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1. Language and student learning: Evidence from an ethnographic study in Mozambique

Author:
Feliciano Chimbutane and Ritva Reinikka
Publication Date:
05-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This ethnographic study explores the implementation of bilingual education in Mozambique: how it is understood, adapted, and resisted by school directors, teachers, and local officials. Bilingual education uses local languages in early grades before a gradual shift into Portuguese, which most Mozambican children do not speak when entering school. Our study confirms that students participate actively and understand content better in bilingual classes. Regardless of education policy, school directors decide whether or not to form bilingual classes. They report pressure from parents for Portuguese-only instruction because of misunderstanding about the nature of bilingual education, poor resourcing, and fears about students failing tests. Some teachers demonstrate an impressive ability to provide bilingual education despite a lack of training and materials. Others resist and do little to hide their negative attitude. District officers are not able to supply schools with basic materials for local-language teaching. We conclude that bilingual education has lost momentum in Mozambique.
Topic:
Education, Ethnography, Language, and Policy Implementation
Political Geography:
Africa and Mozambique

2. Absolute or relative: perceptions of inequality among young adults in Mozambique

Author:
Giulia Barletta, Ines A. Ferreira, and Vincenzo Salvucci
Publication Date:
02-2023
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Different concepts of inequality lead to different positions in discussions about whether economic growth leads to increasing inequality. This study investigates how over 1,100 young adults in Mozambique perceive inequality and whether their perceptions are based on relative or absolute terms. It follows the line of work which examines attitudes (perceptions and preferences) towards different distributional axioms, and focuses on scale and translation invariance. Most of our respondents believe that inequality in their neighbourhood is too high and that circumstances beyond their control explain why some people are poor. We conclude that, while some respondents think in absolute terms, many do not agree with either the scale-invariance or the translation-invariance axioms, and there is great variation depending on the scenario presented to the respondents. We find some correlation between their way of thinking and gender, but no clear link with level of education and type of employment.
Topic:
Education, Inequality, Economic Growth, Youth, and Gender
Political Geography:
Africa and Mozambique

3. Only game in town? Inequality and demand for democracy in Africa – a micro perspective

Author:
Thomas Isbell
Publication Date:
08-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
In this paper, the author explores whether perceived inequality is associated with demand for democracy among Africans. Past research has diverged on whether macro-level inequality should increase or decrease support for democracy, with some arguing that people might see democracy as a solution to inequality, and others that people might see it as a cause. I advance this literature by using a perceptual measure of inequality from Afrobarometer: how people feel their living situation compares to others’ in their country. I find that perceived equality is significantly associated with greater demand for democracy, while perceptions of relative deprivation and relative advantage are both associated with lower democratic demand. These effects are largely significant above and beyond the effect of absolute poverty and known predictors of support for democracy, such as free and fair elections and level of education.
Topic:
Education, Elections, Democracy, Inequality, and Social Order
Political Geography:
Africa

4. Labour market effects of digital matching platforms: Experimental evidence from sub-Saharan Africa

Author:
Sam Jones and Kunal Sen
Publication Date:
06-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Can digital labour market platforms reduce search frictions in either formal or informal labour markets? We study this question using a randomized experiment embedded in a tracer study of the work transitions of graduates from technical and vocational colleges in Mozambique. We implement an encouragement design, inviting graduates by SMS to join one of two local digital platforms: Biscate, a site to find freelancers for informal manual tasks; and Emprego, a conventional formal jobs website. In contrast to positive estimates of the contribution of both platforms to job outcomes from naïve (per-treatment) estimates, both intent-to-treat and complier average treatment effects are consistently zero in the full sample, while the impact on life satisfaction is negative. However, use of the informal jobs platform leads to better work outcomes for women, especially those with manual qualifications, for whom earnings rise by over 50 per cent.
Topic:
Education, Labor Issues, Digital Economy, and Unemployment
Political Geography:
Africa and Mozambique

5. Impact of teacher content knowledge on student achievement in a low-income country

Author:
Anna Holvio
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
This paper estimates the causal impact of teacher content knowledge on student achievement in Mozambique, a low-income country where a large share of fourth-graders fail to meet the minimum requirements of literacy and numeracy. I use nationally representative data from the Service Delivery Indicator survey, and exploit within-student across-subject variation in a sample of students taught by the same teacher in maths and Portuguese, thus circumventing bias caused by unobserved student and teacher heterogeneity. I find that, on average, teacher content knowledge does not have an impact on student achievement. However, the impact varies significantly by student’s first language, urban or rural location of the school, and the match of students and teachers in their knowledge.
Topic:
Education, Literacy, and Teachers
Political Geography:
Africa and Mozambique

6. Getting Real about Unknowns in Complex Policy Work

Author:
Matt Andrews
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
As with all public policy work, education policies are demanding. Policy workers need to ‘know’ a lot—about the problems they are addressing, the people who need to be engaged, the promises they can make in response, the context they are working in, and the processes they will follow to implement. Most policy workers answer questions about such issues within the structures of plan and control processes used to devise budgets and projects. These structures limit their knowledge gathering, organization and sense-making activities to up-front planning activities, and even though sophisticated tools like Theories of Change suggest planners ‘know’ all that is needed for policy success, they often do not. Policies are often fraught with ‘unknowns’ that cannot be captured in passive planning processes and thus repeatedly undermine even the best laid plans. Through a novel strategy that asks how much one knows about the answers to 25 essential policy questions, and an application to recent education policy interventions in Mozambique, this paper shows that it is possible to get real about unknowns in policy work. Just recognizing these unknowns exist—and understanding why they do and what kind of challenge they pose to policy workers—can help promote a more modest and realistic approach to doing complex policy work.
Topic:
Education, Government, and Public Policy
Political Geography:
Africa and Mozambique

7. Higher Education and Social Innovation Ecosystem in Ghana

Author:
InnoHub Ghana
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The Nkafu Policy Institute
Abstract:
Higher education institutions (HEIs) are widely regarded as agents of human transformation and social development, and as such, are expected to play active roles in the change process in society. This expectation is based on the premise that higher education institutions play a leading role in teaching, learning, research, and facilitating the innovation of process, policies, and human contributions. This policy brief looks at the contributions by higher education institutions in sub-Saharan Africa (moreso in Ghana) to social innovation and societal development. The literature points out the challenges, policies, and existing practices by the various institutions to alleviate these challenges.
Topic:
Education, Innovation, Higher Education, and Social Innovation
Political Geography:
Africa and Ghana

8. Heterogeneous impacts of school fee elimination in Tanzania: gender and colonial infrastructure

Author:
Roxana Elena Manea and Pedro Naso
Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for Trade and Economic Integration, The Graduate Institute (IHEID)
Abstract:
In this study, we investigate the impacts of the 2002 elimination of primary school fees in Mainland Tanzania. We explore how the magnitude of these effects depends on gender and the size of early investments in the educational infrastructure of Tanganyika. We use the 2002 and 2012 census waves as well as historical information on the location of schools in the late 1940s, and conduct a difference-in-differences analysis. We find that exposure to an average of 1.7 years of free primary education has reduced the proportion of people who have never attended primary education by 6.8 percentage points. The benefits of fee removal have been significantly larger for females compared to males, and females from districts where the size of investments in education was relatively larger during colonial rule have been the greatest beneficiaries.
Topic:
Education, Infrastructure, Colonialism, Gender, and Schools
Political Geography:
Africa and Tanzania

