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More pupils enrol in schools in East Africa but learning quality still way off

Friday April 06 2018
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Despite the exponential growth in enrolment in schools, East Africa and the rest of the continent still face a learning crisis. FILE PHOTO | NMG

By DAVID ADUDA

Years of intense campaigns to enrol all children in school appear to have paid off as more children have been enrolled in primary schools in the past two decades, both in East Africa and sub-Saharan Africa as a whole.

Most countries in the region recorded a 98 per cent gross enrolment as at 2015, compared with 68 per cent in 1990.

The impetus for this was the declaration of Education For All (EFA) during the World Education Conference in Jomtien, Thailand, in 1990. This was reinforced at the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal in 2000, which came up with a package of resolutions under the banner, “Meeting Our Collective Commitments.”

However, despite the exponential growth in enrolment, East Africa and the rest of the continent still face a learning crisis.

Millions of children who enter grade one never progress to higher levels and complete the primary school cycle. Worse still, majority of those who progress to the end exit without acquiring the right knowledge, skills and competencies.

Transitioning from primary to secondary school remains troublingly low, meaning many of the youth miss out on opportunities to realise their full potential through acquisition of the right competencies at higher levels. Consequently, they are unable to progress, secure quality jobs, improve their lot and participate in meaningful development of their societies.

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Sobering assessment

A World Bank publication titled Facing Forward: Schooling for Learning in Africa, released early this month in East Africa, presents a worrying scenario of the learning crisis in the region. It is a sobering assessment of the declining quality levels, putting paid to efforts to expand access to education.

Broadly, the publication argues that expansion of access has not been matched with resources, policies and strategies to guarantee quality outcomes.

Specifically, the findings show that less than 50 per cent of learners acquire the minimum level of knowledge and skills at every given level of the education continuum.

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Assessing the challenge

The report is based on several types of assessment. In one assessment conducted among sixth graders, it emerged that just a third of the learners were competent in basic reading (32 per cent) and basic numeracy (31 per cent).

Further, analysis of reading abilities among fourth graders in seven countries in sub-Saharan Africa, three of them from East Africa — Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania — found that they had difficulties with foundational skills.

Even more damning was that in Uganda and Tanzania, only about 10 per cent of the learners could read a paragraph to the end. Inability to read a complete paragraph simply means that such learners cannot comprehend the content they interact with in the classroom and definitely cannot learn.

Another study, Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) tests conducted among second graders showed that between 50-80 per cent of children could not answer a single question based on a short passage they had read. Worse still, a significant number could not read even a single word.

In this context, it is clear that learning gaps begin early in the school cycle largely due to poor teaching and resource scarcity.

The report is based on an aggregation of several assessments by various professional groups in the past two decades to determine achievements realised under the EFA campaign.

Among the tests are those done by Uwezo, which has cut a niche for itself for practical assessment of learning outputs.

Also in use is the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality spearheaded by Unesco.

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What countries are doing

Of concern to the continent is that the school curricula are outdated, most having been formulated in the 1970s and 1980s, hence do not prepare the learners to operate and survive in the new world order driven by globalisation and technology.

Kenya is working on a curriculum to replace the 8-4-4 system that has been in use since 1985. The proposed curriculum, 2-6-3-3, marks a dramatic shift from the current one that is premised on knowledge acquisition and regurgitation of facts to competence-based learning that emphasises experiential learning and application of taught content.

In Tanzania, proposals have been made for curriculum change, from the current 7-4-3-2 to 1-6-4-2-3 although the start date is not certain. Only last week, the Education Permanent Secretary Leonard Akwilapo clarified that the current system will continue for a while as the government puts in place structures for the proposed shift.

Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda had the same education system inherited from the British colonial administration.

Whereas Kenya abandoned the system in the 1980s and adopted 8-4-4, Tanzania and Uganda continued with it.

Rwanda’s education has also undergone significant transformation, including changing the medium of instruction from French to English and providing for 12 years of basic education. The country’s current structure comprises six years of primary education, three junior secondary, three senior and a minimum of four years at the university (6-3-3-4).

Burundi has six years of primary, four years of junior secondary, three senior secondary and four years of university education.

Impediments to quality

Strikingly, the reasons for declining quality are more or less similar across the region. Top on the cards is a shortage of teachers and where they exist, most are ill-prepared to offer quality education.

Textbooks are in short supply and despite interventions by governments to provide learning and teaching materials, they hardly make a dent because of financial impediments.

The pursuit of universal primary education has seen classes swell and burst at the seams. In Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, some schools have recorded a teacher to pupil ratio of 1:60.

Worrying as that may appear, some neighbouring countries like Malawi have witnessed horrendous scenes where some classrooms have 120-150 learners, rendering it impractical to offer any quality tutelage.

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