This article critically reviews the World Bank's latest high-profile report on skills development in Sub-Saharan Africa. While the Report's prescriptions and recommendations are broadly in line with those of national skills development strategies elsewhere in both the developed and developing world, its overall analysis is quite limited and…

With fewer than three years until the planned end-date of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), attention is rapidly turning to what will follow. The elaboration of the next global development agenda is a complex, multipronged process that is academic, political and practical, involving experts from a myriad of social and…

The arrival of substantial cohorts of English language learners from Africa with little, no or severely interrupted schooling is requiring new pedagogic responses from teachers in Australia and other Western countries of refugee re-settlement. If the students are to have optimal educational and life chances, it is crucial for them to acquire…

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…

This document, one of a series of British occasional papers on basic education, investigates adult literacy practices in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. The texts and their authors are "Building a National Movement: The Caribbean Experience" (Didacus Jules); "Literacy and Empowerment: A Definition for Literacy"…

Analyzes the obstacles to universal literacy in Africa including the colonial creation of a two-tier society, rapid population growth, and multiplicity of languages. Suggests that the power structure is such that it has a vested interest in the providing a limited amount of literacy without raising the populace's consciousness. (Contains 30…

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…

Intsika Yesizwe, an institution intended to help early school leavers acquire the skills needed to compete successfully in the job market, was founded in Ciskei in 1981 to deal with the problem of large numbers of pupils leaving school at an early age. Intsika Yesizwe was founded under the supervision of the Ciskei Special Forces, and in 1983…

Africa was unable to fulfill the objectives of making compulsory primary education available for all by 1980. As a result, the Harare (Zimbabwe) Declaration, signed by ministers of the United Nations members states of Africa in 1982, aimed to make primary schooling universal and to promote literacy among young people and adults on a massive scale.…

This report offers numerous cross-sectoral explorations in the context of health and human resources analyses in Africa. Intended as a resource document for funding agencies, program managers, and policy makers in Africa, the study aims to spark interest in using basic education to foster behavior conducive to broad-based, sustainable economic…

Eighteen papers from the University of South Africa's Conference on Distance Education are presented on issues in education and distance education. They include: "Distance Education in Africa's Educational Development: The Case of Ghana" (Joe K. Ansere); "Distance Education: A Solution to the Economic Problems of Education in…

A comparative study is reported of basic education in 10 African countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, Benin, Mali, Upper Volta, and Angola. Basic education is defined as learning experiences to which all citizens are entitled or which are required to help them develop their potential to function effectively as individuals…

A selected annotated bibliography on literacy and basic education, including contributions from practitioners in the worldwide non-formal education network and compiled for them, has three interrelated themes: integration of literacy programs with broader development efforts; the learner-centered or "psycho-social" approach to literacy,…

This document contains seven papers from a study of the role of distance learning approaches in enhancing the contribution of nonformal education to socioeconomic development in Africa. "Introduction" (Richard Siaciwena) presents an overview of the research project and defines key terms related to nonformal education. "Ghana: The…