9. West African Elites’ Spending on UK Schools and Universities: A Closer Look

Author:
Matthew Page
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
Political, business, and cultural elites from around the world have a strong affinity for the United Kingdom (UK) education system. Nowhere is this truer than in West Africa, where some families in Nigeria and Ghana have a long tradition of sending their children to private boarding schools and universities in the UK. These institutions are especially popular destinations for the offspring of prominent politically exposed persons (PEPs) from the region. Immigration officials, admissions staff, and UK law enforcement are not likely to scrutinize the conditions under which the children of PEPs enroll in British schools, even though the PEPs themselves may have modest legitimate earnings and opaque asset profiles that in other circumstances would raise serious financial concerns. This relative lack of review has allowed some West African PEPs to channel unexplained wealth into the UK education sector. It is not easy to estimate the overall value of this flow, yet it likely exceeds £30 million annually.1 Most of these funds emanate from Nigeria and, to a lesser extent, Ghana; compared with these two countries, only a handful of students from elsewhere in West Africa seek an education in British schools. Tackling this small but significant illicit financial flow should be a priority for UK policymakers. In doing so, they would be helping to realize the UK’s global anticorruption objectives, advance its International Education Strategy, and close a troublesome anti–money laundering (AML) loophole. Failing to do so would exacerbate existing corruption challenges both at home and abroad and increase the UK education sector’s reputational liabilities.
Topic:
Corruption, Education, Law Enforcement, Higher Education, and Elites
Political Geography:
Africa, United Kingdom, Europe, and West Africa

10. #EndSARS Protest: Re-thinking Nigerian Youth and Government Policies

Author:
Chinyere Stella Okunna
Publication Date:
02-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
African Heritage Institution (AfriHeritage)
Abstract:
If any countries in the world should take youths and youth development seriously, Nigeria should be high on the list of such countries – Nigeria has one of the largest youth populations in the world, with the youth making up almost 34% (33.65%) of the country’s huge population of more than 200 million people. One fundamental way of demonstrating this seriousness is through the enactment and serious implementation of meaningful and effective youth policies, as well as the creation of an enabling environment for youth development. From virtually every indication, government has failed abysmally over the years in recent times to enthrone a liveable society as a conducive environment for effectively implementing its well-crafted youth policies and programmes, thus wreaking havoc on youth development. For how long should this terrible scenario continue? Something definitely needs to be done by the government, by the youth themselves, by non-governmental bodies made up of well-meaning Nigerians, and by the international community (if need be) – and the time to do this ‘something’ about this situation is NOW
Topic:
Education, Youth, Protests, Police, and Participation
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

11. Curbing intolerance of persons in same-sex relationships in Ghana: The important role of education

Author:
Daniel Armah-Attoh
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
This paper describes high levels of intolerance in Ghana toward persons in same-sex relationships, explores factors driving this intolerance, and makes some policy recommendations for increasing tolerance. Using 2014 Afrobarometer survey data, the descriptive analysis reveals that large majorities of Ghanaians reject persons in same-sex relationships as neighbours, co-workers, supervisors, and members of their religious group; would report them to the police; and would support criminalizing same-sex activity. Regression analysis shows that religion, religiosity, age, and rural residence are associated with higher intolerance, while education and mediated social contact measured by social media and Internet use are associated with reduced intolerance. Among these drivers of intolerance and tolerance, we argue that education is the main factor that lends itself to meaningful remedial policy interventions and recommend a number of formal and informal education and sensitization measures aimed at reducing Ghanaians’ intolerance of people of different sexual orientation or identity.
Topic:
Education, Gender Issues, Repression, Sexuality, and Tolerance
Political Geography:
Africa and Ghana

12. Paulo Freire and Popular Struggle in South Africa

Author:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research
Abstract:
The ideas of the radical Brazilian educationalist Paulo Freire had a profound impact on popular struggles in South Africa. Initially taken up by Steve Biko and others in the Black Consciousness movement in the early 1970s, Freire’s ideas spread to the trade union movement and to the community movements. Today, Freire’s ideas continue to be used in progressive organisations in South Africa and to guide the work of many people undertaking political education work.
Topic:
Education, Politics, Radicalization, Community, and Black Politics
Political Geography:
Africa and South Africa

13. The Economic Benefits of Vocational Education and Training in the Kingdom of Eswatini

Author:
Gugulethu Mgabhi and Mangaliso Mohammed
Publication Date:
01-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Eswatini Economic Policy Analysis and Research Centre (ESEPARC)
Abstract:
This study assesses the economic benefits of the Government of Eswatini’s investment to technical vocational education and training (TVET) from 2005 to 2017. TVET Graduates from 12 public TVET Institutions have been tracked to uncover their absorbability in the labour market and, or self-employment. The study finds that the economic return of the Government of Eswatini’s investment to TVET in 2017 is E1,51. This means that for every E1 invested by the Government of Eswatini to TVET, the economy generates E1,51 through the TVET graduates’ activities in self-employment, formal employment, and part-time skills utilisation. With regards to highly demanded courses amongst the graduates, ccomputer studies have been found to be highly demanded at 20.9%, while agriculture is lowly demanded at 6.3%. The study finds that 56.6% of the graduates are absorbed in formal employment, while 13.7% are engaged in self-employment, meaning that 29.9% are part of the 32.4% unemployed persons in the country. However, the level of unemployment is still high, 43.3%. Graduates who were not economically active before enrolling at the TVET colleges have been found to be formally employed, 35%, 14% are self-employed, 2.5% are both formally and self-employed, while 48.5% are unemployed. A majority (58.5%) of employed graduates are from Gwamile VOCTIM, while self-employment is high amongst graduates from Big Bend Rural Education Centre, 44.4%. Unemployment has been found to be very high among graduates from Ekululameni, 100%. The study recommends that the Government of Eswatini should consider promoting self-employment amongst graduates. This could be done through establishing links with financing agencies to increase the rate of self-employment and reduce unemployment.
Topic:
Economics, Education, Governance, Training, Vocational Training, and Investment
Political Geography:
Africa and Eswatini

14. Predictors of school dropout across Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam

Author:
Santiago Cueto, Claudia Felipe, and Juan Leon
Publication Date:
07-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Group for the Analysis of Development (GRADE)
Abstract:
In this paper the authors utilize the five rounds of Young Lives household surveys across four countries (Ethiopia, India, Peru and Vietnam) to study the characteristics of children who had dropped out of school by 22 years of age. While most children in the longitudinal sample go to primary school, they tend to drop out more often and earlier in Ethiopia. In India most children complete the early grades of school but drop out later, particularly in grades 11 and 13. Researchers find that in all countries, except Vietnam, there is a considerable number of children who drop out of school but at some point return to it, either to complete secondary or drop out again. The reasons provided by children for dropping out across the countries are oftentimes related to poverty: for example, the need to work, or care or provide for family. The multivariate analysis shows that indeed in many cases the wealth level of the family at an early age predicts later dropout, as does maternal education level, students’ early skills and residence in certain regions of each country. There are also some variations across countries; for example, boys are more likely to drop out of school in Ethiopia and Vietnam, and children who have repeated a grade are more likely to drop out of school in Peru. However, having high educational aspirations at early ages seems to be a protective factor against dropping out. This suggests that the value that children place on education may be an important preventative factor against dropping out. Overall, these results suggest the need to act early through education and social protection interventions to target young children who are at risk of dropping out, and the follow their trajectories, providing support as needed to specific groups and even individuals, so that all children may fulfill their right to complete at least secondary education.
Topic:
Education and Children
Political Geography:
Africa, India, Asia, Vietnam, Ethiopia, and Peru

