Botswana

Botswana

October 20, 2006
Posted to the web October 20, 2006

Chandapiwa Baputaki

Statistics from the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals (MDG) indicate that many countries in Africa will find it difficult to make sure that all children complete full primary school education by 2015, University of Botswana Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Frank Youngman has said.

Speaking at the on going African Conference for Basic Education in Gaborone, he explained that the percentage of primary school pupils per 100 children of enrolment age in Sub-Saharan Africa has risen from 53 in 1991 to 64.2 percent in 2004. "This is a very modest increase and the proportion is by far the lowest in the developing regions of the world. I believe it is important that all countries in Africa continue to commit themselves to this goal, which is central to the eradication of poverty in the continent," Youngman stated. He said the second Millennium Development Goals are unequivocal and state that all countries must ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling by 2015. This is the yardstick by which all countries on the continent must be measured, he added. He lamented that for much of Africa, political instability is common and this threatens the attainment of universal basic education. "There are still children who are soldiers of war rather than school children, who are in refugee camps rather than in schools," he noted. He explained that instabilities in political systems impact on economic development and undermine the capacity of countries to generate the resources necessary to expand basic education. Youngman asserted that Africa's position in the globalised economy continues to be one of dependence. This inhibits the economic development on which educational development must be predicated.

He said there is the continuing problem of corruption which leads to national economic resources being re-directed for the personal and selfish benefit of a few, rather than being invested for the public good in sectors such as education. "Other problems include the HIV/AIDS pandemic which is having a very serious impact on the lives of children, creating high levels of orphans, and on teachers, often significantly affecting the numbers at work in the schools," he stated.

Although there are several challenges facing the continent, Youngman indicated that in many countries political and economic progress is being made. "We must hope that these trends will continue because it is evident that democracy, good governance and socio-economic development are the necessary conditions that must be in place if universal primary education is going to be achieved." He noted that one critical aspect of basic education is the provision of early childhood education. While in the developed world it is now mandatory to provide such education, Youngman said this is not yet the case in Africa. In virtually all cases, this level of education is regarded as an optional luxury for the elite who can afford to pay, or as a social welfare service to be provided by NGOs. He said few governments in Africa see early childhood education as essential. "Is this a product of limited resources or a more fundamental failure to understand its significance as a component of basic education? Similarly, the basic education of adults has been shown to have very positive social and economic benefits but many governments fail to provide adult basic education programmes," Youngman said. He mentioned that there are many social barriers to achieving universal primary education. He said many cultural traditions in Africa are patriarchal and there has customarily been an imbalance in the treatment of boys and girls. Traditional gender roles, which continue in contemporary society, lead to many forms of differential treatment between boys and girls, including access to basic schooling. "If universal basic education is to be achieved, the situation of the girl child needs to be given special attention so that all children are treated equally." Youngman indicated that the quality of basic education depends on the quality of preparation that teachers receive. Hence the preparation of teachers needs to be a key part of strategies for basic education and there must be adequate investment in teacher education institutions. This means the challenges faced in achieving quality are multi-dimensional with resource, infrastructure, management and educational facets.

The Millennium Development Goals set 2015 as the target for achieving universal primary education but a key question facing the Gaborone conference is whether this is a realistic target for African countries.