsand math and scienceeducationin sec-
ondaryschooLs.
The Africa Region's capacity-building efforts
wiLLgive high priority to deveLopingthe analytical
skilLsof its borrowersand staff. Links with other
education units in the Bank are being strength-
ened to ensurethat the best of the Bank'sknowL-
edge is availabLeto task managers.Except for
emergencyoperations, sector unit rnanagerswill
be expectedto ensurethat every investment and
adjustmentoperation is groundedin a strong sec-
tor anaLysisand reflects the best availabLetechni-
caLknowLedge. Learningand innovation Loansand

A CHANCE
TOLEARN 79
similar operationswiLLbe expectedto incLudepro- region, with cLoselinks to the Bankwideeducation
visions for sector anaLysisas needed. knowledgemanagement system. Second,the Bank
wilL have to incorporatethe knowLedge and experi-
Enhancingtechncal skillsand knowledge ence of African and internationaLspeciaListsand
institutions, including other donors,and internaLize
The proposed action program will require the the lessonsof experience.The poLicyanaLyses and
Africa Region to draw on high-quality internal reviewsof experiencereferredto aboveare expected
expertise for poLicy discussions,sector anaLysis, to makean important contributionto this process.
and operationalwork. Forthis purpose,the region The region wiLL also move aggressiveLyto
needsan appropriate mix of economists,educa- explore with borrowersthe most promising appli-
tion speciaLists,and staff with specializedskills cations of traditional and distanceeducationtech-
in areassuch as institutionaL analysisand imple- nologiesto enhancethe deLiveryof educationat aLL
mentation. It aLsorequiresa good mix of experi- levels of the system. In many parts of the worLd
encedstaff and youngerstaff eagerto experiment new technoLogies-especiaLLythose that are
and innovate. Internet based-are changing traditional patterns
At the momentthe region is suffering from a of teachingand learning,broadeningopportunities
severeshortageof experiencedtask managerswho for accessto educationbeyondthe basiccycle,and
can conduct effective policy diaLogue,contribute creating an environmentfor lifeLong Learningfor
state-of-the-art technicaL knowLedge,and Lead manymorepeople (seebox 4.3).
teams of highLy qualified speciaLists. UnLess The Bank has initiated and will continue to
staffing issues are addressedimmediately, the deveLopa numberof promisingactivities, includ-
Bankwill not be abLeto pLayits potentiaLrote in ing the African Virtual University (see box 3.13),
the education sector. Increasing technicaL and WorLdLinks (see box 3.3), and continuing educa-
operationaLknowLedge about educationin Africa is tion through distancetechnologies(see boxes3.5
centraLto the successof the proposedaction pro- and 3.10). The technical feasibiLity and educa-
gram. Achievingthis goal wiLl require: tionaL valueaddedof severaLof these innovations
e Intensifyingefforts in the regionto hire staff- have been estabLished.The chaLLenge is to take
from insideand outsidethe Bank-ranging from these to scaleand estabLishtheir financiaLviabiL-
top-quality, experiencedstaff to promising ity in the face of intensifying competition for
youngtaLent. scarceeducationresources.The Bankwill issue in
* Makingexplicit arrangementswith senior staff 2001a best practicepaper on newtechnoLogiesin
to mentor and coach less-experiencedcol- African education.A distanceeducationspeciaList
leagues. is expected to join the Africa Region. Several
* Implementingan Africa-specificstaff develop- countries are readyto pilot new technologiesto
ment program. addressthe old chaLLenges of quaLityand access.
Staffing issues wiLLbe the central concernof Evenunder the best circumstances,improving
human developmentsector managementteam in the analyticaLunderpinnings of lending opera-
the Africa Region.Strategieswill be deveLoped in tions, adopting moreparticipatory approachesto
coLLaboration with the EducationSectorBoard. project development,and makingimplementation
In addition, it wiLLbe important to strengthen support more effective will be costLierthan the
the knowLedge basefor sectorwork and poLicydia- traditionaL way of doing business.To move for-
logue.ThiswilLrequirefirst estabLishing an effective ward, the Africa Region must think of ways to
knowLedge management systemfor educationin the impLementthe strategy described above in an