15. The Implication of Teenage Pregnancies in Eswatini: A Trend and Spatial Analysis

Author:
N. Dlamini
Publication Date:
12-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Eswatini Economic Policy Analysis and Research Centre (ESEPARC)
Abstract:
This study assesses the extent of teenage pregnancy in Eswatini with a focus on public schools in the constituencies and region. In addition, the study examines which regions are affected by teenage pregnancies and adopts a Generalised Ordered Logit Model to determine the likelihood of teenage pregnancies across the regions in Eswatini. The study locates the Hhohho and Manzini regions as high teenage pregnancy areas and further identifies mothers in Lubombo and Shiselweni as more vulnerable to repeat births. Not surprisingly, the study finds that teenage pregnancies occur in Eswatini’s poverty-stricken areas - where there are low economic activities and the households are experiencing low incomes. These are places such as Madlangempisi, Ngwempisi, Sigwe, and Lomahasha. Teenage pregnancies occur when learners are idle during school holidays. The government is advised to consider intensifying policies and programmes geared towards reducing or eradicating teenage pregnancies in Eswatini. Such policies should deliberately target rural areas and focus on creating employment opportunities to relieve households from low incomes.
Topic:
Education, Vulnerability, Dropout Prevention, and Pregnancy
Political Geography:
Africa and Eswatini

16. Is there an anti-politics of electricity? Access to the grid and reduced political participation in Africa

Author:
Jennifer N. Brass, Kirk Harris, and Lauren M. MacLean
Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
Almost all African states face pressure to deliver improved public services to their citizens. In both emerging democracies and persistent authoritarian regimes, politics profoundly shapes how states distribute public goods such as roads, schools, health clinics, and electricity access (Briggs, 2014; Dixit & Londregan, 1996; Harding & Stasavage, 2014; Kramon & Posner, 2013; Min, 2015; Weingast, Shepsle, & Johnsen, 1981). But in addition to questions of how politics shapes distributive outcomes, scholars have recently turned to a new question: How does variation in public service provision subsequently shape political participation (Bodea & LeBas, 2016; Harding, 2015)? Here, the findings are less clear. Where some authors find that the receipt of public service provision stimulates participation (Bleck, 2015; Wantchekon, Klašnja, & Novta, 2015), others caution that service provision may actually undermine engagement or have no effect (Croke, Grossman, Larreguy, & Marshall, 2015; Kam & Palmer, 2008; Mattes & Mughogho, 2009). Most of this literature has focused on the political effects of the delivery of social welfare services, especially education. Meanwhile, the political effects of electricity provision have been largely overlooked. Electricity provision is important for political outcomes for several reasons. Historically, in some African countries, electricity provision was tightly linked to the independence struggle and to rights of citizenship (MacLean, Gore, Brass, & Baldwin, 2016). Yet despite these expectations, African countries continue to have the lowest rates of electrification in the world. Only about one-third of Africans have access to electricity (International Energy Agency, 2014), and only two-thirds live in a community with any grid access (Oyuke, Penar, & Howard, 2016), and these rates are much lower in rural areas in most countries (Leo, Morello, & Ramachandran, 2015).
Topic:
Education, Democracy, Public Policy, Public Sector, Electricity, and Public Health
Political Geography:
Africa

17. Learning Equity Requires More than Equality: Learning Goals and Achievement Gaps between the Rich and the Poor in Five Developing Countries

Author:
Maryam Akmal and Lant Pritchett
Publication Date:
02-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for education include the goal that “all youth...achieve literacy and numeracy” (Target 4.6). Achieving some absolute standard of learning for all children is a key element of global equity in education. Using the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) data from India and Pakistan, and Uwezo data from Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda that test all children of given ages, whether in school or not, on simple measures of learning in math, reading (local language), and English, we quantify the role of achieving equality between the richest 20% and the poorest 40% in terms of grade attainment and learning achievement toward accomplishing the global equity goal of universal numeracy and literacy for all children. First, excluding Kenya, equalizing grade attainment between children from rich and poor households would only close between 8% (India) and 25% (Pakistan) of the gap to universal numeracy, and between 8% (Uganda) and 28% (Pakistan) of the gap to universal literacy. Second, children from the poorest 40% of households tend to have lower performance in literacy and numeracy at each grade. If such children had the learning profiles of children from rich households, we would close between 16% (Pakistan and Uganda) and 34% (India) of the gap to universal numeracy, and between 13% (Uganda) and 44% (India) of the gap to universal literacy. This shows that the “hidden exclusion” (WDR, 2018) of lower learning at the same grade levels—a gap that emerges in the earliest grades—is a substantial and often larger part of the equity gap compared to the more widely documented gaps in enrollment and grade attainment. Third, even with complete equality in grade attainment and learning achievement, children from poor households would be far from the equity goal of universal numeracy and literacy, as even children from the richest 20% of households are far from universal mastery of basic reading and math by ages 12-13. Achieving universal literacy and numeracy to accomplish even a minimal standard of global absolute equity will require more than just closing the rich-poor learning gap, it will take progress in learning for all.
Topic:
Development, Education, Sustainable Development Goals, and Language
Political Geography:
Pakistan, Kenya, Africa, Middle East, India, Asia, and Tanzania

18. Education and Labour Market Activity of Women in Botswana

Author:
Goitseone Khanie
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:
This study examines the prevalence of female participation in labour market activities and investigates the role played by education in this participation. Using the 2015/16 Botswana Multi Topic Household Survey data and a multinomial logit model, the study found that women with tertiary education are more likely to be wage employed relative to self-employment, whereas those with lower to no education are more likely to be unemployed or out of the labour force. This is because higher education is normally considered a prerequisite for most wage jobs. It is therefore imperative for the government to continue educating women beyond secondary level as it will better equip them to participate in more meaningful labour market activities. On the other hand, there is need to stimulate the demand side of the labour market in order to accommodate the rising numbers of women with high levels of education. In order to encourage participation of women in high rewarding self-employment activities, there is need to intensify empowerment schemes that are largely oriented towards their self-employment.
Topic:
Education, Markets, Labor Issues, and Women
Political Geography:
Africa and Botswana

