In this article, the author documents the learning disadvantage of rural primary school students in sub-Saharan Africa and attempts to identify the factors underlying such disadvantages. Analyzing data from 14 school systems participating in the second study of the Southern and Western Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ…

Interaction between oral and literate modes of communication in a predominantly oral culture is discussed in the Islamic context of West Africa. Communication is viewed as transmission of knowledge in a formal learning situation (a one way process) and as an informal shared process between literate and nonliterate community members. (BRR)

Analyzes patterns of population growth in Africa, accounts for the population explosion in certain parts of the continent, and discusses implications of the population growth for economic development. Seven tables and two maps are included in the article. (Author/DB)

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the increasing migration of African tribal members to urban centers and the resulting redefinition of cultural norms, social pressures, and human needs. First, several misconceptions about African societies are examined by briefly reviewing Africa's tribal history. Next, the phenomenon of tribalism is…

The basic point which this discussion attempts to emphasize is that the political perception of urbanization in Tropical Africa tends to be dominated by concern with urban unemployment (and its social and political consequences) as the major, visible and explosive byproduct of the acceleration of rural-urban migration which has been one of the…

African nations have been experiencing rapid rates of urbanization accompanied by serious problems of urban unemployment due to the rate of rural-urban migration and the lack of an adequate understanding of the migration process for economic policy formulation. The aim of this paper was to review the present knowledge of African rural-urban…

Distribution of primary school enrollments within and among 15 countries of the Eastern African region was examined by drawing exclusively on routine annual statistics and by emphasizing simple computer-generated indicators. In its first phase, the study made inter-country comparisons that indicated which countries and which areas in the region…

Some 1394 research studies from various African countries are annotated in this bibliography, which is divided into 37 country sections with a separate section (Africa General) for studies dealing with the continent as a whole, with geographical regions, or with groups of countries. The publications listed and summarized were published primarily…

The arid areas of the world, especially the Middle East and North Africa, need to develop an educational system that is attuned to the needs of the people in order to improve human and institutional competencies required to solve social and economic problems. Since arid areas have special characteristics, it is necessary to find applicable…

This book reviews trends in household well-being in Africa during the 1990s. Using the better data sets now available, the main factors behind observed poverty changes are examined in eight countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Madagascar, Mauritania, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. A broad view of poverty is taken, which includes income poverty and…

This booklet pertains to the size and the form of the human body in infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. Historic and current information is presented for individuals in population groups of the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. Differences in size and growth patterns between urban and rural individuals of the same racial…

This paper provides an in-depth review and analysis of literature on dropping out from school, and focuses on children who have gained access, but fail to complete a basic education cycle. The main discussion is around why and how children drop out from school. Here drop out is not presented as a distinct event, but rather a process where a range…

This paper examines the causes for deteriorating school enrollment rates in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly in primary education and especially for girls. The prevalent view that deterioration in school availability and quality are responsible for declining school enrollments in many African countries seems incomplete. Several studies suggest…

Conducted in two phases, the study assessed and compared the effectiveness of various modern mass communication media and two traditional media for communicating the idea of family planning in Ghana. The comic or concert party play and the town or village discussion were used as the traditional modes of communication; the modern media used were…