Mar 29, 2007
Comparative Approaches to Strengthening the Education Pipeline in Africa
AAI, in cooperation with the House Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, held its first Africa Thursday Congressional Seminar of the 110th Congress. The meeting was co-hosted by Mora McLean, AAI’s President and CEO and Representative Donald M. Payne (10th District, New Jersey), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs’ Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health.
The discussion focused on the need for funders to develop a multi-sectoral approach to the education sector in Africa. Panelists discussed comparative approaches to primary, secondary and tertiary initiatives which support Africa’s education sector and broadly considered opportunities for multi-sector program collaboration and development.
Panelists included:
- Desmond Bermingham
Head, Education-for-All Fast-Track Initiative, The World Bank
Former Head of Profession, Education, Department for International Development, (DFID) London
Desmond Bermingham has worked in the education sector as a teacher, trainer, education manager and senior education adviser for over 20 years. In his position as Head of the FTI Secretariat, he leads a team responsible for implementing the Millennium Development Goal of providing good quality primary education to all children. Previously, Bermingham was Head of Profession for the education team in the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) and worked closely with the UK Treasury team in preparing the 2006 commitment of $10 billion to education over the next 10 years.
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Dr. Sarah Moten
Director, Africa Education Initiative (AEI)
Chief, Africa Bureau, Education Division
USAID
Dr. Moten is the Division Chief for the Africa Bureau’s Education portfolio, managing a team of education professionals that provides technical assistance to 16 African bilateral education programs. She is also the manager for President Bush’s Africa Education Initiative which will provide $600 million of funds to support Africa’s education programs. Dr. Moten also serves as USAID’s representative to the inter-agency East Africa Counter Terrorism Initiative. Previously, Dr. Moten was Director of International Affairs at the University of the District of Columbia; Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Refugee Assistance (Department of State); and Peace Corps Country Director in Swaziland, Kenya and Sierra Leone.
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Professor Benno Ndulu
Advisor to the Vice President and Manager, Partnership Group
Africa Region, The World Bank
Professor Benno Ndulu recently joined the Africa region of the World Bank where he serves as an Advisor to the Vice President and Manager of the region’s partnership program. Prior to that, he served as a Research Manager for Bank-wide Research Support in the office of the World Bank’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President. He is best known for his involvement in setting up and developing one of the most effective research and training networks in Africa, the African Economic Research Consortium.
Summary:
Dr. Sarah Moten opened the session with an overview of the work of USAID’s Africa Education Initiative (AEI) which focuses on increasing access to quality basic education in Africa through scholarships, textbooks, and teacher training programs. It is estimated that over the life of USAID's AEI (2002-2010), 80 million African children will benefit. AEI is also working to bridge the gender gap by providing 550,000 scholarships by 2010 to African girls at the primary and secondary levels. Underlining the interconnectedness between successes in different education sectors, Dr. Moten, explained that AEI’s desire to improve the primary education sector also required developing, promoting, and expanding innovative methods for training African teachers and administrators. She underlined the importance of partnerships with local education ministries as well as the private sector in rolling out initiatives like the AEI and urged coordination between donors and donor programs to ensure that initiatives were more efficient and targeted.
Desmond Bermingham of the World Bank’s Fast Track Initiative (FTI) opened his presentation by underling the extraordinary progress developing countries were making in the field of primary education. He said he believed that the Millennium Goal of universal primary education could be achieved on schedule by 2015. He echoed Dr. Moten’s point regarding the interconnectedness of education sectors and said that the goal of primary education could not be achieved unless all education sectors were connected in an overall strategic plan. Progress at the secondary and tertiary education levels as well as at the primary level was critical he said to creating a lasting multi-sector impact. This rationale of interconnectedness was reflected, he said, in the FTI’s requirement that countries seeking to partner with the World Bank under the FTI needed to produce a sector-wide education plan as part of the funding process. Mr. Bermingham also shared some insights from his experience heading up DFID’s education initiatives and discussed the UK’s multi-party commitment in 2006 to spend US$15 billion over ten years on education in Africa.
Professor Benno Ndulu’s presentation focused on the importance of tertiary education to Africa’ development. Professor Ndulu agreed with Desmond Bermingham’s upbeat assessment of the direction of primary education in Africa. The investment and effort in supporting basic education over the last decade and a half are paying off he said and Africa is commendably closing the gap with other regions. However while consolidating this gain, Africa also needs pay attention in order to avoid the widening gap between the primary and tertiary sectors in order to support resurging economic growth. The ability to take advantage of new technology to grow economies depends on skills and he said there needed to be a greater investment in higher education.
Panelists' Presentations:
Download Professor Benno Ndulu’s Presentation
Download Desmond Bermingham’s Presentation
Other Links:
USAID’s Africa Education Initiative (AEI)
The World Bank’s Fast Track Initiative (FTI)
The World Bank Africa Region