19. The Political Economy of Testing in Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa

Author:
Barbara Bruns, Maryam Akmal, and Nancy Birdsall
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Most countries in sub-Saharan Africa have not implemented testing of children’s learning that can be benchmarked regionally or globally. In contrast, in the last two decades, almost all countries in Latin America have participated in regionally and globally benchmarked testing initiatives. Our analysis of the political economy of cross-national learning measurement in Latin America suggests that policymakers perceive the risks of exposing their education system’s performance by joining cross-national assessments, but they also value the quality of the data generated, the strengthening of domestic technical capacity, and the political benefits in using comparative results to argue for reforms or to advertise progress. We document that in Ecuador and Peru cross-national tests played an important role in both stimulating and justifying reforms that have produced major improvements in learning. In sub-Saharan Africa, no cross-national test has been implemented as consistently or widely as the Latin American regional test. The context in Africa makes regional cooperation on cross-national testing more daunting—countries are poorer and more linguistically diverse than in Latin America, raising the relative costs of developing and administering cross-national tests. The experience of Latin America suggests that a coordinated and efficient application of resources in implementing cross-national tests in Africa, on the part of countries and with support of the international community, could help build countries’ national capacity, strengthen focus on learning, support better research, and help diffuse reforms that raise learning.
Topic:
Education, Political Economy, Children, and Social Services
Political Geography:
Africa, South America, Latin America, North America, and Sub-Saharan Africa

20. Education and Labour Market Activity of Women in Botswana

Author:
Goitseone Khanie
Publication Date:
03-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis
Abstract:
This study examines the prevalence of female participation in labour market activities and investigates the role played by education in this participation. Using the 2015/16 Botswana Multi Topic Household Survey data and a multinomial logit model, the study found that women with tertiary education are more likely to be wage employed relative to self-employment, whereas those with lower to no education are more likely to be unemployed or out of the labour force. This is because higher education is normally considered a prerequisite for most wage jobs. It is therefore imperative for the government to continue educating women beyond secondary level as it will better equip them to participate in more meaningful labour market activities. On the other hand, there is need to stimulate the demand side of the labour market in order to accommodate the rising numbers of women with high levels of education. In order to encourage participation of women in high rewarding self-employment activities, there is need to intensify empowerment schemes that are largely oriented towards their self-employment.
Topic:
Education, Gender Issues, Labor Issues, Women, and Employment
Political Geography:
Africa and Botswana

21. Inequality of Opportunities in Education in Eswatini

Author:
Nhlanhla Zulu
Publication Date:
01-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Eswatini Economic Policy Analysis and Research Centre (ESEPARC)
Abstract:
This study quantifies inequality of opportunity in education in Eswatini using Multiple Indicator Cluster and Demographic and Housing Surveys. Using the “ex-ante” approach, the study identifies potential sources of inequality at all levels of the general education system in Eswatini and how these interplay with learner achievement. The study finds that, on average, circumstances account for a low portion of the variance (approximately 23.7%) in learner attainment. This measure is higher for learners aged 15 to 18 years. This means that, as the learner grows, the influence of unequal circumstances on educational attainment increases. In addition, family background variables like household wealth and education of household head are the main sources of inequality of opportunity. Therefore, opportunity equalising policies are required at all levels of the general education system in Eswatini.
Topic:
Education, Inequality, and Opportunity
Political Geography:
Africa and Eswatini

22. Is Nigeria Experiencing a Learning Crisis: New Evidence from Curriculum-based Learning Assessment

Author:
Adedeji Adeniran, Joseph Ishaku, and Lateef Olawale Akanni
Publication Date:
10-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA)
Abstract:
The massive expansion of education access throughout the world in the past few decades signalled a positive progress for global development through human capital accumulation. However, this same growth highlighted the substantial deficiency in the learning that schools are unable to deliver to the children that pass through them. In short, massive expansion in schooling has not delivered quality education, a situation that United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO, 2013) termed a global “learning crisis”. The disconnect between schooling and learning in the 21st Century also informed the global aspiration to improve learning outcomes, as captured in SDG 4. With the global attention now centered on SDG implementation, policymakers and researchers are focused on data for measuring learning outcomes. Measuring performance against SDG 4 entails assessing the extent to which targets set on inclusive and quality of education have been met. However, as the 2017 Goalkeepers Report shows, there is notable conceptual problem and data gap in measuring the quality of education (see also Unterhalter, 2019). On the conceptual level, there is lack of consensus on the appropriate indicator of quality education. Education quality is a multidimensional concept and encompasses educational inputs, processes and learning outcomes. This concern is apparent even in the SDG system, particularly, in the Tier Classification of Global SDG indicators developed by the Inter-agency and Expert Group on SDG Indicators (IAEG-SDGs). This means that additional work is needed to establish methodology and create an internationally comparable statistic (UN Statistical Commission, 2018).
Topic:
Economics, Education, and Children
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

23. Consequences Of School Resources For Educational Achievement

Author:
Joseph Ishaku
Publication Date:
06-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA)
Abstract:
This paper examines the determinants of educational achievement in a developing country context, Burkina Faso. We deviate from the extant literature by constructing an aggregate index of school quality from the observable school resources. Also, we account for school choice constraints, faced by children especially in rural areas, as it relates to the geographical inequalities in the distribution of quality schools. These treatments provide an unbiased estimates of the relevance of school resources for academic performance. The empirical approach is based on a two-stage procedure that accounts for supply constraints in school choice.
Topic:
Development, Economics, Education, and Schools
Political Geography:
Africa and Burkina Faso

24. Wartime Educational Loss and Attitudes toward Democratic Institutions

Author:
Shelley Liu
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
How does civil war affect society and citizen interaction with politics? Civilians who live through warfare face numerous challenges that can have permanent effects on society even after peace is achieved. This project uses the Liberian civil wars as a case study to examine the impact of war through one channel – disruptions in education for an entire generation of children. The paper shows that negative effects of war on education and economic outcomes clash with citizen expectations for post-war democracy, leading to negative consequences for the democratization process. Specifically, educational deficiencies in this particular generation of young adults decrease job prospects, breeding resentment against the promises of democracy. This extends to the political sphere, such that those who lost out on educational opportunities due to war exhibit lower engagement, less desire to engage with democratic processes, and a greater rejection of democracy altogether.
Topic:
Civil Society, Civil War, Education, War, Children, and Youth
Political Geography:
Africa and Liberia

