In this world of limited resources, anyone involved in efforts to spur development in Africa should be prepared to consider the ramifications of alternative approaches, choose between competing objectives, and establish priorities. The trade-offs involved in improving education, and how education impacts economic growth were among themes explored in several dialogues sponsored by AAI over the course of 2007. Altogether, these dialogues exposed the fallacies of three persistent misconceptions, namely that:

1) any kind schooling is better than none at all;
2) improving primary and secondary education and strengthening higher education are discrete, unrelated and inherently competing goals; and
3) advanced degree and professional training inevitably leads to “brain drain” which, in turn, is a net loss to developing countries, especially in Africa.

Operationally the first misconception that any schooling is better than none, has led to overemphasis on educational access and attainment—a tendency to measure results in terms of the number of children in school and the amount of schooling they acquire, rather than in terms of student performance and quality of output. For many policy makers and politicians around the world, quantitative measures have special appeal because they provide a simple way of demonstrating progress to meet high public expectations. But sacrificing quality education for quantity is counterproductive, and often leads to other problems.

A letter I received from one senior African government official earlier this year illustrates this point:

[Our country] has a serious backlog, dating back to the colonial era, in terms of human resource development. The Government…has expended substantial resources, about 30 percent of [the] national budget since independence, to address this situation. The efforts of Government and other stakeholders notwithstanding, the education sector continues to experience serious problems as evidenced by low pass rate in secondary schools and other indicators.

This experience is widespread across the African continent, with under-resourced systems struggling to respond to increasing student enrollments and with high drop-out rates.

As participants heard at AAI's March 2007 Africa Thursday Congressional Seminar on “Comparative Approaches to Strengthening the Education Pipeline in Africa”, lessons learned from the undue attention to quantity also helped to reshape the UN-inspired Education for All (EFA) movement from a global commitment to simply provide primary education for all children and reduce adult illiteracy, to one explicitly aimed at achieving quality basic education for all by 2015.

Desmond Bermingham, Head of the Education for All Fast-Track Initiative (FTI)—a global partnership between developing countries and donors to accelerate progress toward the EFA goal—told our audience, comprised primarily of congressional members and staffers, that partner countries under FTI commit themselves to “develop sound education sector programs through broad-based consultation and demonstrate results on key performance indicators.”

The second misconception—that higher education is an enemy and can only be strengthened at the expense of basic education—is the unintended consequence of cost-benefit analyses that have led donors and African governments to making a false choice between supporting either basic or higher education.

In the Winter 2006/2007 edition of AAIONLINE, I referred to analysis of data from around the world that shows a correlation between societies with strong education systems and ones with strong human development indices. The evidence is clear that with education people are better prepared to prevent disease and maintain good health; individual wages and national economic growth rates increase; and democracy and political stability are more likely to take root and be sustained.

Access to higher education in particular correlates with technological advancement, political stability, global competitiveness and economic prosperity.

Moreover, a key ingredient of quality education is quality teaching, which in turn is a function of advanced training for teachers and school administrators. The practical reality is that higher education is the highest leveraging point for strengthening performance all along the education pipeline.

Responding to this concern, Mr. Bermingham provided some reassurance by pointing out that the Education for All Fast-Track Initiative “supports primary education as part of an overall education strategy,” a sector-wide approach that encompasses secondary, tertiary as well as adult literacy and vocational training.

Dr. Benno Ndulu, a Tanzanian economist and Special Advisor to President Kikwete of Tanzania and to the World Bank Vice President for Africa, was even more emphatic about the importance of taking a holistic approach. He noted that one consequence of two decades of neglect of African tertiary education institutions is that, while the investment in basic education now appears to be paying off, African higher education has now fallen way behind other regions of the world.

Citing research showing that, on average, the impact of just one additional year of tertiary education in Africa would be to boost economic growth by more than half a percentage point, Professor Ndulu took the position that:

Africa needs to ratchet up its attention to closing the widening gap in tertiary education as a matter of urgency to support resurging economic growth.

The third misconception, which assumes that advanced training for Africans, including especially scholarships to study abroad, inevitably leads to a permanent loss of talent from the Continent obscures variations in the international flow of human capital, and it applies a double standard. The subtext of otherwise legitimate concerns about “brain drain”—the emigration of trained professionals—from Africa often seems to be that Africans should be discouraged, if not prevented from doing what other talented and ambitious people around the world have done from time immemorial, which is to seek to expand their horizons.

The double standard notwithstanding, the analysis of human capital flows reveals that although people may leave home, they don't necessarily do so permanently; and even when they do maintain permanent residence abroad, they are likely to contribute to improving conditions back home in significant ways.

The validity of this research is borne out by our experience at The Africa-America Institute. AAI alumni—Africans who have benefited from AAI education programs—are high performers in academics and in their professions, and return to their home countries at the rate of 90 percent and higher. A 2004 impact assessment commissioned by the U.S. Agency for International Development found that its “multi-million dollar investment in long-term training for over 40 years produced significant and sustained changes that furthered African development in measurable ways.” This assessment evaluated the results of programs that were managed by AAI, and that involved selection, placement, orientation monitoring and follow-on activities for Africans from 52 African countries. The study found, among other things, that “brain drain” was contained—not worsened—by the major contributions participants made in their home country institutions and sectors that multiplied opportunities, improved the learning environment, and raised hopes for young, upcoming professionals.” (See Generations of Quiet Progress: The Development Impact of U.S. Long-Term University Training on Africa from 1963 to 2003.)

By highlighting these three misconceptions, AAI hopes to steer governments, donor agencies and education practitioners away from their pitfalls. We welcome your comments and insights.

As we approach the year-end, I'd like to ask you to make it possible for AAI to continue these and other education programs by contributing toward our 2007 Annual Appeal. On behalf of all of us at AAI, thank you for your ongoing support!

Wishing you peace and joy for the Holiday Season and beyond.

Warmest Regards,

Mora McLean
President & CEO
The Africa-America Institute

Recent AAI events and dialogues on teacher training referred to in this article include:

AAI and British Consulate Host Reception and Panel Discussion on Teacher Training in Africa (November 14, 2007)

Comparative African and Global Perspectives on Quality Education and the Pivotal Role of Quality Teachers (June 14, 2007)

Comparative Approaches to Strengthening the Education Pipeline in Africa (March 29, 2007)