EDITORIALFunding a fair education systemRaising the issue of funding education through household contributions andmaking a study of household costs for different levels of education has theeffect of prompting debate. Discussion of these issues was previously stifled bythe Dakar “consensus” and its implementation by states and their partners infavour of implementing a (long-awaited) resolution to achieve Universal PrimaryEducation (UPE).

The consensus – to push for UPE – was reached between proponents of twodifferent visions for education and its funding: those defending a “right toeducation” and those with the economist’s view of education as an “individualand collective investment in development” had no difficulties in agreeing uponthe necessity of free education at primary school level. As such, the issue of(state/private) education funding for the entire education system was shelvedin favour of a macro-financial roadmap (based on funding shortfalls) forimplementing “credible” education plans.

The success of the UPE initiative, and its effects on the post-primary schooldemographic, show that the issue of funding – not only in overall terms, but asa system of individual incentives which would make education policies bothfairer and more efficient – should be a major factor in determining thesoundness of education plans. Often, making education free is not enough toensure that all children have access to and are able to complete primary school.At the same time, in higher education, the significant part of public funding andcontinuing financial incentives for individuals which do not correspond to actualjob market needs are distorting demand for education. Furthermore, they haveinverted the redistribution of collective funds and, most of all, deprive the systemof means for reform (quality higher education geared towards supplyingeconomies with what they need, mass TVET, additional support for basiceducation, etc.).

By showing that the percentage of total education funding contributed byhouseholds decreases for higher levels of education, the data gathered by thePôle de Dakar highlights the unfair nature of current education policies (see ourreport). It should provide the opportunity to go beyond this observation andassess how much room for manoeuvre there is for defining policies more in linewith the Dakar framework, which would be the result of a partial privatization ofsecondary and higher education funding.

Jean-Pierre JaroussePôle de Dakar Coordinator

United NationsEducational, Scientific and

Cultural Organization

NEWS

UNESCO unveils its action plan for teachers 2

Pôle de Dakar extends its scope of activity 2

Support for upcoming projects in Mali 3

REPORT

How much do African families spend on education? 4

A reply from the civil society: Interview with Gorgui Sow, from ANCEFA 6

IN THE COUNTRIES 7

IN BRIEF

New publications 8

Start of a new PSGSE school year 8

ON THE AGENDA 8

The Pôle de Dakar Newsletter - JANUARY 2010

Dakar OfficeRegional Bureau for Educationin Africa

°15

In front of an audience of 200 peopleattending the Bamako+5 Conferenceon Contractual Teachers in October, theUNESCO Regional Bureau forEducation in Africa (BREDA) unveiledits teacher policy action plan in Africancountries. From this year, the countrieswill be assisted, by Pôle de Dakaramong others, in analysing theirteacher policies and identifyingpossible improvements.

“The UNESCO Teacher TrainingInitiative for Sub-Saharan Africa,TTISSA, has developed an analyticaltool to address the teacher issue. Today,at the end of a participative process ofreflexion, UNESCO is ready to makethis flexible analytical tool available toAfrican countries, which will enablethem to improve their knowledge onthis complex matter and to facilitate thecreation of new and more comprehensive

Increasingly in demand from countriesto work on medium-term expenditureframeworks (MTEF) in education, Pôlede Dakar organised a training sessionon this theme for its education policyanalysts in December.

“MTEFs are a valuable tool becausethey ensure the coherence of agovernment’s plans for education, theconcrete steps necessary to achievethem and their integration in thecountry’s budget”, maintains BlandineLedoux, education policy analyst at thePôle de Dakar and training organiser.“When costing the actions to beundertaken over a three year period,MTEFs are key in moving from theobjective definition phase to operationalimplementation of educational policy.”

teacher policies,” announced AnnTherese Ndong-Jatta, head of BREDA,to the conference delegates.

The purpose of this sub-regionalconference, which took place from 27-29 October last year, was to assessprogress made since 2004 in Africancountries on the issues of primaryschooling and of contractual teachers’working conditions. It also aimed tothink about new ways of improvingcontractual teachers’ career develop-ment. On this occasion, Pôle de Dakarpresented an analysis of thedevelopments in primary schoolingsince 2004.

The TTISSA initiativegoes operationalUNESCO organised a two-day workshop,in the form of a pre-conference, in anaim to draw up an operational strategy

for BREDA. The launch of the TTISSAanalyses in countries was the mainfocus of the work, but enhancingteacher skills and training establishmentperformance as well as incorporatingcommunication and informationtechnologies in teacher training weretopics that were also addressed.