25. Language, Education, and Citizenship in Africa

Author:
Ericka A. Albaugh
Publication Date:
03-2016
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
African states are known for their linguistic diversity. Few have spread a single official language widely through their education systems. The preservation of many local languages seems a benefit in terms of minority rights, but some fear that fragmentation may inhibit national cohesion and democratic participation. This article examines language competence of individuals in 10 states in Africa, highlighting distinctions in types of education systems. It also assesses their attitudes about citizenship and democracy, using Afrobarometer survey data. It shows that immersion systems appear much more effective in spreading a standard language, but that national sentiment has very little to do with proficiency in this official language. It also reveals that citizens armed with literacy in local languages tend to be more participatory, more demanding of greater accountability in government, and more critical of authoritarian rule. While virtually all states in Africa have chosen a European language as the official language of education, proficiency in these languages within states across the continent remains low. Certainly there is variation, but very few states have managed to spread a standard language through education. The benefit is that many local languages have been preserved; the question is what this means for citizenship and democracy. This article will do three things: First, it will investigate proficiency in European languages across the continent and highlight the factors that make individuals more likely to speak these official languages. Second, it will ask how language proficiency and type of education may influence citizens’ national sentiments compared to their ethnic attachments. Finally, it will ask how these factors relate to individuals’ political participation and democratic attitudes. Unsurprisingly, higher levels of education are associated with greater proficiency in European languages. Assessing different types of education, the study finds that individuals schooled in immersion vs. initial mother-tongue medium settings are more likely to learn European languages. And yet, proficiency in an official language has an ambivalent connection to individuals’ sentiments toward their ethnic group and nation. National sentiment is strong within mother-tongue systems as well as immersion systems. In mother-tongue settings, however, citizens maintain attachments to their ethnic identity while at the same time declaring loyalty to the nation, whereas citizens in immersion settings more readily drop the ethnic attachment. Finally, mother-tongue settings appear to provide some advantages when it comes to political participation and support for democracy. This may be due to networking opportunities in language associations as well as the confidence and creativity that students acquire in mother-tongue classrooms.
Topic:
Education, Citizenship, Ethnicity, Diversity, and Language
Political Geography:
Africa

26. Program Learning Event on Violence against Children in and around Schools in East Africa

Author:
Elevate Children Funders Group (ECFG)
Publication Date:
07-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Elevate Children Funders Group
Abstract:
This is a report of the three-day PLE on VACiS held in Kampala, Uganda. The PLE was organized by the ECFG, with the technical and administrative support of Development Links Consult (DLC), a social development consulting firm incorporated in Uganda. The event, held between 14th and 16th July 2015 at Hotel African in Kampala, Uganda attracted 77 participants, representing practitioners, advocates, researchers and government representatives in the field of violence against children from Uganda,Tanzania, Kenya, South Africa, Germany, the United Kingdom and United States of America . With the theme of developing a common learning agenda on preventing and responding to VACiS, the event was convened to achieve three specific sub-goals, namely: 1. To enable partners to learn promising practices on preventing VACiS. 2. To share research, information and resources with partners to link theory and research to practice. 3. To connect partners for networking and learning; and discuss potential joint action (e.g. joint program development, coordination and advocacy work) on the issue.
Topic:
Education, Children, and Violence
Political Geography:
Africa and East Africa

27. Making Education Count: Finding Possibilities of Peace in the Unlikeliest of Place

Author:
Sarah Dryden-Peterson
Publication Date:
03-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Sarah Dryden-Peterson, assistant professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (GSE), has spent years investigating the dimensions of education in conflict settings. During her time at GSE, her mission has proved ever more important as conflicts intensifying in Syria, Iraq, Gaza, and Somalia both demand immediate action and provide new opportunities for exploration.
Topic:
Civil Society, Education, Poverty, and Children
Political Geography:
Africa, Iraq, Middle East, Gaza, Syria, and Somalia

28. Deliberate Disengagement: How Education Decreases Political Participation in Electoral Authoritarian Regimes

Author:
Kevin Croke, Guy Grossman, Horacio Larreguy, and John Marshall
Publication Date:
04-2015
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
A large literature examining advanced and consolidating democracies suggests that education increases political participation. However, in electoral authoritarian regimes, educated voters may instead deliberately disengage. If education increases critical capacities, political awareness, and support for democracy, educated citizens may believe that participation is futile or legitimates autocrats. We test this argument in Zimbabwe – a paradigmatic electoral authoritarian regime – by exploiting cross-cohort variation in access to education following a major educational reform. We find that education decreases political participation, substantially reducing the likelihood that better-educated citizens vote, contact politicians, or attend community meetings. Consistent with deliberate disengagement, education’s negative effect on participation dissipated following 2008’s more competitive election, which (temporarily) initiated unprecedented power sharing.
Topic:
Education, Politics, Governance, Authoritarianism, Protests, and Participation
Political Geography:
Africa

29. What Drives Quality of Schools in Africa? Disentangling Social Capital and Ethnic Divisions

Author:
Guillaume Hollard and Omar Sene
Publication Date:
08-2014
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
Because of limited governmental resources in Africa, communities are often left in charge of managing their own schools. Two theories of African community’s ability to engage in collective action and improve quality of schools have emerged. While cross-country evidence underlines ethnic divisions as a key limit to collective action in Africa, field work suggests that social capital (i.e. the community’s ability to engage in collective action or establish shared norms) is the main driver of the quality of local public goods. In this paper, we use Afrobarometer data to test the role of social capital and ethnic divisions in determining the quality of schools. We capture social capital by the average level of trust and ethnic divisions via an index of ethnic fractionalization. We skirt reverse causality problems between trust and quality of public goods by using historical information on the settlement patterns of ethnic groups in Sub-Saharan Africa. This yields measures of ethnic inherited trust which we use as an instrument for trust. To address concerns about endogenous residential sorting, we instrument ethnic fractionalization by the initial population density of ethnic historical homelands. We find that a one percent increase in the local level of trust increases the quality of local public goods by 0.2 to 1.14 percent. After controlling trust we discover ethnic fragmentation plays only a marginal role.
Topic:
Education, Ethnicity, Youth, Social Capital, and Students
Political Geography:
Africa

30. The Distribution of Household Income and the Middle Class in Zambia

Author:
Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis & Research (ZIPAR)
Publication Date:
12-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR)
Abstract:
The middle class is increasingly becoming a topical issue in Zambia. However, the lack of a definitive measure of the middle class in the country makes it difficult to have targeted policies on this group of people, perceived worldwide to be the drivers of economic growth. With high and rising income inequality in Zambia, we propose two operational definitions of the middle class by exploring the middle class from a median perspective and from a ‘relative affluence’ perspective. Defining the middle class on the basis of the ‘actual middle’ versus ‘relative affluence’ provides vastly different pictures. The results show that individuals and households that fall in the ‘relative affluence’ group have achieved a modest standard of living and are actually near the top of the country’s income ladder while households in the actual middle of the income distribution in Zambia have a standard of living well below what can be perceived as a ‘middle-class lifestyle’ elsewhere. This requires targeted policy designs when referring to changes in the economic status of the Zambian middle class. We propose a household income distribution framework which combines both the actual middle households and the relatively affluent middle households to create an enabling environment for inclusive growth policies, rather than just pro-poor policies.
Topic:
Education, Economic Growth, Class, and Middle Class
Political Geography:
Africa and Zambia

31. The Great Power Struggle for Africa The Crisis in Mali

Author:
Fouad Farhaoui
Publication Date:
11-2013
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Strategic Research Organization (USAK)
Abstract:
Though the French intervention against extremists in northern Mali thrust the crisis in Mali onto the international stage, the conflict itself is the result of long-stewing factors left over from the French colonial period.
Topic:
Economics, Education, Ethnic Conflict, Migration, and Post Colonialism
Political Geography:
Africa

