The Role of School Resources and National Educational Context in Student Learning Gains: Comparing Botswana, Kenya and South Africa

We take an innovative approach to estimating student mathematics learning in the sixth grade of three African countries. The study reinforces the notion that beyond the quality of the teaching process in classrooms, national contextual factors are important in understanding the contribution that schooling makes to student performance. Our approach enhances more typical cross-sectional production function estimates in three ways: (1) to respond to critiques that production function estimates usually do not include classroom processes, we measure both teacher characteristics and teaching process variables and include them in the model; (2) to more clearly identify student learning with schooling processes, we estimate the gain in learning associated with a student’s exposure to teaching characteristics and processes during the sixth-grade academic year in each country; and (3) to begin to address the issue of possible “national institutional factors” influencing student achievement, we use a comparative approach to approximate and initiate discussion of “country fixed effects.

Alternative Education and Return Pathways for Out-of-School Youth in Sub-Saharan Africa

This background paper was prepared as part of the Mastercard Foundation's Secondary Education in Africa (SEA) initiative. The study was conducted by the African Population and Health Research Center's (APHRC) Education and Youth Empowerment (EYE) unit.The study was a desk review that relied on secondary data, and organizing and synthesizing available information on OOSY. A literature search focusing on SSA was conducted using academic databases and grey literature to find information on as many models as possible. The literature was synthesized into key features in alternative provision of education and training for OOSY and pathways back to formal education... A total of 190 articles that met the set criteria were retrieved and 66 of these were included in the review. More than 15 project reports (grey literature) were accessed online and used to develop case studies.... Additionally, the short case studies were enriched through telephone and Skype interviews with program staff and relevant senior government officers.

Student Leadership in Selected Public Universities in Kenya: Disfranchised Pressure Groups or an Integral Component in University Management?

This paper was based on an exploratory study carried out on student leadership in three public universities in Kenya in 2004/2005 academic year. The study was premised on the challenges facing student leadership and the transformative roles student leadership plays in the management of student affairs and overall university management. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire from a sample of 34 student leaders and analyzed through descriptive statistics. Findings showed that most student leaders were first born in their families. Most of the students' parents were in low to middle level occupational category in the public sector, with about 50% of them having attained at least some college training. Most of the students resided in urban centers, with a significant majority coming from the major urban centers in the country – namely, Nairobi, Kisumu, Eldoret, Nakuru and Nyeri. Student leaders were prompted to leadership interests by many factors, including past leadership experience in high school, service to students, a learning experience, and to develop a culture of dialogue with university management. Despite these values and intentions, student leaders still faced many challenges in their efforts to achieve the intended goals. This ranged from institutional rigidities, high student expectations and skepticism, betrayal from students' body, low participation rates by female students and tribalism/regionalism. This study observed the transformative nature of student leadership compared to what it was two decades ago and encouraged that student leadership is an integral component of modern university managementAfrican Research Review Vol. 2 (3) 2008: pp. 195-22

Gender and environmental entitlements for sustainable livelihoods in Tanzania: the cases of Moshi Municipality and Tanga City

This paper is about a study conducted as a contribution to emerging critiques on the role of gender1 and environmental entitlements by focusing on the implications of intra-community dynamics and ecological heterogeneity. The study was built on a conceptual framework highlighting the central role of institutions in mediating environment and society relationships. Grounded in an extended form of entitlements analysis, the framework of the study explored how differently positioned social actors (men and women) command environmental goods and services that are instrumental to their livelihoods.Keywords: gender, environmental entitlements, sustainable livelihood

Girls’ primary education and transition to secondary school in Nairobi: perceptions of community members at the onset of an education intervention

The objective of the paper is to examine the challenges of girls’ education in a poor urban context in Nairobi. This paper is motivated by the need to identify challenges affecting girls’ education in poor urban context in Nairobi. These challenges are identified from the lens of the community gatekeepers and the parents, who are key stakeholders in education at the local level. Data come from a qualitative component of the baseline study conducted in Korogocho and Viwandani, in Nairobi, collected in June and July 2013 using in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs). One of the most striking finding was role modelling to their daughters. This was evident from those households that had single parents. The study emphasizes that children should be better raised with the support of the whole community. This would enable parents to provide effective support to girls’ education and hence realize their full potential

Social relations as predictors of achievement in math in Kenyan primary schools

In sub-Saharan Africa, where there is limited financial and human capital, it is important to examine how social relationships may serve to promote or undermine human capital formation. However, little is known about the contributions of social relations to human capital development, especially in terms of academic achievement in Africa. This study examined how variations in key aspects of social relations among teachers; between teachers and students; between principals, teachers, parents and students affect achievement in mathematics among sixth graders in 70 schools in six districts in Kenya. We modeled mathematics achievement as a function of measures of social perception and support while adjusting for school-, classroom- and student level background characteristics. We found that net of teacher subject knowledge and background characteristics, teachers who display commitment to teaching by always correcting homework and keeping students engaged during math lessons had their students performing better. Teacher absenteeism and lack of interest in teaching were negatively associated with performance in math. Lack of parental involvement in the classroom also had negative effects on grades. At the school level, the level of engagement of the principal, measured by supervision of teachers and good interpersonal interactions with parents had positive effects on math achievement. Schools where parents provided material and financial support had better grades, while student delinquency and absenteeism negatively affected grades