The ADEA Ad Hoc Working Group on Post-Primary Education

ADEA The ADEA ad hoc Working Group on Post-Primary Education

The ADEA ad hoc Working Group on Post-Primary Education:
Approach, Activities, Perspectives

Presented atthe
UNESCO Regional Seminar on Secondary Education in Africa

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
21 to 24 November 2005

Last modified on 23 January 2006

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ADEA The ADEA ad hoc Working Group on Post-Primary Education

This document was presentedby Hans Krönner atthe UNESCO Regional Seminar on Secondary Education in Africa, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,21 to 24 November 2005.

© Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) – 2005

Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA)

International Institute for Educational Planning

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75116 Paris, France

Tel.: +33(0)1 45 03 77 57

Fax: +33(0)1 45 03 39 65

Website:

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ADEA The ADEA ad hoc Working Group on Post-Primary Education

Contents

1Summary

2The role of ADEA

3Creation of the Working Group

4Programmatic Activities

5Thematic areas

6Work in progress

7Perspective

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ADEA The ADEA ad hoc Working Group on Post-Primary Education

1Summary

November 2004 the Steering Committee of the Association for Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) created an ad hoc Working Group on Post-Primary Education whose principal focus is on secondary education and skills development.
The underlying issues, the approach, the rationale, the objectives and the strategies of the Working Group are presented.
The work program to be carried out and the six thematic areas are explained,
Finally, the work in progress and the perspective of the Working Group are provided.

2The role of ADEA

ADEA is a network and a partnership. ADEA is neither a funding agency nor a traditional organization or investment project.
ADEA is a network of:

African Ministries of Education
Development Agencies
Education specialists and researchers
NGOs active in education.

ADEA's mission is to:

Promote dialogue and partnerships
Develop consensus on policy issues facing education in Africa
Reinforce African Ministries' capacities to develop, manage, and implement education policies
Promote the sharing of experiences and successful strategies
Promote nationally-driven education policies, projects, and programs.

More information on ADEA is available at

3Creation of the Working Group

In November 2004 the ADEA Steering Committee created an ad hoc Working Group on Post-Primary Education whose principal focus is on secondary education and skills development. The Steering Committee adopted a holistic and global approach, with issues of post-primary education integrated within a broader context.

3.1Issues

The progress made towards Universal Primary Education in African countries raises the following issues:

Post-primary education

How to assume responsibility for the continuing education of millions of children within the age group 11-16?
Should the obligation to extend schooling be provided as a core curriculum (general education) or be diversified by disciplinary and vocational streams?
What approach would meet the needs of both massification and requirements for quality and equity?

Secondary education

Have the costs and benefits of secondary education been analyzed in comparison with those of primary education in the African context?
What secondary education models should be promoted in Africa that are best adapted to the needs and resources of the varying situations?
What curriculum reforms are necessary to respond to different tensions between needs at local level and international standards, between general education and development of vocational skills, between a common core and separate streams?
How can education be massified or democratized without lowering standards?
How should questions about financing and costs be approached?
How can latent resources in the educational system and society be mobilized; how can schools be made more efficient and unit costs reduced in order to implement sustainable financing for secondary education?
How can a framework of effective policies similar to that for universal primary education be drawn up?

Skills development

What are the possibilities for mass development of skills within basic education? In the primary and/or the post-primary phase? Who are the actors that should be involved?
What African policies and practices have proved effective in this area?
What factors and conditions would make policies more successful?
How can the quality of training be ensured along with its suitability for meeting current and future development needs in Africa?
How to build a credible system for evaluating skills?
What are the sources of financing?
How can the existing structures be brought up to date with global educational practice?

3.2Approach

The Steering Committee envisaged two possible approaches for the ADEA ad hoc Working Group on Post-Primary Education (WGPPE) to take: thefirst was holistic and global, with issues of post-primary education integrated within a broader context, while the second approach would focus on each of the specific target areas in order to explore it in more depth.
In April 2005, an Expert Meeting held in Edinburgh reflected and developed mission, approach, objectives, strategies and elements of a work plan.
In May 2005, the ADEA Steering Committee endorsed the approach for the Working Group as elaborated at the Experts Meeting. The Steering Committee also endorsed a holistic, integrated approach as the guiding principle.

3.3Rationale

The tasks of the Working Group are based on the following rationale:

Post-primary education including skills development have been neglected for a long time;
Urgency to react to the success of EFA in many African countries: What will be the impact on post-primary education of heavy investment by agencies for international cooperation in basic/primary education;
Secondary education will be expanded in Sub-Saharan Africa;
Massive expansion of skills development will be limited by education budgets, due to higher unit costs as compared to primary education;
There are many providers of education and training in each country;
Ministries of education do not cover the whole scope of education, training and skills development.