32. Resource mobilisation and fundraising in basic schools: A case study of Copperbelt and North-Western province

Author:
Malunga Syacumpi
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR)
Abstract:
Like many other countries, Zambia removed a major barrier to access to primary education when it abolished user fees for Grades 1–7 in 2002. The resulting fall in basic schools’ income, however, has not been relieved by adequate government resources trickling down through the complex school funding system. In an attempt to address their funding problems, some schools have adopted fundraising ventures as a way of supplementing government resources. The successes and practicability of implementation of such ventures remain to be seen. There is a lack of information about the adequacy of such measures and no institutional framework to guide their implementation. This study explores the range of resource mobilisation and fundraising activities adopted by basic schools. It looks into how basic schools are raising funds and how these funds are being utilised based on a sample of 30 basic schools (15 each from Copperbelt and North-Western provinces). The research was conducted through questionnaires with head teachers and school accountants/bursars as well as interviews conducted at the provincial and district level.
Topic:
Development, Education, Natural Resources, Infrastructure, and Mobility
Political Geography:
Africa and Zambia

33. The Negative Consequences of Overambitious Curricula in Developing Countries

Author:
Lant Pritchett and Amanda Beatty
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
Learning profiles that track changes in student skills per year of schooling often find shockingly low learning gains. Using data from three recent studies in South Asia and Africa, we show that a majority of students spend years of instruction with no progress on basics. We argue shallow learning profiles are in part the result of curricular paces moving much faster than the pace of learning. To demonstrate the consequences of a gap between the curriculum and student mastery, we construct a simple, formal model, which portrays learning as the result of a match between student skill and instructional levels, rather than the standard (if implicit) assumption that all children learn the same from the same instruction. A simulation shows that two countries with exactly the same potential learning could have massively divergent learning outcomes, just because of a gap between curricular and actual pace—and the country which goes faster has much lower cumulative learning. We also show that our simple simulation model of curricular gaps can replicate existing experimental findings, many of which are otherwise puzzling. Paradoxically, learning could go faster if curricula and teachers were to slow down.
Topic:
Development, Education, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Africa and South Asia

34. Renewables in the Energy Transition: Evidence on Solar Home Systems and Lighting-Fuel Choice in Kenya

Author:
Jann Lay, Janosch Ondraczek, and Jana Stoever
Publication Date:
07-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
We study the determinants of households' choices of lighting fuels in Kenya, including the option of using solar home systems (SHSs). The paper adds new evidence on the factors that influence the introduction and adoption of decentralized and less carbon‐intensive energy sources in developing countries. We capitalize on a unique representative survey on energy use and sources from Kenya, one of the few relatively well‐established SHSs markets in the world. Our results reveal some very interesting patterns in the fuel transition in the context of lighting‐fuel choices. While we find clear evidence for a crosssectional energy ladder, the income threshold for modern fuel use – including solar energy use – is very high. Income and education turn out to be key determinants of SHSs adoption, but we also find a very pronounced effect of SHSs clustering. In addition, we do not find a negative correlation between grid access and SHSs use.
Topic:
Development, Education, and Energy Policy
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

35. Estimating Returns to Education in Zambia

Author:
Chrispin Mphuka and Joseph Simumba
Publication Date:
12-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR)
Abstract:
This paper estimates private returns to schooling among individuals aged 25 to 40 years old residing in Zambia in 2010. Using Instrumental Variable (IV) approach based on Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS) and Generalised Method of Moments (GMM), we estimate average returns to schooling in the order of 15.1 percent. Proximity to primary and secondary school as well as per capita household educa- tion expenditure at district level in 1991 served as instruments. These instruments correspond to the period when the wage earners in the 2010 Living Conditions and Monitoring Survey (LCMS) were in school. These results provide important infor- mation on incentives regarding accumulation of human capital, e¢ ciency of resource allocation in the education sector and the distributional consequences of di¤erences in human capital.
Topic:
Education, Human Capital, Schools, and Resource Allocation
Political Geography:
Africa and Zambia

36. Resource mobilisation and fundraising in basic schools: A case study of Copperbelt and North-Western province

Author:
Malunga Syacumpi
Publication Date:
04-2012
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Zambia Institute for Policy Analysis and Research (ZIPAR)
Abstract:
Like many other countries, Zambia removed a major barrier to access to primary education when it abolished user fees for Grades 1–7 in 2002. The resulting fall in basic schools’ income, however, has not been relieved by adequate government resources trickling down through the complex school funding system. In an attempt to address their funding problems, some schools have adopted fundraising ventures as a way of supplementing government resources. The successes and practicability of implementation of such ventures remain to be seen. There is a lack of information about the adequacy of such measures and no institutional framework to guide their implementation. This study explores the range of resource mobilisation and fundraising activities adopted by basic schools. It looks into how basic schools are raising funds and how these funds are being utilised based on a sample of 30 basic schools (15 each from Copperbelt and North-Western provinces). The research was conducted through questionnaires with head teachers and school accountants/bursars as well as interviews conducted at the provincial and district level.
Topic:
Education, Resource Management, Public Finance, and Schools
Political Geography:
Africa and Zambia

37. News on the Go: How Mobile Devices Are Changing the World's Information Ecosystem

Author:
Dale Peskin
Publication Date:
09-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
National Endowment for Democracy
Abstract:
The connected society reached a milestone at the end of 2010: More than 4 billion people paid for mobile phone service. That's six of every 10 people on the planet. During a period of unprecedented technological innovation, the spread of a decades-old technology may seem like an obvious achievement. That is until you consider that the hand-held device has become the hub for thousands of innovations that are changing the way the world communicates.
Topic:
Civil Society, Development, Education, Science and Technology, and Mass Media
Political Geography:
Africa, Eurasia, and Asia

38. Why Did Abolishing Fees Not Increase Public School Enrollment in Kenya?

Author:
Tessa Bold, Mwangi Kimenyi, Germano Mwabu, and Justin Sandefur
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
A large empirical literature has shown that user fees signicantly deter public service utilization in developing countries. While most of these results reflect partial equilibrium analysis, we find that the nationwide abolition of public school fees in Kenya in 2003 led to no increase in net public enrollment rates, but rather a dramatic shift toward private schooling. Results suggest this divergence between partial- and general-equilibrium effects is partially explained by social interactions: the entry of poorer pupils into free education contributed to the exit of their more affluent peers.
Topic:
Education, Government, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

39. Antiretroviral Therapy Awareness and Risky Sexual Behaviors: Evidence from Mozambique

Author:
Mead Over, Damien de Walque, and Harounan Kazianga
Publication Date:
01-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
This paper studies the effect of increased access to antiretroviral therapy on risky sexual behavior, using data collected in Mozambique in 2007 and 2008. The survey sampled both households of randomly selected HIV-positive individuals and households from the general population. Controlling for unobserved individual characteristics, the findings support the hypothesis of disinhibition behaviors, whereby risky sexual behaviors increase in response to the perceived changes in risk associated with increased access to antiretroviral therapy. Furthermore, men and women respond differently to the perceived changes in risk. In particular, risky behaviors increase for men who believe, wrongly, that AIDS can be cured, while risky behaviors increase for women who believe, correctly, that antiretroviral therapy can treat AIDS but cannot cure it. The findings suggest that scaling up access to antiretroviral therapy without prevention programs may not be optimal if the objective is to contain the disease, since people would adjust their sexual behavior in response to the perceived changes in risk. Therefore, prevention programs need to include educational messages about antiretroviral therapy and address the changing beliefs about HIV in the era of increasing antiretroviral therapy availability.
Topic:
Education and Health Care Policy
Political Geography:
Africa