Pôle de Dakar again highlighted theresults of the study published in 2009on the teacher challenge and universalprimary schooling in Africa. The contentof the TTISSA methodological guide,which aims to prepare the ground foranalyses, was also presented in detail.Finally, the decision was made to createa steering committee for TTISSA. Theinitial tasks of this committee, whichmet for the first time in January 2010,were to set out selection criteria forbeneficiary countries as well as plan anoperational timetable.

UNESCO unveils its action plan for teachers

Thus, from 8-10 December last year,four specialists in the subject wereinvited to present the tool in detail, aswell as their MTEF implementationmethods for the educational sector. Afairly wide variety of practices came tolight, and Pôle de Dakar is taking theminto account when defining its own.

As Jean-Pierre Jarousse, Pôle deDakar coordinator, emphasises, “theexpertise which we are currentlydeveloping will further prolong thesupport we already offer in the financialanalysis of education – in sectorialdiagnostics – and in financial frameworks.It also enables us to make progress insetting up financial simulation models,progress which will soon be reflected inthe content of our distance training.”

Since December, Côte d’Ivoire andCameroon have requested Pôle deDakar’s support in implementingMTEFs.

Pôle de Dakar extends its scope of activity

The Pôle de Dakar Newsletter - JANUARY 2010

2

1 Two consultants as well as two advisors fromthe United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) Pole – Development Strategies andPublic Finance. http://pnud1. web.officelive.com/

Last September, an agreement wasreached in Paris which will enable Malito feel secure in entering the thirdphase of its Education SectorInvestment Programme. Education andFinance Ministry representatives forMali, and the country’s main technicaland financial partners agreed oneducation policy priorities to implementand finance for 2010-2012.

“The September workshop provided anopportunity to discuss with our partnersand make strategic choices for oureducation system,” noted Youba Ba, theAdministrative and Financial Directorfor the Ministry of Education, Literacyand National Languages in Mali. “Overthe next few years, one of our prioritiesis to provide a basic nine year educationto the greatest possible number ofchildren. We also wish to go forwardwith the decentralisation of oureducational system, and to providemore short technical and vocationaltraining schemes.”

Establishing a financial simulation, toground discussions between the Maliangovernment and its partners, took up alarge part of the workshop. The aim of

the financial simulation model, whichwas devised with the support of thePôle de Dakar and the World Bank, wasto explore education policy options anddetermine their achievability. AsGuillaume Husson, an education policyanalyst at the Pôle de Dakar, explained:“The principle underlying a financialsimulation model is to establish aprojection, over several years, for both acountry’s resources and theexpenditure associated with variouseducation policy options, and then tocompare the two to determine whetherthese options are sound.”

Thus, taking 2020 as a cut-off point,the simulation model was used, on theone hand, to estimate nationalresources which could be madeavailable to the education sector in Mali.On the other hand, it projected costs forimplementing various policies backedby Malian officials, for all educationsub-sectors. By comparing costs andresources, it was then possible forthose involved to establish and selectthe more realistic options, anddetermine funding requirements for theeducation system.

“The final product is the result ofsustained discussions; it is a testimonialto the Malian authorities’ commitmentto achieving universal primaryeducation as quickly as the country’stechnical and financial situation willallow,” stated Laurent Cortese, untilrecently a Project Manager at theFrench Development Agency. “Threehigh priority areas were earmarked forsupport: continuing the school-buildingprogramme, putting measures in placeto overcome regional inequalities andimproving student mobility betweendifferent levels of education.”

Since the September workshop, nineregional financial simulation models,applying national objectives on aregional level have been indevelopment. Furthermore, the countryis preparing another Fast Track InitiativeCatalytic Fund application.

Support for upcoming projects in Mali

Along with Malian officials,nine representatives from technical and

financial partners (including the Pôle deDakar) attended the workshop organised

by the French Development Agency tosupport the Malian Education Sector

Investment Programme.

3

The Pôle de Dakar Newsletter - JANUARY 2010

4

The issue of education costs to families,long overlooked in discussions inAfrica, is now being raised in relation totwo problems. On the one hand,families’ ability to contribute toeducation funding is becoming apressing topic with African stateslooking to fund expansions in theireducation systems. On the other, moreand more analyses reveal inequitablepolicies at work in many countries, andthat education costs often constitute anobstacle to education, particularly inthe poorest areas.

