Revitalizing Education In Africa PDF Download

Only an educated people can command the skills necessary for sustainable economic growth and for a better quality of life. Recognizing this, African governments have placed heavy emphasis on expanding educational opportunities. Even so, education in Sub-Saharan Africa is in crisis. Rapid population growth has resulted in more children than ever seeking places in schools already pressed for resources because of the financial crises of the 1980s. Already, many Sub-Saharan African countries allocate over 20 percent of the government budget to education. Further increases would cut too deeply into other pressing demands for public funds. African countries will need to strike a balance between demands for education and the scarcity of resources, and they will need to develop country-specific, comprehensive, and internally consistent sets of policies along three dimensions: (1) adjustment to current demographic and fiscal realities, (2) revitalization of the existing educational infrastructure to restore quality, and (3) selective expansion to meet further demands. The analysis and recommendations contained in this study should contribute to this educational planning process, as the study attempts to diagnose the problems of erosion of quality and recent stagnation of enrollment and to offer a set of policy responses commensurate with the severity of these problems. A framework is presented within which countries may formulate strategies tailored to their own needs and circumstances. Numerous tables, graphs, and maps are included. (JB)