40. Good Governance Lessons for Primary Education

Author:
Laetitia Antonowicz, Frédéric Lesné, Stéphane Stassen, and John Wood
Publication Date:
02-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Transparency International
Abstract:
This report presents a regional overview of accountability and transparency in primary education management in seven African countries. It has been produced within the framework of Africa Education Watch (AEW). AEW is a three-year programme (2007-2010) implemented by Transparency International (TI) that focuses on governance in the management of public funds in the primary education system.
Topic:
Corruption, Education, Third World, and Governance
Political Geography:
Africa

41. Education and Conflict in Cote d'Ivoire

Author:
Joseph Sany
Publication Date:
04-2010
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
In 2002, civil war broke out in Côte d'Ivoire, dividing communities and destroying already fragile public institutions, including its education system. While the education sector in Côte d'Ivoire was clearly a victim of the civil war, which raged until late 2004, it was also a catalyst for the conflict. The underlying causes of the conflict in Côte d'Ivoire are multiple and complex. In regard to the role played by education, the problem rested less with the curriculum, which was the same across the country, and more with access to and coordination and allocation of resources, which were unequally distributed by region. Such education-based inequalities exacerbated frustrations and more importantly created the space for violent political and social contestations, which have opened the road to the politicization of education and fueled the conflict. The conflict seriously damaged an already struggling education system, relegating education to the bottom of the national priority list and preventing thousands of stakeholders— both students and teachers—from gaining access to it. It is important to think beyond previous interventions, which saw education as a strategy for poverty reduction, and embrace those efforts that recognize the intricate relationship between education and conflict. Interventions in Côte d'Ivoire's education system should not only address those issues related to coordination, capacity building, resources, curriculum, and access, but also those issues related to peace and conflict. The government of Côte d'Ivoire should take the lead in such education-sector interventions and request technical and financial support from specialized international institutions, NGOs, and financial institutions.
Topic:
Education and Non-Governmental Organization
Political Geography:
Africa

42. The New Poverty Agenda in Uganda

Author:
Anne Mette Kjaer and Fred Muhumuza
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS)
Abstract:
This paper explores the poverty agenda in Uganda, its drivers and its effects. We show that transforming the economy by increasing productivity was initially considered more important than to reduce poverty through redistributive policies. However, as a consequence of the 1996 elections a consensus on poverty eradication through health and education emerged. The Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) had a shopping list nature and it is therefore difficult to establish whether it was implemented. Growth and poverty reduction during the PEAP period was mainly due to a continuation of macro-economic policies that were introduced prior to the PEAP. Around the multi-party elections in 2006, policy priorities changed towards more focus on agricultural production, agro-business and infrastructure. The government now has a two-edged focus: poverty reduction through economic transformation and poverty reduction through social services. However, there is also a political agenda about remaining in power which threatens to undermine the results achieved so far.
Topic:
Education, Health, and Poverty
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

43. Beyond the ABCs: Higher Education and Developing Countries

Author:
Megan Crowley and Devesh Kapur
Publication Date:
02-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
This paper analyzes a relatively neglected facet of the complex debate regarding human capital – higher (or tertiary) education. It addresses five broad questions examining higher education in developing countries. One, are the economic effects of higher education on developing countries different from those in industrialized countries, with its links with labor markets of lesser importance than its impact on institutional development? Two, how does the impact of higher education depend on the type of education and its beneficiaries? Three, with the state unable to meet growing demand pressures, what should be the proper role of the state to ensure not just quality but also equity and access? Four, how should countries rethink the provision of higher education in an “open economy” from seeking education abroad or encouraging foreign providers into the country or simply linking domestic institutions with foreign quality assurance mechanisms? And five, do new technologies offer developing countries a new paradigm to expand the provision of high quality but low cost higher education? The aim is not to provide categorical answers to these complex questions, but rather highlight the analytical and empirical lacuna with regard to each of these question.
Topic:
Development and Education
Political Geography:
Africa

44. Sudanese Universities as Sites of Social Transformation

Author:
Linda S. Bishai
Publication Date:
02-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Institute of Peace
Abstract:
Education is an important resource for any country, but it is especially valuable in spreading the values that transform a wartime society into one with a culture of peace. Some of the structural inequities besetting the educational system in Sudan today stem from the colonial period and policies set during the early days of independence. Efforts to unify the country through an Arabic national curriculum caused resentment and alienation in the non-Arab communities and exacerbated civil conflicts. Sudanese universities have historically been the incubators of political change in Sudan, and student unions in particular have retained a tradition of vibrant—and sometimes violent—political activity. The education revolution implemented by the current regime in the 1990s overextended Sudanese universities, resulting in an extreme teacher deficit and the degradation of university resources and degrees. Various additional policies had the effect of intimidating university students and teachers, changing the atmosphere on campuses and leading to a nonreflective focus on exam results and to little intellectual exchange. In the interim period between the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and the general election, a new openness allowed universities to begin to revive their historical intellectual traditions. This openness will be vital for securing peace with the South and for eventually reconciling Darfur and the East. A productive model has been illustrated by efforts to engage Sudanese universities with their local communities as sites for the development and sharing of public information, culture, and the acceptance of difference. The international community should advocate creative collaboration, research, and teaching exchanges both to and from Sudan, encourage international conferences involving Sudanese students and faculty, and pay active attention to restoring Sudanese libraries and research facilities. Sudanese education officials, university faculty, and civil-society organizations should work together to counter four key educational problems: the lack of exposure to critical thinking and research skills; the lack of vibrant extracurricular life; the alienation of universities from their local communities; and the recurring pattern of violent student activism.
Topic:
Development, Education, and Ethnic Conflict
Political Geography:
Africa and Sudan

45. Zimbabwe in Crisis: Mugabe's Policies and Failures

Author:
Hany Besada and Nicky Moyo
Publication Date:
10-2008
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
Exemplifying the negative consequences of a variety of inappropriate fiscal and social policies, Zimbabwe has failed to realize its potential to become a strong, independent state, going from the admiration and envy of its neighbours to near-complete collapse and abject poverty. Economic turmoil, caused by failed land reforms and inflation, combined with increased malnutrition, and evaporating access to education, health care, and employment have only exacerbated unrest, particularly for constituencies who receive few benefits from President Robert Mugabe's regime. This paper assesses Zimbabwe's social, political and economic crisis and its impact on Zimbabweans, indicating the steps needed for national recovery and sustainable development.
Topic:
Corruption, Education, Government, and Health
Political Geography:
Africa and Zimbabwe

46. Putting the Power of Transparency in Context: Information's Role in Reducing Corruption in Uganda's Education Sector

Author:
Paul Hubbard
Publication Date:
12-2007
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
One of the popular stories told (and taught) in development circles is how corruption was slashed in Uganda simply by publishing the amount of monthly grants to schools. This paper takes a deeper look at the facts behind the Uganda story and finds that while information did indeed play a critical role, the story is much more complicated than we have been led to believe. A dramatic drop did occur in the percentage of funds being diverted from Uganda's capitation grant. But to attribute this leakage solely to the monthly release of grant data by the government risks ignoring the major funding in which this transparency campaign was imbedded.
Topic:
Education and Politics
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

