Monitoring Learning Achievement (MLA), a joint UNESCO-UNICEF international education assessment initiative, obtains information on the "effectiveness of basic education provision[s] in terms of actual learning achievement." The empirical evidence from the 1999 MLA project countries provides both a diagnosis and possible actions to be…

In 1976 African Ministers of Education proposed "basic education," defined as minimum learning needs, as the best method for mass education. Participation and integration are key elements in this strategy. A learning-needs approach to curriculum planning should concentrate on practical skills; implementation requires nontraditional…

This paper, focusing on schooling for children in Africa, recommends a pedagogy that begins with the practical, everyday experiences of the child and proceeds by extension toward more abstract ideas. It is pointed out that the basic areas of survival--food, clothing, and shelter--could be treated in courses in agriculture, home economics, and…