ERNWACA NEWS No. 0 20 Nov. 2002

1. From the Coordinator                                                                                      Accueil                        

2. National Activities – Cameroon

3. Regional Activities – ECOWAS Conference of Education Ministers

4. Research – Community Participation in Education

5. Events

Welcome to No. 0 of "ERNWACA News." This newsletter seeks to promote exchange on education research in and among the 12 member countries of the Education Research Network for West and Central Africa (ERNWACA) and also provide greater visibility for the Network’s activities and products. The ERNWACA National Coordinators at our Strategy Session in February 2002 in Dakar mandated the Regional Coordination to develop this intra-extra network communication tool. We hope it will serve you. Your reactions, suggestions, and contributions are welcome!

• Teaching Training Colloquium – Over one hundred educationalists gathered 28-29 May 2002 at the University of Yaounde I to share their research and reflections on the teaching profession and teacher training in Cameroon. It was agreed that "bench education" administered by the "know-it-all teacher" via books and blackboards is ill adapted to society’s complex needs. Major themes discussed included school as an instrument of change, innovations in classroom pedagogy, the importance of education as a discipline in preparing teachers for their work, the need to balance theory in teacher development programs with more practical knowledge as well as field experience, and the urgent need for sustained support for teachers "close to the classroom." Colloquium organizers included ERNWACA, the Ecole Normale Superieure (ENS) and the UNESCO Doctoral Chair of the Sciences of Education for Central Africa, under the auspices of the Ministry of Higher Education. Colloquium recommendations on teaching training now available (in French).

• World Education Forum – Education and Transformation is the theme for the 2nd World Forum on Education to be held in Porto Allegro, Brazil in January 2003. ERNWACA-Cameroon will lead a discussion on Education and Citizenship. www.forummundialdeeducacao.com.br

• General Assembly – ERNWACA-Cameroon elected its Coordinating Committee members in May 2002 for 2002-05: Pierre Fonkoua, National Coordinator; Therese Tchombe, Scientific Committee President; George Fonkeng, Researcher representative; Elizabeth Tamajong, Administrative and Financial Secretary; Brigitte Matchinda, Secretary of national office; Marie Djuide, Communications Officer. National membership dues were fixed at US $15 for senior researchers and $7.50 for junior researchers.

• Contact – ERNWACA-Cameroon s/c ENS, BP 6746, Yaounde, Tel: (237) 994 36 00, cameroun@rocare.org.

ECOWAS CONFERENCE OF EDUCATION MINISTERS AND EXPERTS

The Regional Coordinator participated in the experts’ meeting prior to the ECOWAS Conference of Education ministers held 24-25 September in Dakar, under the initiative of the Ministers of Education of Senegal and Gambia within the context of the "Decade for Education in Africa (DEWA)." The theme of the Conference was regional integration and sustainable development and in this spirit, the Ministers approved two documents for consideration by African heads of state: a Convention on degree diplomacies within West Africa and a Protocol outlining areas for regional cooperation in education. Four priority thematic issues were identified: girls’ education, teacher training via distance education, scientific/technical and vocational training, HIV/AIDS. An attempt was made to harmonize objectives of DEWA and Education for All (EFA) within NEPAD. Note that ERNWACA initiated the OUA resolution for the "Year of Education" which led to the Decade, and that of the 15 Community members, 12 are ERNWACA member countries. The Conference closed with a Special Motion for peace in Cote d’Ivoire. For more information, visit www.edugambia.gm or contact dewa@hotmail.com.

ERNWACA STUDIES ON COMMMUNITY PARTICTIPATION IN EDUCATION

Context: In Overlooked and Undervalued (1997), ERNWACA notes that the majority of information on greater local participation in school decision making, finance and administration remains descriptive while there is a need for more theoretically framed studies that acknowledge the political implications of major financial and administrative changes within national education systems.

Transnational View of Basic Education: Issues of Access, Quality and Community Participation in West and Central Africa, ERNWACA, January 2002, 222p.

The first part of this study looks at access and retention of students in Cote d’Ivoire and Gambia and finds that a/ demographic growth limits access and retention, b/ religious beliefs have a negative influence on the demand for education, c/ parents’ perception of education determines the length of children’s school careers, and d/ the quality of education is proportionate to access and retention.

The second part of the study looks at relationships between community participation, access and quality in Benin, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali and Togo and finds that community participation is many faceted with uneven impact. It looks at new forms of community participation that have proven effective in increasing access and quality, highlighting the factors that favor community participation as well as the obstacles to improving quality, and notes that communities cannot improve access and quality on their own. It also explores the challenges of integrating communities into the management of educational systems and the constraints that decentralization policies can impose on local populations. The study was conducted with support from the Academy for Educational Development (AED) and USAID in Washington, DC. Link to study (pdf) (also available in French).

Basic Education Cooperation in five francophone West African countries: Community Support to Schools, Synthesis report, ERNWACA, August 2001, 57p.

This study highlights different types of community support to schools and the various results it can have on the management and functioning of schools in Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal, and Togo. It looks in particular at modalities for community-school partnerships, factors that influence the quality of the partnerships positively or negatively, and the implication of communities in ensuring the quality of the educational process. The effectiveness of community support was assessed in part by analyzing the results, over a three-year period, of final primary school examinations and certain math and language tests developed by PASEC of CONFEMEN (see tables in the document). The study also alludes to the impact of the school on community development when partnerships existed. The research was conducted with support from the Paul Gerin-Lajoie Foundation and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) in Canada. Link to study (pdf), available in French only.

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50th Conference of Francophone Ministers of Education on strategies for reinforcing financing and management to improve access and quality of education and training, 17-22 November 2002, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

www.confemen.org

Conference of the Ministers of Education of African Member States on quality Education for All (EFA), 2-6 December, 2002, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

10th General Assembly of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa on Africa in the New Millennium, 8-12 December 2002, Kampala, Uganda

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Bénin • Burkina Faso • Cameroon • Cote d’Ivoire • Gambia •

Ghana • Guinée• Mali • Niger • Nigeria • Sénégal • Sierra Leon • Togo