PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
'Educational reforms in Africa not possible without political will'
Tunis, Tunisia (PANA) - No major educational reform can be achieved in Africa without political will, Mamadou Ndoye, former executive secretary of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), said Saturday in Tunis
"Take countries like Mozambique, Ghana and Uganda, they had to take bold steps on the political level to achieve the reforms that have yielded spectacular results in terms of enrollment. For some countries, the abolition of school fees has enabled an increase in attendance rate by 40 per cent, " said Mr. Ndoye, Senegalese Minister of Basic Education and National Languages from 1993 to 1998.
Speaking in an interview with PANA, following the launch of the 2011 ADEA Triennial in Tunis, Mr. Ndoye identified some strong criteria for assessing the existence of a genuine policy to support the development of education in a country.
"The existence of political will can not be perceived in a speech. This is to be analyzed in terms of public expenditure allocated to education. For now, the gap is between countries that grant 4% of government expenditure to education and those who reach 30%," he said.
Mr. Ndoye reaffirmed the need to share good teaching practices among countries of the continent, while advocating for an African economy based on knowledge.
"At ADEA, we encourage the sharing of good experiences, not to reproduce, but to recreate them in the specific context of each country. In each case, it will be to analyze the factors that were conducive to success and learn from them," he added.
Nearly a half-dozen of African Ministers of Education and the Vice-President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Kamal Elkheshen, attended the launch Friday.
Consultations on major challenges facing the African school will be held throughout 2011 among the various stakeholders in education in Africa.
Discussions with policy makers, development partners and civil society will be summarized on the occasion of the ADEA Triennale scheduled for late 2011 in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.
-0- PANA SEI/ASA/JEN/SEG 5Dec2010
"Take countries like Mozambique, Ghana and Uganda, they had to take bold steps on the political level to achieve the reforms that have yielded spectacular results in terms of enrollment. For some countries, the abolition of school fees has enabled an increase in attendance rate by 40 per cent, " said Mr. Ndoye, Senegalese Minister of Basic Education and National Languages from 1993 to 1998.
Speaking in an interview with PANA, following the launch of the 2011 ADEA Triennial in Tunis, Mr. Ndoye identified some strong criteria for assessing the existence of a genuine policy to support the development of education in a country.
"The existence of political will can not be perceived in a speech. This is to be analyzed in terms of public expenditure allocated to education. For now, the gap is between countries that grant 4% of government expenditure to education and those who reach 30%," he said.
Mr. Ndoye reaffirmed the need to share good teaching practices among countries of the continent, while advocating for an African economy based on knowledge.
"At ADEA, we encourage the sharing of good experiences, not to reproduce, but to recreate them in the specific context of each country. In each case, it will be to analyze the factors that were conducive to success and learn from them," he added.
Nearly a half-dozen of African Ministers of Education and the Vice-President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Kamal Elkheshen, attended the launch Friday.
Consultations on major challenges facing the African school will be held throughout 2011 among the various stakeholders in education in Africa.
Discussions with policy makers, development partners and civil society will be summarized on the occasion of the ADEA Triennale scheduled for late 2011 in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso.
-0- PANA SEI/ASA/JEN/SEG 5Dec2010
