eBook

Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

Majgaard, Kirsten, Mingat, Alain

2012

Overview

As in most countries worldwide, Sub-Saharan African countries are striving to build their human capital so they can compete for jobs and investments in an increasingly globalized world. In this region, which includes the largest number of countries that have not yet attained universal primary schooling, the ambitions and aspirations of Sub-Saharan African countries and their youth far exceed this basic goal. Over the past 20 years, educational levels have risen sharply across Sub-Saharan Africa. Already hard at work to provide places in primary schools for all children, most countries of the region are also rapidly expanding access to secondary and tertiary levels of education. Alongside this quantitative push is a growing awareness of the need to make sure that students are learning and acquiring the skills needed for life and work. Achieving education of acceptable quality is perhaps an even greater challenge than providing enough school places for all. Thus, Sub-Saharan African countries are simultaneously confronting many difficult challenges in the education sector, and much is at stake. This book gives those concerned with education in Sub-Saharan Africa an analysis of the sector from a cross-country perspective, aimed at drawing lessons that individual country studies alone cannot provide. A comparative perspective is useful not only to show the range of possibilities in key education policy variables but also to learn from the best performers in the region. (Although the report covers 47 Sub- Saharan African countries whenever possible, some parts of the analysis center on the region's low-income countries, in particular, a sample of 33 low-income countries). Although countries ultimately must make their own policy choices and decide what works best in their particular circumstances, Sub-Saharan African countries can benefit from learning about the experiences of other countries that are faced with, or have gone through, similar development paths. Given the large number of countries included in the analysis, the book finds that Sub-Saharan African countries have more choices and more room for maneuver than will appear if attention were focused on only one or a few country experiences. Countries can make better choices when understanding the breadth of policy choices available to them. They are well advised, however, to evaluate the applicability of policy options to their contexts and to pilot and evaluate the results for performance and subsequent improvement.

• Publisher: World Bank,World Bank Publications,The World Bank,Washington, DC: World Bank
• Subject: Access to Information / Access to Secondary Education / adults / Africa, Sub-Saharan / Age Cohort / Allocation to Primary Schools / Average Education Level / average primary completion rate / average teacher salaries / Average Teacher Salary / basic education / basic education cycle / Bildung / class sizes / Class-size / classrooms / cognitive skills / Community involvement / community teachers / Comparative analysis / country studies / Cross-national analysis / curriculum / data on dropout rates / Distance to School / dropout rates / Education / Education -- Africa, Sub-Saharan -- Finance / Education -- Africa, Sub-Saharan -- Finance -- Statistics / Education and state / Education and state -- Africa, Sub-Saharan / Education Expenditure / Education For All / Education Policies / education policy / education programs / education sector / Education Spending / education statistics / education system / Education Systems / Educational Attainment / educational institutions / educational levels / Educational Outcomes / Educational Quality / Educational resources / effective learning / Effectiveness of Education / Effectiveness of Education Systems / Effects of Education / Enrollment Data / enrollment rates / Expansion of Education / Female Teachers / final grade / Finance / Finanzierung / first grade / formal education / free textbooks / Gender Disparities / Gender Disparity / gender equity / Gender Gap / Gender Parity / Gender Parity Index / General Secondary Education / GER / Girls / Gross Enrollment / Gross Enrollment Rate / gross enrollment ratio / gross intake ratio / Health Care / high dropout / high dropout rate / high rates of teacher absenteeism / Higher Education / higher education institutions / Household Surveys / Human Development / Instructional Time / intake rate / intake rates / interventions / Knowledge Development / Learning / Learning Achievement / Learning Outcomes / Level of Education / Levels of Education / Life Expectancy / Literacy / literacy skills / Lower Secondary Education / Mathematics / ministries of education / Multigrade classes / multigrade teaching / number of repeaters / Number of Schools / number of students / number of teachers / Out-of-School Children / Parent-Teacher Association / Preschool education / Primary Completion / Primary Completion Rate / Primary Completion Rates / Primary Cycle / Primary Education / Primary Education Coverage / Primary education spending / primary gross enrollment / primary gross enrollment rate / Primary Level / Primary School Completion / Primary School Completion Rates / Primary School Construction / primary school costs / primary school fees / primary school participation / Primary school students / primary school teacher / Primary Schooling / Primary Schools / Primary Teacher / Primary-School / primary-school-age / primary-school-age children / primary-school-age population / Public Education Spending / Public Expenditure / Pupil-Teacher Ratio / pupil-teacher ratios / Quality Education / Radio / Reading / Regional Education / Repetition / retention of pupils / retention of students / Retention Rates / Rural Areas / sanitation / sanitation facilities / Scholarship Program / School administration / School Attendance / School Census / school censuses / School Children / School Construction / School Coverage / School Distribution / School Effectiveness / school enrollments / school entrance age / School Entry / school fees / school furniture / School infrastructure / school level / school life / School management / School management and organization / School management and organization -- Africa, Sub-Saharan / school places / school principals / School Retention / school year / Schooling / Schools / Schulbesuch / Schule / Secondary School / skilled personnel / skilled workers / Skills Development / social benefits / Statistics / Student Flow / Student Learning / student learning outcomes / Sub-Saharan Africa / Subsahara-Afrika / Teacher / Teacher Absenteeism / Teacher Deployment / teacher education / Teacher Recruitment / teacher salaries / Teachers / tertiary education / Test Scores / textbook / Textbooks / training programs / Unemployment Rate / unemployment rates / Universal Basic Education / universal primary completion / universal primary education / universal primary school completion / universal primary schooling / Vitamin A / vocational education / youth
• ISBN: 9780821388891, 9780821388907, 0821388908, 0821388894