News: Parents’ contribution vital â€" experts
Jul 20, 2010
AFRICAN governments should allow parents to contribute towards the education of their children, experts have advised. “No African government has enough resources to fully support education and other social services,†said Dzingai Mutumbuka, the president of the Association for the Development of
By John Eremu in Congo Brazzaville
AFRICAN governments should allow parents to contribute towards the education of their children, experts have advised. “No African government has enough resources to fully support education and other social services,†said Dzingai Mutumbuka, the president of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) during an international curriculum review conference in the Congo Republic capital Brazzaville.
“Parents who have the financial ability should be allowed to contribute and those without could contribute labour,†added Mutumbuka. Paul Mushi of the Tanzania Institute of Teacher Education, said governments single-handedly take on the burden of financing education, denying the communities a chance to participate. He attributed the success of the education system in his country to a community contribution of up to 25% of the required resources.
“We should get out of this wishful rhetoric and bring in the communities to contribute,†said Mushi. Many African countries, including Uganda, have abolished school charges in a bid to increase access as they adopt universal education programmes. President Yoweri Museveni recently directed the arrest of any head teachers found levying illegal fees.
African governments also came under fire for claiming education was their top priority but not fully funding the sector. “Many African leaders do not walk the talk.There is never money shortage for defence or state security. But when there is need to expand education, they run to the donors. If education is a priority, shouldn’t they be putting money there?†wondered Mutumbuka.
Ann Therese Ndong-Jatta, the director general of UNESCO, said up to 55 million children may not have education by 2015. The five-day conference organised by ADEA in the conference of the ministers of education in french-speaking countries is spearheading curricular reforms across Africa. It gathered over 200 participants from 41 countries and donor representatives.
Mutumbuka said the recent global economic downturn was likely to bring about disinvestment in education, thereby reducing educational and training opportunities to many. “The challenge is for African policy makers and their national and international partners to rethink the education and training systems in their objectives, structures, contents and financing,†Mutumbuka said.
“In so doing, they should take into account the scientific and technological advances being made as these are irreversibly changing the structures of modern economies,†he added.
AFRICAN governments should allow parents to contribute towards the education of their children, experts have advised. “No African government has enough resources to fully support education and other social services,†said Dzingai Mutumbuka, the president of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) during an international curriculum review conference in the Congo Republic capital Brazzaville.
“Parents who have the financial ability should be allowed to contribute and those without could contribute labour,†added Mutumbuka. Paul Mushi of the Tanzania Institute of Teacher Education, said governments single-handedly take on the burden of financing education, denying the communities a chance to participate. He attributed the success of the education system in his country to a community contribution of up to 25% of the required resources.
“We should get out of this wishful rhetoric and bring in the communities to contribute,†said Mushi. Many African countries, including Uganda, have abolished school charges in a bid to increase access as they adopt universal education programmes. President Yoweri Museveni recently directed the arrest of any head teachers found levying illegal fees.
African governments also came under fire for claiming education was their top priority but not fully funding the sector. “Many African leaders do not walk the talk.There is never money shortage for defence or state security. But when there is need to expand education, they run to the donors. If education is a priority, shouldn’t they be putting money there?†wondered Mutumbuka.
Ann Therese Ndong-Jatta, the director general of UNESCO, said up to 55 million children may not have education by 2015. The five-day conference organised by ADEA in the conference of the ministers of education in french-speaking countries is spearheading curricular reforms across Africa. It gathered over 200 participants from 41 countries and donor representatives.
Mutumbuka said the recent global economic downturn was likely to bring about disinvestment in education, thereby reducing educational and training opportunities to many. “The challenge is for African policy makers and their national and international partners to rethink the education and training systems in their objectives, structures, contents and financing,†Mutumbuka said.
“In so doing, they should take into account the scientific and technological advances being made as these are irreversibly changing the structures of modern economies,†he added.