The issue of education costs for families, which until now hadreceived little attention, has thus become a priority. Over thepast two years or so, Pôle de Dakar has been investigatingthe matter in a number of studies and work on establishing amethodological framework. This report sets out some of theresults emerging from ongoing work, in particular thosetaken from a preliminary analysis of 18 sub-Saharan Africancountries1. It also presents the main outlines of themethodological challenge faced by analysts.

A vital contribution to education systems

Over the 18 African countries which were part of the study,3.6% of household expenditure, on average, goes towardseducation. However, this figure is subject to significantvariation from country to country. In the Congo, Chad andNiger, for example, the average household devotes less than1% of its total expenditure to education. In Uganda andBenin, the percentage is 10 or 13 times more.

The proportion of this household expenditure in nationaleducation spending2 shows families playing a significantpart in funding education services: on average, theircontribution makes up 32.1% of total expenditure. Thismeans that households contribute half as much as the statedoes towards education. In some countries, households evencontribute more towards education than the state. In SierraLeone, in particular, household contributions make up 58%of all education funding.

How much do African families spend on education?

Similar financial burdens, but differentopportunities for poor and affluent households

Evaluating education expenditure based on householdwealth is one particular aspect which Pôle de Dakar hasexamined. Analyses show that well-off households generallydevote a higher proportion of expenditure to education.Thus, over 16 countries, 4% of total household expenditurewent towards education for more affluent households, onaverage, while this figure was 2.8% for the pooresthouseholds. Overall, however, there is not a huge differencebetween the two... There is enough evidence to conclude thateducation makes up a similar proportion of a poorhousehold’s budget as that of an affluent one.

However, the chances of children from well-off households ofentering education are much higher than those of childrenfrom poor backgrounds. Indeed, over half of those who didnot go through education come from the poorest 40% ofhouseholds. To explain this, one must understand that,

1 Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad , the Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Djibouti,Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal,Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Togo and Uganda. Data has been gathered from anumber of household budget surveys, carried out between 2001 and2006.

2 Private (household) and public (state) spending combined.

© Pôle de Dakar / Thierry BONNET

. . . .>

5

overall, household contributions make up a greater partof education funding for lower school years (primary andlower secondary school) than for higher years (uppersecondary school and higher education) (see graph). Onemay deduce that education costs may therefore constitute aneconomic obstacle to education for less affluent households.

between the number of children educated at that level.However, refining this technique is an endeavour which haskept Pôle de Dakar busy for several months.

Indeed, as Ibrahima Dao and Mireille Ravelojaona, both Pôlede Dakar statisticians, explained: “Our estimates must alsotake into account the fact that certain costs, such astransport or books, are not proportional to the number ofchildren. Moreover, a household with an income of 10,000Francs a month and one which earns 20 times that willprobably not spend the same amount on education for theirchildren, and will not spend it in the same way.”

A new technique for estimates therefore aims to takehousehold behaviour (such as choosing a private or a publiceducational institution, for example), into account, as well ascertain factors which are likely to influence spending oneducation: income, geographic location (rural/urban), sex ofthe household head and the children. Currently, the Pôle deDakar is continuing its research, using data from ten Africancountries, with the aim of drawing regional comparisons.

Perc

enta

ge

of

nat

ion

al e

xpen

dit

ure

pro

vid

ed b

y h

ou

seh

old

s

Education level

20Primary

29.2

45.8

41.3

22.0

32.1

Secondary 1 Secondary 2 Higher education

25

30

35

40

45

50

Source : Pôle de Dakar

Proportion of household expenditure in total national educationexpenditure, by education level

Who benefits from education expenditure?

Studies also show that poor households benefit less fromnational education expenditure than affluent households.Indeed, few children from poor households reach the higherlevels of education. For example, only one in ten students inhigher education come from the poorest 40% of households.Conversely, children who stay in education longest areusually from affluent and urban backgrounds.

Furthermore, educational resources tend to be unevenlydistributed. On average, in the countries studied, almost halfof the total education expenditure was monopolized by themost educated 10% of individuals, throughout theiracademic careers. In countries such Madagascar, SierraLeone, Senegal or Uganda, 60% to 70% of nationaleducation investments are used by those with the mosteducation, who are also more privileged to start off with.