47. The Medium- and Long-term Effects of an Expansion of Education on Poverty in Côte d'Ivoire: A Dynamic Microsimulation Study

Author:
Michael Grimm
Publication Date:
05-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
I use a dynamic microsimulation model to analyse the distributional effects of an expansion of education in Côte d'Ivoire in the medium and long term. The simulations are performed in order to replicate several policies in force or subject to debate in this country. Various hypotheses concerning the evolution of returns to education and labour demand are tested. The direct effects between education and income as well as the different transmission channels, such as occupational choices, fertility, and household composition, are analysed. The effects of educational expansion on the growth of household incomes, their distribution and poverty depend very crucially on the hypothesis made on the evolution of returns to education and labour demand. If returns to education remain constant and the labour market segmented, the effects will be very modest.
Topic:
Economics, Education, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Africa

48. U.S.–South Africa Research and Training Collaborations

Author:
Beth Elise Whitaker
Publication Date:
01-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Social Science Research Council
Abstract:
This report, the most recent of several SSRC projects related to knowledge production, research networks and capacity building in sub-Saharan Africa, concerns the state of collaboration between U.S. and South African higher education institutions around social science research and other areas linked to the extraordinary changes that have (and are) taking place in post- apartheid South Africa's higher education system. Conducted and written by Beth Whitaker, an assistant professor of political science at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte and former program associate at the American Council on Education's Association Liaison Office for University Cooperation in Development, the study inventories recent partnerships with an eye toward the future. Political transformations in South Africa catalyzed a flood of student exchange programs, individual research partnerships between U.S. and South African scholars, and broader efforts in establishing institutional linkages around research, advanced training, and in addressing the extreme inequities of a higher education system bifurcated along racial lines (an issue far from unfamiliar in the U.S. context). In focusing on these broader institutional connections, the study demonstrates some overlaps and some significant gaps (especially the paucity of cross-national institutional collaborations on HIV/AIDS). It also calls attention to the unevenly distributed participation in partnerships—with historically black and disadvantaged institutions in both countries less able to establish networks internationally for mutual benefit. It should be an important resource for those institutions planning future collaborations, which will hopefully address some of the gaps that have been identified in the study. While the research for the study was primarily conducted in 2002-3 with the support of the National Science Foundation, Prof. Whitaker updated the results for the purposes of this publication in the Spring of 2004.
Topic:
Education and International Cooperation
Political Geography:
Africa and United States

49. Incentives to Learn

Author:
Michael Kremer, Edward Miguel, and Rebecca Thornton
Publication Date:
10-2004
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University
Abstract:
We report results from a randomized evaluation of a merit scholarship program for adolescent girls in Kenya. Girls who scored well on academic exams had their school fees paid and received a cash grant for school supplies. Girls eligible for the scholarship showed significant gains in academic exam scores (average gain 0.12-0.19 standard deviations) and these gains persisted following the competition. There is also evidence of positive program externalities on learning: boys, who were ineligible for the awards, also showed sizeable average test gains, as did girls with low pretest scores, who were unlikely to win. Both student and teacher school attendance increased in the program schools. We discuss implications both for understanding the nature of educational production functions and for the policy debate surrounding merit scholarships.
Topic:
Education, Human Capital, Girls, and Scholarships
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

50. Gender and Education as Determinants of Household Poverty in Nigeria

Author:
Christiana E.E. Okojie
Publication Date:
03-2002
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
The paper examines the linkages between gender of household heads, education and household poverty in Nigeria between 1980 and 1996. Data analyzed were obtained from four national consumer expenditure surveys conducted in Nigeria in 1980, 1985, 1992 and 1996 by the Federal Office of Statistics. Adjustments were made for price differentials over time and across regions of the country. However, only aggregated data for households were available. Per capita expenditure was used as the indicator of poverty, while the unit of analysis was the household. Two poverty lines were set: a moderate poverty line equal to two-thirds of mean per capita household expenditure, and a core poverty line equal to one-third of mean per capita expenditure. The Pa index proposed by Foster, Greer and Thorbecke was used to generate the headcount ratio as well as the depth and severity of poverty. Trends in inequality were analyzed using Gini coefficients and the Theil's index. Multivariate analysis was used to examine the relationships between gender, poverty and other household variables, including education, for all households as well as for subgroups of male-headed and female-headed households respectively.
Topic:
Education and Gender Issues
Political Geography:
Africa and Nigeria

51. Explaining Leakage of Public Funds

Author:
Ritva Reinikka and Jakob Svensson
Publication Date:
12-2001
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
Using panel data from an unique survey of public primary schools in Uganda we assess the degree of leakage of public funds in education. The survey data reveal that on average, during the period 1991-95, schools received only 13 percent of what the central government contributed to the schools' non-wage expenditures. The bulk of the allocated spending was either used by public officials for purposes unrelated to education or captured for private gain (leakage). Moreover we find that resource flows and leakages are endogenous to school characteristics. Rather than being passive recipients of flows from government, schools use their bargaining power vis-à-vis other parts of government to secure greater shares of funding. Resources are therefore not necessarily allocated according to the rules underlying government budget decisions, with potential equity and efficiency implications.
Topic:
Education, Government, and Human Welfare
Political Geography:
Uganda and Africa

52. Aftermath: Women and Women's Organizations In Postgenocide Rwanda

Author:
Michael Hopps
Publication Date:
12-2000
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United States Agency for International Development
Abstract:
IN A 100-DAY PERIOD during 1994, more than 500,000 people in the central African nation of Rwanda were massacred. The killings were carried out not by a foreign power and not with weapons of mass destruction. Rather, 1 of every 15 Rwandans was murdered—by other Rwandans. The killers used bullets, machetes, and clubs.
Topic:
Civil Society, Education, Gender Issues, Genocide, Human Welfare, and Politics
Political Geography:
Africa

53. Science and Technology for African Development: Partnerships in a Global Economy

Author:
Soodursun Jugessur, Susan U. Raymond, Stephen Chandiwana, Clive Shiff, Pieter J.D. Drenth, D. N. Tarpeh, Iba Kone, Jacques Gaillard, and Roland Waast
Publication Date:
03-1998
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
New York Academy of Sciences
Abstract:
This paper examines the eureka factor in science based development and underscores the increasing concern that Africa lags behind in S due to political and social instability coupled by low investments in technologies. The paper emphasises that African science should come up with a decisive policy for investment in new style education and capacity building for S that is relevant to the African experience and addresses problems of real concern to the community. Science led development in Africa should reduce replication of foreign technologies and invest in social capital of its scientists and its R institutions for sustainable economic development. The aim of the paper is not to offer prescriptive solutions but to highlight areas which should stimulate debate in small working groups examining how Africa can learn from its own experience as well as that of other nations in developing an appropriate system of innovation for science led development.
Topic:
Economics, Education, Emerging Markets, Government, Industrial Policy, International Cooperation, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Africa and United States