80 THEWORLD
BANK'SRESPONSE:
DOING
MORE
ANDDOINGBETTER
increasinglybudget-constrained environment. As Africanby 2015.It witl heLpdevelopthe knowl-
noted,borrowers wilLneedto takemoreresponsi- edge,buildthe commitment, andtakethe actions
bility for managingthese tasks.Bankstaff wilt neededto achieveuniversalprimaryeducationby
needto learnto identifyareaswheretheycanadd 2015in everycountryin the regionthat is readyto
the mostvalue. moveforward.Withan increasingly strongfounda-
But perhaps the mostimportantchallenge will tion, the systemwiLLbeabLeto provideopportuni-
beto provideeffectiveassistance for designing and tiesto poorchiLdren-especiaLly girLs--tocontinue
implementing institutionaLdeveLopment andcapac- their educationbeyondthe basicLevel.TheBank
ity-buiLdingstrategies.Often this supportwiLL wiLLaLsosupportcountrypoLicies that moveprovi-
require addressingpubLic sector management sion at this LeveL towardequity,quaLity,and sus-
issues-suchas Lowsalariesand compressed pay tainabiLity.
scales-thatgo beyond the education sector.But in To achievethesegoals,the Bankwill work
manycasesconsiderabLe improvements canbe real- with publicandprivateprovidersandotherstake-
izedevenwithin theseexistingmacro-constraints holders.It will build a cadreof economists and
through more rationaL resource allocations, technical speciatistswith the experienceand
improvedfinanciaL management and accountabiLity knowLedge to providethe high-qualityservicethat
systems, revisionof personneL management reLated cLientsdeserve.Andit wilLstrengthenthe knowl-
to depLoyment andredepLoyment of staff,outsourc- edgebasefor poLicyadviceandinvestmentin the
ing of services and contracting of non-civilservice sector.
providers,moreeffectivework procedures, better TheAfricaRegionwiLLimplement the foLLowing
peopLemanagement, and targetedincentives.To actionsin fiscaL2001-02:
workeffectiveLy in this area,the BankwiLL strength- * Strengthen the capacityfor institutionaLanaly-
en its capacityfor analysis anddiaLogue by: sis by recruitingat leastone additionaL insti-
• Increasingthe numberof staff with specialist tutional development specialist,training and
skilLs. mentoringstaff interestedin this area,and
• Workingwith staff from other agenciesand startingto reviewexperience.
governments to synthesizeexperienceand * Strengthenthe technicalreviewof economic
identifysuccessful approaches. and sectorwork and lendingoperationsand
• Traininga core groupof staff in anaLyticaL coordinateknowledge workon secondary edu-
methods, policy issues, and development cationandskill development.
strategies. * Promote the participationof all staff in the
* Makinganinstitutionalanalysis anddeveLopment professional development programofferedby
strategywith clearbenchmarks a mandatory part the Institutefor DeveLopment Studies.
of theprojectappraisaldocument, similarto eco- * EstabLish a professionaLeducationr presence in
nomicandfinancialanalysis. the fieLdofficeof everycountrywith a signifi-
cantBank-supported educationproject.
* Make businessproceduresmoreparticipatory,fLex-
A Commitmentto Act ible,andconducive to community participation.
* EstablishcLearstandardsfor qualityat entry
TheBankis determined to do whateverit canto and supporttask managers in meetingthese
help countriesin Africareversepasttrends and standards.
avertOxfam's projectionthat three-quarters of the * BuiLdknowLedge anddocumentgoodpractice
world's70 milLionout-of-schooL chiLdrenwilLbe in key areas:educationtechnology,primary