A different distribution of state expenditure could play a partin reducing these disparities and provide more equalopportunities for young people from different backgrounds.However, in all the countries in the study, the way publiceducation budgets are spent reinforces the already highlevels of social selectivity in attaining higher levels ofeducation.

. . . .>

Estimating household education expenses presents realmethodological difficulties, because very few surveys havebeen devoted specifically to this question. However,household surveys such as “household budget” are carriedout regularly in the countries being studied. These provideinformation on which household members are in educationand related costs.

These surveys are also an invaluable source for the datawhich Pôle de Dakar uses as a basis for its studies. But theconcrete methodological difficulty is that, in many cases,education expenses are recorded collectively, for the entirehousehold. The challenge therefore consists in finding areliable estimate for how much households spend onaverage on each child in education, depending on whatlevel of education they are at.

This methodological issue, which has rarely been tackled,requires significant work. Initially, the Pôle de Dakar used aneconometric technique for estimates which, broadlyspeaking, consisted in splitting total household educationexpenditure between different education levels, then

How are household education expenses calculated?

The Pôle de Dakar Newsletter - JANUARY 2010

6

Gorgui Sow is the regional coordinator for the Africa NetworkCampaign on Education for All (ANCEFA), an organisationwhich contains 32 national coalitions and whose aim is toallow the African civil society an opportunity to campaign fora free education for all. Mr Sow is responding to the firstfigures from the Pôle de Dakar on the cost of education tofamilies.

In what way do these first figures on the cost ofeducation to families contribute to the debate on thefinancing of education in Africa?These first figures serve to show us the importance of therole that must be played by African government in publiceducation. They bring to light and document threefundamental problems with the educational funding in Africa.The first problem is the poverty of households in comparisonto their demand for education. The figures show that thedemand for education is only satisfied if the households areable to contribute financially to their children’s education.Thus the poverty of households is indeed an obstacle toeducation. To put it another way: the question of the right toeducation is becoming more and more rhetorical, as the onlyhouseholds who have access to this right are those withsufficient resources to send their children to school and keepthem there.

The second problem is in the matter of equity. In everyAfrican country, the question of exclusion from schoolconcerns the majority of children and public education isunder threat. Poorer children have difficulty in entering publiceducation, which in its turn has difficulty in maintainingstandards. With the result that households which have themeans send their children to private school. This brings us tothe third problem, which is the increase in the privatisation ofeducation. This privatisation is no longer restricted to highereducation but is gradually spreading to secondary, middleand primary levels.

ANCEFA demands free education for everyone. How doyou feel when you see that, taking all levels of educationinto account, the system currently favours better offfamilies?We have the same reaction: it is an even stronger reaction togovernments which are not ready to make an effort toprovide public education for poor families and to thosegroups which are excluded today from the educationalsystem. For ANCEFA, the current educational systems,

A reply from the civil society:Interview with Gorgui Sow, from ANCEFA

particularly in French-speaking countries, are not founded onan African vision, but on a colonial and elitist approach. Forwhoever speaks of elitist system is speaking of selection,exclusion and marginalisation and only speaks of thingswhich are contrary to an endogenous development.

But our case does not stop there. It also calls to account theWorld Bank and the International Monetary Fund, whichencourage the hiring of teachers who are less well qualifiedto teach the poor. We recognize that a large-scalerecruitment of contractual teachers has allowed forconsiderable progress to be made in the matter of access.Nonetheless, the question of the quality of schooling for thepoorest children remains. To reconcile both access andquality, our organisation therefore demands that, firstly, theresources allocated by the African governments to educationare increased. Secondly, we demand the revision of nationalteacher training and professionalization policies.

How can your organisation take into account all thesefactors whilst still continuing to promote free educationfor the poorest?These factors can fuel research for our cause in theframework of our Observatory for education in Africa, byputting facts at the disposal of the national coalitions thatthey often do not have the means of gathering themselves.Furthermore, they support our cause in favour of educationas a prime contributor to democracy. That families contributeso much to the funding of education is an aberration forANCEFA, because there are some very rich countries inAfrica. The problem is that the African governments haveother priorities than education, the first being often securityand the preservation of power.

The financing of education is not an easy question, but thatdoes not mean there is not a solution. This year, ANCEFAand the Global Campaign for Education are launching the“1Goal” campaign, in partnership with the FIFA (FédérationInternationale de Football Association). It is a way ofattracting the attention of the decision-makers of this worldto the fact that it is in our interest to put more money intoeducation and to protect the interests of communities,especially the poorest, if we want to achieve the MillenniumDevelopment Goals.

