In this paper, I discuss Universal Basic Education (UBE) in relation to the teaching and learning of mathematics in Southern Africa. I present the status of UBE for all countries in the region and then use 3 selected examples: Botswana, Malawi, and Zambia, to illustrate the provision of mathematics in the general framework of UBE in the countries.…

School-based improvement programs represent a core strategy in improving education because they can leverage pre-existing social and organizational structures to promote coordinated and comprehensive change across multiple facets of schooling. School-based programs are generally designed to be implemented by intact schools/districts, frequently…

The Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) carries out large-scale cross-national research studies in member countries in the Southern and Eastern Africa region. It aims to assess the conditions of schooling and performance levels of learners and teachers in the areas of literacy and numeracy. SACMEQ has…

These "Proceedings" derived from the Commission for International Adult Education's (CIAE) 2018 International Pre-Conference. They contain 23 papers from 32 authors. Eight of the lead authors are graduate students -- four are rounding up their Master's degrees while four are on their doctoral programs. The rest are a mix of seasoned and…

African higher education is currently facing tremendous challenges. The pressure and demand for access is huge. This is understandable against the background of traditionally low participation, low success and throughput rates, declining financial contributions from governments and donors, and critical pressures for efficiency, modernization,…

The theme of this book cuts across disciplines. Contributors to this volume are specialized in education and especially classroom research as well as in linguistics, most being transdisciplinary themselves. Around 65 sub-Saharan languages figure in this volume as research objects: as means of instruction, in connection with teacher training,…

More than any other of its aspects, assessment plays a central role in determining the quality of education. Quality of primary/basic education (QoE) can be viewed as the extent to which the process of education at the primary education level maximizes desirable outcomes in terms of cognitive, affective and psychomotor behaviour of the learners.…

Since 1989, the United States Agency for International Development (AID) Africa bureau has operated under an Agency-wide Congressional Basic Education earmark, which specifically required the creation of five new basic education programs in sub-Saharan Africa between 1989 and 1991. The Bureau exceeded that goal by initiating primary education…

This third publication on the theme of quality in the Commonwealth of Learning Perspectives on Distance Education series widens the discussion beyond external quality assurance processes to a more generic focus on a "culture of quality." It is an extension of the earlier two publications, which came out in 1994 and 1997 and drew…

Less than 1 percent of children in sub-Sahara Africa currently attend formal care and education programmes, but the number is expected to increase substantially following large investments in the sector. To date, however, little attention has been given to the contents of these programmes. This article seeks to begin addressing this lacuna,…

Both of these "Surveys of policy and practice" were conducted on behalf of COL by the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) as part of COL's partnership agreement with the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) Working Group on Distance Education and Open Learning. The first report identifies…