lliteracy rates in West Africa

DAKAR, 22 April 2009 (IRIN) - Illiteracy rates in West Africa are the highest in the world, cramping development and weakening citizens’ power to effect socio-economic and political change, say education agencies, who are calling on governments and donors to step up literacy and education efforts.

Sixty-five million West African adults – 40 percent of the adult population – cannot read or write according to a new study, 'From closed books to open doors – West Africa's literacy challenge'.

Of the 10 countries with the world’s lowest recorded adult – 15 and older – literacy rates, seven are in West Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Sierra Leone, the report says.

"Tens of millions of non-literate women, men and young people in West Africa are trapped behind closed doors, excluded from the living standards, educational opportunities, and democratic power that are their rights," said Mahamadou Cheick Diarra, coordinator of the African Platform for Adult Education (Pamoja).

“People [in West Africa] cannot access jobs or economic or technical opportunities that have been shown all over the world to be driving development," said the report’s author, Oxfam West Africa advocacy coordinator Caroline Pearce.

Read the full article here...

Private schooling in Uganda

Private Secondary Education in Uganda: Implications for Planning
by W. James Jacob, Donald B. Holsinger & Christopher B Mugimu
Teacher's College Record— 2008

Results: Private schools in Uganda appear to be attractive, low-cost alternatives to government secondary schools. Per-pupil spending is significantly related to learning achievement, regardless of whether a student attends a private or government school. Thus, if higher performance is the desired ultimate student outcome, additional spending will be required. For their per-pupil cost, this article shows that private schools produce good learning gains—better, in fact, on a dollar basis, than government schools.

I can't see how they control for self-selection (better students go to private schools) because I have to pay for the article...

Education in Burkina Faso

A Peace Corps volunteer named Lara, teaching math and science in a small village in norther Burkina Faso, has a great, though occasional, blog about education and village life.

I love to think about my students being able to support their families like this if they can through the system. If it wasn't for this, and their enthusiasm I really don't know if I could have made it to this point in my service. It truly is inspirational to see them waking up at five in the morning to do chores, then walk to school for seven o'clock classes, back home for lunch, and then back to school in the afternoon. Then finding a way to study at night...if they're lucky and have electricity, then they can use a lightbulb until the power cuts out at 11 pm...if they can't then their parents buy kerosene for a lamp for them. I've even heard of students lighting small bonfires in the bush with remnants from the last millet harvests to have light to study. It makes everything that I did to get my education in America seem so much easier. I had a fantastic free public education through high school and then went to a university with libraries, laboratories and resources beyond imagination.

Primary school fees waived in Togo

blog.reading.org links to:

For the first time in recent years, primary school students started a new school year on October 6 in Togo without paying enrollment fees. The government has waived primary school fees as part of a more than US$80 million investment in the education system. While parents celebrated the savings, administrators taken aback by the surprise announcement worry how they will pay for school operations the fees had helped fund. Read the article at IRIN News online.