7

In 2009In 2009, 14 African countries received or requested direct support from the Pôle de Dakar with regards to sector analysis ineducation, financial frameworks and defining education policies. By helping to devise credible plans for developing education systems,these support activities will enable most of the countries to prepare Fast Track Initiative Catalytic Fund applications. Below are themain outlines of the steps taken in each country as of this date.

STEPSPROCESS PÔLE DE DAKAR ACTIVITIES

1. Receive a request fromnational authorities

2. Sector analysis launchand assembling of a national team

3. Collating and analysing data,writing the report

4. National restitution

Sector analysis

Support request

Financial frameworkand defining education

policies

Writingnational strategy

and programme papers

Requestfor complementary

financing

5. Setting up financialsimulation models

6. Establishing numbersfor different education policy scenarios

7. Education policy paper

8. Devising or updatingthe education sector plan

9. Framework for medium-termexpenditure

10. Applicationto the Fast Track Initiative’s

Catalytic Fund

• Cameroon• Cape Verde• Chad

• Mauritania• The Gambia• Uganda

• Gabon

• Niger• Rwanda

• Tanzania

• Guinea-Bissau• Mali

• Côte d’Ivoire

• Malawi

This October, the Dakar francophone digital campus welcomedthe third promotion of candidates to the Sector Policy andEducation Systems Management (PSGSE) training. Altogether,29 new candidates from four African countries will devote theirenergies to completing the distance learning postgraduatecourse which runs till December 2010.

“In 2007, I took part in an evaluation project involving Protestantschools in Cameroon,” explained Blaise Yonta Tamougue, a newPSGSE candidate. “But I felt I lacked the adequate training...It was then that I decided Iwanted to acquire newskills in this area.” Headded: “This first groupmeeting on campus hasput me at ease. Beforecoming, I was unsureabout how the distance

learning course would work, and was worried I did not have the prerequisite technicalskills. Not only were my worries put to rest, but I quickly picked up the fundamentalsof evaluation through the classes I took.”

Start of a new PSGSE school year

The Pôle de Dakar Newsletter - JANUARY 2010

8

Members of staff and candidates got to know one another in Dakar.From left to right: Beïfith Kouak Tiyab (a tutor at the Pôle deDakar), Bamba Déthialaw Dieng (a tutor at the Education andTraining Sciences and Technologies Faculty at UCAD), KoritéNandjingar (a candidate from Chad), and Blaise Yonta Tamougue(a candidate from Cameroon).

The current state of educational systems in Africa: country files and regional files 2010Pôle de Dakar

Issued for the first time in 2005, the files produced by Pôle de Dakar have acquired theirreputation from the way that they synthesize the current state of affairs in the Africaneducational systems – in two pages with pictures and using key indicators. In the new seriesfor 2010, there is a major innovation: in addition to the 53 country files there are now regionalfiles, corresponding to the country groupings. There are four types of grouping: bygeographical zone, by level of development, by regional economic community and byUNESCO cluster office activity zone.

New publicationsAvailable online: www.poledakar.org

UNESCO-BREDA12, avenue Léopold-Sédar-Senghor, 3rd floorB.P. 3311 - Dakar (Sénégal)Tel. : +221 33 849 59 79Fax : +221 33 821 35 25www.poledakar.org

The Pôle de Dakar is a platform of expertiseattached to the UNESCO Regional Bureaufor Education in Africa.

The articles contained in this publicationexpress Pôle de Dakar's ideas and opinions anddo not necessarily reflect those of UNESCO.

The Pôle de Dakar newsletter is publishedthree times a year, in English and French; it isonly published electronically.

Publication Director Jean-Pierre Jarousse,Editor in Chief Katia Vianou, Editorial TeamKatia Vianou Copyreading MartineBoulanger, French > English translationJaderoad Translations, Ramsgate, UK, Layoutby Reg’, Régis L'Hostis, Dakar.

Write to the Pôle Mag team: katia.vianou@poledakar.org

ON THE AGENDA

JANUARY 2010

• Launch of a financial framework support for Cameroon

• Launch of a sector analysis for Mauritania

FEBRUARY 2010

• Launch of a sector analysis for the Gambia

• Virtual meeting of the 3rd promotion of PSGSE students