3.4Objectives

These are the objectives to be attained by the Working Group:

Clarifying the importance of post-primary education for economic and social development (e.g. prevention of HIV/AIDS, promoting healthy life skills, prevention of civil conflicts, promotion of responsible citizenship),
Facilitating greater coherence of various forms and patterns of post-primary education (e.g. public-private partnerships; articulation between formal and non-formal education and training);
Ensuring greater prominence of post-primary education on national development agendas;
Stimulating a broader approach of African ministries of education to education and training beyond their own portfolios.

3.5Strategies

The following strategies will be considered by the Working Group:

Focusing on post-primary education (higher education to be dealt with in other contexts and settings);
Managing the expansion of post-primary education better than was the case for primary education;
Collecting knowledge on post-primary education, as essential data for analytical work are frequently missing;
Background studies to identify the key policy issues in African countries;
Carry out case studies in African countries (to learn about their own experience and to sharethem with other countries);
Identifying good practice in Africa as well as in other parts of the world (e.g. South Asia) – not necessarily to copy them but as a reference to do things differently;
Share failures (bad practices) as well to avoid repeating (duplication) them elsewhere;
Overview of variety of private education and training providers in each country;
Learning from other world regions that went through similar processes (e.g. South Asia);
Making internal savings in order to be able to cope with expansion;
Enter into dialogue with African governments (not only ministers of education) and other stakeholders;
Mobilizing the African network of ADEA throughout the process (e.g. by circulating draft terms of reference).

3.6Expected Outcomes

The work of the WGPPE will hopefully culminate into the development of an indicative framework proposing clear and viable policy options as well as a reform agenda for post-primary education in Africa.

4Programmatic Activities

The following elements were recommended for the work plan of the ADEA ad hoc Working Group on Post-Primary Education:

4.1Advocacy

Advocate for the expansion of access to post-primary education, with both policy-makers and agencies for international cooperation;
Utilizing the existing consultative forums created within the framework of EFA for a holistic view of education;
Creating consensus among ministries dealing with post-primary education;
Address the low status associated with TVET by recommending its integration into or articulation with general secondary education;
Identify among social partners and policy-makers strong advocates (champions) for the integration of TVET.

4.2Analytical/ research activities

Map out stakeholders and models of post-primary education as identified in SEIA and other studies;
Capitalize on existing research and experiences carried out by agencies and research networks (ERNWACA, ERNESA, etc.);
Carry out meta-analyses of the research undertaken by others to tease out strengths and weaknesses in the promotion of an integrated post-primary education;
Develop a statistical database on post-primary education;
Document best practices in order to disseminate them;
Research a cluster of critical competencies/skills relevant to the 21st century.

4.3Capacity building

Build the capacity of local research institutions and individual researchers to undertake a survey and to monitor and implement post-primary education reforms;
Improve and harmonize current statistical management information systems.

5Thematic areas

In the Consultative Meeting in July 2005, six thematic areas were identified for research and analytical work for the first year of operation:

1.Extending the length of basic education to include lower secondary level;
2.Accelerated expansion of secondary education;
3.Reforms of technical and vocational education and training (TVET);
4.Public/private participation in the provision of secondary education and TVET;
5.Localization, decentralization and the role of national qualifications frameworks;
6.Review of labor market and employer surveys to identify skills and competencies that are most in demand.

Thematic Areas of the WGPPE

6Work in progress

Terms of reference have been drafted for all six thematic areas. A first set of analytical studies are underway to be commissioned or have started already:

Expanding basic education to nine years, while at the same time fostering partnerships of schools with their local environments: PRODEC - Programme Décennal (Mali)
The impact of the Harambee Movement on secondary education development and Experience with the 8-4-4 system introduced in 1985 (Kenya)
Accelerating the Expansion of Access to Secondary Education: The 1980-1990 Experience (Zimbabwe)
National qualifications frameworks and their impact on articulation between general secondary education and skills development (South Africa, Namibia, Mauritius). Thefindings will be presented in the current UNESCO Seminar.

7Perspective

The WGPPE is an ad hoc working group rather than a fully-fledged ADEA working group. Its life time will end in late 2006 or early 2007. Its intermediate results will be presented at relevant ADEA and international policy forums. The goal is to develop an indicative framework for policy options in post-primary education.

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