A CHANCE
TOLEARN 81
 classroomconstruction,adult basic education, yearsago. Promisingnew country-led reformsand
skill development,secondaryeducation, and innovations are going forward in a range of con-
strategiesfor quality improvement. texts. Donors,including the WorldBank, are rec-
ognizing the need to work in partnership with
governmentsand civil society, providing compre-
Conclusion hensive and flexibLe support that complements
national efforts.
Sincethe pubLicationof the Bank's1988 education The 2000 WorldEducationForumin Dakarwas
sector strategy for the Africa Region(World Bank an opportunity for the international communityto
1988), the African development context has renewits commitmentto working with Africangov-
changeddramatically.As the 21st century begins, ernmentsand civil societyto acceLerate the deveL-
democratization and a resumption of economic opment of basic educationin the region. To back
growth in many countries hold out the promiseof up this commitment,the Presidentof the World
a better future for the region. At the sametime, Bankpledgedat this conferencethat no develop-
Africa faces sobering development challenges. ing country that comes up with a good plan to
More than 200 million people Live in extreme acceLerate progresstowardthe 2015goaLof educa-
poverty, and Africa has so far been excLuded from tion for aLLwiLl LackBanksupport.
many of the economicbenefits of globalization. Takingadvantageof these new opportunities
Higher-levelskills are a prerequisitefor participa- will require fundamental reform of education
tion in the globaLknowledgeeconomy.This chal- financing and management.For many countries,
lenge must be met in the context of AIDS,conflict, nothing short of a quantumleap in educationis
high fertiLity, indebtedness,and weakgovernance, required to meet the developmentneeds of the
all of which threaten to thwart povertyelimination 21st century. For its part, the Bank needsto do
efforts. more and do it better. The Bank must be more
SubstantiaLand sustainable improvementsin strategic and seLective,matching knowLedgeand
the quaLityof Life of all Africans dependon con- financeto countryneeds.Takingrisks, engagingin
fronting the underLying causes of poverty. ongoing dialogue, and learning by doing need to
Foremostamongthese causesis the region'slow becomeintegral to the Bank'sway of working if
educationalenrollment and attainment. Ten years long-term partnershipsare to succeed.
after Jomtien, more than 40 million children are Millionsof Africansliving in povertyhavepaid a
not in primary school, and a third of the children heavy price for the slow progresstoward the
who enroll drop out before having acquiredbasic Jomtien vision of educationfor all. Governments
literacy skills. Closingthe educationgap in Africa and donorsshareresponsibiLity for achievinga break
must be treated as a matter of urgency.Without with the past. Africa cannot afford to fail in its
accelerated education development toward the efforts to accelerateeducationdevelopment.As the
2015 target, Africanswill be condemnedto repeat Comprehensive DeveLopment Frameworkstates, `al
the vicious developmentcycleof the past20 years. agreethat the single most important key to devel-
The disappointmentsof the past need to be opment . . . is education." The collective chat-
set against the opportunities for change. The tenge is to ensure that Africa's deveLopment
prospects for accelerating Africa's education outcomesreflect this consensusover the coming
developmentare far better than they were 10 decade.

82 THEWORLD
BANK'SRESPONSE:
DOING
MORE
ANDDOING
BETTER
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THE WORLD BANK
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E-mail: feedback@worldbank.org

Without rapid and substantial improvementsin educationaccess

and quality,broader povertyreductioneffortsin Sub-SaharanAfrica
will be thwarted. A Chance to Leam: Knowledgeand Finance for
Educationin Sub-Saharan Africa arguesthat at the cusp of the 21st
century,the opportunityto addressthe often intractableproblemsof
educationin Sub-SaharanAfrica is perhapsgreaterthan at any time
in the past two decades. Economic growth has resumed in many
countries; the political commitmentto education developmentis
strong; and new democracies have created a more favorable
environmentfor the participationof civil societyand communitiesin
policy formulation and program implementation.Also, information
and communicationtechnologyoffernew opportunitiesto overcome
the constraintsof distance and time. Finally,increaseddebt relief
and strongerinternationalpartnershipsin favor of educationwill help
ease the financing constraints on accelerating education
development.
This book proposesa strategyand a programof actionfor the
WorldBank'sAfrica Region,which is strivingto support countriesin
their effortsto accelerateeducationdevelopment.It summarizesthe
challenges facing education developmentin Africa, suggests key
elementsof country responses,discussesthe implicationsof these
responses, and proposes actions for improving the Bank's
effectivenessas a partnerin educationdevelopment.In doing so, it
lays the groundworkfor future increasesof World Bank supportfor
educationdevelopmentin Africa.

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