The article proposes the need for the decolonising of the inclusive education movement in Southern African educational contexts. It draws on the authors' own research and reflexive engagement over the last five years on inclusive education policy formulation and implementation in selected Southern African contexts, namely, Botswana, Namibia, South…

This article proposes a conceptual framework for how education can promote adolescent girls' empowerment and, by mapping the field, highlights promising examples of empowering education programs. We conclude by identifying both research and programmatic opportunities for the future that will harness the expertise of a range of specialists from the…

The real potential of ICT is the way it changes learners to become autonomous in their learning process. E-learning also plays a crucial role in today's life and in modern education. Its importance lies in the fact that people are finding that e-learning can make a remarkable change in teaching/ or learning: to how quickly they master a skill; how…

Since 1995 I have been engaged in consultancies and since 2001 in research dealing with the language of instruction policies in Africa. To what extent are the policies being implemented? What is the role of research and consultancy when it comes to language policy? What happens when researchers or consultants come up with recommendations which do…

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,…

This article discusses the complexities of aid-giving using the example of early childhood policies in Namibia. It supports a critical view of aid processes and of World Bank endeavours in particular. Using an analysis of the World Bank funded education sector-wide improvement plan (ETSIP) in Namibia and three Namibian local case studies, it shows…

It is 40 years since Coombs (1967) first drew attention to the World Education Crisis, and specifically problems in the educational systems of countries in the developing world. Today, many of these problems remain, and are most visible in the educational systems of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. A large number of children remain out of school…

Quality is high on the education agendas of developing countries. Much time, effort, and finance have been poured into various initiatives and reforms in an effort to improve quality in these countries. However, so far success has been limited and the quality of education in many developing countries remains poor. Efforts to explore the reasons…

Describes teacher education in Namibia following independence from South African rule, discussing a basis for transformation, critical factors affecting transformation, features of the teacher-preparation program, and tensions between different actors (including foreign support), suggesting that transformative forces must reorganize themselves at…

There is heightened concern about the need to provide effective special education services around the world. There is also evidence showing that most countries have either legislation already in place or are currently designing legislation to govern the provision of education services and protect the rights of children and families challenged by…

Participants from Cameroon, Gambia, Ghana, Namibia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone met as educational planners to seek alternative methods of planning under the changing conditions of education, employment, and human resource development in their countries. The articles presented during the training course include: (1) "Education and Employment in…

Discusses the relationship between education and Apartheid in South Africa and Namibia, asserting that the political system was fostered by unequal educational systems that provided different schools and resources for different population groups. Describes the increase of alternative education projects, including the National Literacy Programme in…

This collection of reports examines the current state of development in southern Africa, in general, and in South Africa, in particular. The introduction, "A Development Perspective of Southern Africa" (R. J. W. van der Kooy), briefly reviews the history of southern African development, and discusses purposes, approaches, and progress.…

As most of the world progresses towards the twenty-first century, a large sector of the Namibian community struggles with coping with the twentieth century. This paper discusses the vision of educators concerned with school libraries in Namibia to educate the youth of the country to feel at home in a global information society. It is envisaged…

Educational policy in three southern African countries plus the "independent" South African homelands is reviewed in this paper. First, an introduction discusses how the significance of education as a factor in national development became an issue of growing concern in the 1960's (during the move toward independence), but also how…