SADC Discussion on EFA Status, Regional Context, Trends, and Education Development Present: Botswana, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zanzibar, Mauritius, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Malawi, Zambia OSISA, ANCEFA, ICAE, UNESCO A. SUMMARY 1. SADC Achievements and Challenges per EFA GOAL
GOAL 1‐ Early Childhood (ECD, ECCD, ECCE, ECCDE) Achievements Challenges
Use of ICT (radio) for lessons Community participation fostered with CSO support
Govt. intervention to make ECD available to all children
Devpt.of implementation framework for children Devpt. of orientation programs to help children adjust to new (primary) environment
Registration of all preschools ECD Policy in place Establishment of ECDTraining manual training colleges
Devpt of operational guidelines, national standards and quality assurance mechanisms M&E (data collection) system set up
produced, for intro to colleges School facilities increased
Difficulty to ensure access due to great distances Poor coordinating mechanism between all actors
(GOVT ministries, other stakeholder/ partners) Lack of /low quality/poorly trained teachers Insufficient facilities/infrastructure> poor learning
environment Non‐admission of vulnerable children esp. with
disabilities due to lack of specialized teachers No regulatory frameworks Access a challenge where most provision is private
and therefore costly, mostly in urban centres for profit
Inadequate teaching/learning materials (TLM) for centres
GOAL 2 –UPE
Achievements Challenges Up to 100% enrolments reached Free primary education to be introduced Strategies to reach goal implemented:
‐ Transport to and from school provided ‐ Grants for children ‐ Advocacy campaigns through radio, TV,
local leaders, community members ‐ Boarding facilities
Inadequate TLM’s Overcrowding Inadequacy in teachers esp. for technical subjects Low attendance in poor areas Lack of compulsory education policy Continued school dropouts esp. at Grades 5/6,
retention a challenge Early pregnancies &marriages Learner policy on pregnancy readmission challenged Over‐aged children enrolled in adult education
spaces Distances between/to schools
GOAL 3& 4‐ Youth Skills & Learning Needs of adults Achievements Challenges
Adult learning directorate and centres set up Strategies with strong skills component developed
Apprenticeships being promoted Skills included in basic education program Skills being aligned to labour market Funding to sector increased
Expansion is slow Curriculum limited relevance to trainees Low participation of men in adult programmes Need to bridge from non‐formal to formal
Accreditation of skills introduced GOAL 5‐Gender Parity Achievements Challenges
Gender parity achieved in most Girls performing better than boys Readmission policy at work for pregnant girls
More girls drop out but more boys readmitted Distances great for secondary school children Lack of hostels for boarders, Occurrence of pregnancies still high
GOAL 6 ‐Quality Achievements Challenges Gaps in performance being narrowed Teacher production raised Infrastructure improvement programme in place Reducing on multi‐grade classes Introduction of fast track training programme to give high school teachers better competence
Primarily Teacher Issues: ‐ Pupil Teacher Ratios too high ‐ Governments have no capacity to engage all
teachers trained ‐ High school teacher teaching lower level
therefore inappropriately trained ‐ Gap in teachers being filled by those trained
in other disciplines Performance‐ girls are lagging behind though participating
Critical thinking skills low and no deliberate effort to improve
2. Where we want to be by 2015
i. Providing universal access to ECD >>Introduce ECD in All schools ii. Significantly improved learning environments >>Accelerate infrastructural growth iii. Completion rates matching enrolment >>Address issues that affect retention iv. Focus on quality entrenched &maintained >>Tacklecauses/areas of low quality v. Improved local education financing >>Eliminate budgetary & systemic inefficiencies vi. Mother tongue well placed along 2nd language >>Address acceptance and use of languages
‐ 3. Areas of Excellence
‐ ‐Achieving up to 100% enrolment in cases ‐ ‐Inclusive education‐ e.g. provision of transport to all children ‐ ‐Teacher production raised ‐ ‐Achieving complete or increased parity
4. ‐Relevance of EFA, MDGFrameworks
o Found to be relevant, they have assisted in guiding countries towards achievements gained o Areas needing improvement:
‐Broadening of view from the reduction of the 6 Goals, UPE has eclipsed other goals ‐SADC, AU must educate/popularize its frameworks/goals in member countries ‐Discussion on efficiency or usefulness of having many frameworks, how do we align them/
B. SADC Country Specifics Country Achievements and Challenges per EFA GOAL
COUNTRY GOAL 1‐ Early Childhood (ECD, ECCD, ECCE, ECCDE)
Achievements Challenges Tanzania
o Access‐ difficult to cover whole country
o Poor coordinating mechanism between all actors (GOVT ministries)
o Poor facilities o Poorly trained teachers
Zanzibar:
Use of ICT – Radio used with mentors paid by community, help to cut down costs, performance equaled those attending regular class esp. in rural/underserved areas, paid for by community
With CSO: Introduced community centres, training teachers and other capacity building
o Facilities o Lack of trained teachers o Admission of vulnerable esp with
disabilities due to lack of training o Learning environment poor
Mauritius
Schools found in every village, easy access due to country size
Have both private and public ECD schools, private being 76%
Govt has intervention to make ECCDE available to all children
Devpt implementation framework for children
Bridging the gap introduced, to help children adjust to new (primary) environment
o No regulatory framework
Botswana
Provided by private; 13% to 19%
Registers all preschools Standards developed, quality
assurance department established
ECCDE Policy in place Developed standard 1
orientation program
o Low access as private and costly o In urban centres for profit o No training center for teachers o
GOAL 2 –UPE
Achievements Challenges Up to 100% enrolments
reached Free primary education to be introduced
Strategies to reach goal implemented:
‐ Transport to and from school provided
‐ Grants for children ‐ Advocacy campaigns
through radio, TV, local leaders, community members
‐ Boarding facilities
Inadequate TLM’s Overcrowding Inadequacy in teachers esp. for
technical subjects Low attendance in poor areas Lack of compulsory education
policy Continued school dropouts esp.
at Grades 5/6, retention a challenge
Early pregnancies & marriages Learner policy on pregnancy
readmission challenged Over‐aged children enrolled in
adult education spaces Distances between/to schools
GOAL 3 & 4‐ Youth Skills & Learning Needs of adults
Achievements Challenges Adult learning directorate
and centres set up Strategies with strong skills component developed
Apprenticeships being promoted
Skills included in basic education program
Skills being aligned to labour market
Funding to sector increased Accreditation of skills introduced
Expansion is slow Curriculum limited relevance to
trainees Low participation of men in adult
programmes Need to bridge from non‐formal
to formal
GOAL 5‐Gender Parity Achievements Challenges
Gender parity achieved in most
Girls performing better than boys
Readmission policy at work for pregnant girls
More girls drop out but more boys readmitted
Distances great for secondary school children
Lack of hostels for boarders, Occurrence of pregnancies still
high GOAL 6 ‐Quality
Achievements Challenges Gaps in performance being narrowed
Teacher production raised Infrastructure improvement programme in place Reducing on multi‐grade classes Introduction of fast track training programme to give high school teachers better competence
Primarily Teacher Issues: ‐ Pupil Teacher Ratios too
high ‐ Governments have no
capacity to engage all teachers trained
‐ High school teacher teaching lower level therefore inappropriately trained
‐ Gap in teachers being filled by those trained in other disciplines
Performance‐ girls are lagging behind though participating
Critical thinking skills low and no deliberate effort to improve