What is the appropriate higher education finance model for Africa? Some reflections

The evolution of tertiary education financing models in Sub-Saharan Africa reflects a complex interplay between cultural, political, and economic forces. The transition, especially of universities, from vibrant centres of debate to subdued institutions under authoritarian regimes, coupled with the advent of market-driven economic reforms, has redefined universities’ role in Africa’s society. This article while not seeking to explore how these historical shifts have shaped the current landscape of tertiary education financing and its implications for the region, it does not forget them in considering the recent frameworks for higher education finance, especially in Kenya. It concludes that in Kenya’s case the evidence seems to support the argument that “free” provision alone might not inherently lead to expanded access and equitable outcomes. However, implementing a functional income-contingent contribution or “graduate tax” system is complex and relies heavily on a well-organised formalised market. In the case of Kenya, the presence of a large informal employment sector and growing graduate unemployment poses challenges in accurately capturing income and enforcing such a tax system as a mechanism for financing expanded tertiary education system. &nbsp

Policies on free primary and secondary education in East Africa: a review of the literature

Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are among the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa which have recently implemented policies for free primary education, motivated in part by renewed democratic accountability following the re-emergence of multi-party politics in the 1990s. However, it is not the first time that the goal of expanding primary education has been pursued by these three neighbouring countries which have much in common. Since the 1960s, they have attempted to expand access at various levels of their education systems albeit with differences in philosophy and in both the modes and successes of implementation. All three countries continue to face the challenges of enrolling every child in school, keeping them in school and ensuring that meaningful learning occurs for all enrolled children. This paper provides an a review of the three countries’ policies for expanding access to education, particularly with regard to equity and the enrolment of excluded groups since their political independence in the 1960s. It considers policies in the light of the countries’ own stated goals alongside the broader international agendas set by the Millennium Development Goals and in particular, ‘Education for All’. It is concerned with the following questions: What led to those policies and how were they funded? What was the role, if any, of the international community in the formulation of those policies? What were the politics and philosophies surrounding the formulation of those policies, have the policies changed over time, and if so how and why? The paper also discusses the range of strategies for implementation adopted. Tremendous growth has occurred in access to primary education since the 1960s, not least in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The challenge of providing equitable access to schooling has been addressed in a series of education drives with varying motivations, modalities and degrees of success, the most recent of which pays attention to the increasingly pressing question of the transition to secondary education. The success of such policy remains to be seen but will be crucial for the widening of access to the benefits of education and to economic opportunity, particularly for those groups which history has so far excluded

Financing higher education in sub-Saharan Africa: some reflections and implications for sustainable development

The purpose of this article is to discuss how best to finance higher education in low-income countries of sub-Saharan Africa, drawing on benefits and drawbacks of the prevalent models of higher education finance, and lessons to be learned from countries which have seen greater expansion of their higher education systems in recent decades. Two main aspects are distinguished: first, a recognition of the powerful evidence that the general level of education in a country, its human capital, matters in determining a path to economic development; second, understanding that it does not help to produce large number of unemployed graduates whose only option due to absence of jobs is to engage in rent-seeking activities which in the end undermine both the essence of the human capital investment made, and job creation to be associated with human capital skills. Three areas are discussed, fully publicly financed “free” university education model; feasibility and lessons about fees; feasibility and lessons about loans. In addition, the paper makes suggestions on the measures to widen participation and promote equity and quality

The Social Benefits of Widening Participation in Higher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper links endogenous development, externalities, and higher participation in education with issues of student finance and equity in sub-Saharan Africa. The paper is based on new panel data for 43 African countries for 2000-2017, offering new findings for this recent period during which per capita growth in Africa has picked up significantly and about which there is great curiosity. The findings provide evidence that the external effects of lower levels of education lower fertility rates, and that secondary education supports democratization (improvement in political rights). Together with prior literature the above builds a strong social scientific case about how these external effects of basic education lower the explosive population growth in sub-Saharan Africa through the education of women. This paper goes further to explore the role of government expenditure per student, a powerful driver of lower fertility and more democratization at the primary and secondary levels but not at the higher education level. The problem with inefficiency in financing higher education as large and costly per student room and board grants are provided to the children of the wealthy (who are likely to attend college anyway) with little resource recovery is found to lower its cost effectiveness in achieving per capita growth and development

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.

Pedagogy and History: Ujamaa and Learner-Centered Pedagogy in Tanzania

Social issues of today are rooted in history, and the study of contemporary issues would thus benefit from tracing their history. In Tanzania, Nyerere’s ujamaa philosophy and the accompanying education for self-reliance (ESR) policy offer a criterion relevant today in pedagogical analysis. Tanzania is currently implementing learner-centered pedagogy (LCP). This article considers the logic of ujamaa, which ostensibly appears to be compatible with LCP principles, and explores through empirical evidence the consistencies and inconsistencies between ujamaa/ESR, LCP, and the pedagogical approaches valued by present-day teachers. The teachers espoused the idea of self-reliance promoted through ujamaa, implying that pedagogies similar to LCP will produce self-reliant graduates. Instead of forcibly transmitting a universal form of ideal pedagogy, the cultural and historical connection between ujamaa and LCP could suggest appropriate forms of teaching and learning in the Tanzanian context

Access, poverty and learning achievement for primary school leavers in Kenya: analysis of evidence from 47 counties

To what extent, if at all, did the introduction of free primary education in Kenya in 2003 have positive equity effects, in terms of both access and achievement. Access is based on the number of candidates sitting the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) examination and the KCPE score is used to measure achievement levels. The study uses data that reflects Kenya’s 47 devolved governance counties. A quantitative measure of poverty in all 47 counties was then entered as an independent variable of regression analysis, and a negative association with KCPE performance noted (high poverty levels associated with low KCPE scores). Also noted was a contrast between counties showing high enrolment impact and improved KCPE scores, and those showing high enrolment impact and lower KCPE scores. Counties in the former group are located almost entirely in arid and semi-arid areas, those in the latter group in the coastal region

Variations in household microclimate affect outdoor-biting behaviour of malaria vectors

Background: Mosquito behaviours including the degree to which they bite inside houses or outside is a crucial determinant of human exposure to malaria. Whilst seasonality in mosquito vector abundance is well documented, much less is known about the impact of climate on mosquito behaviour. We investigated how variations in household microclimate affect outdoor-biting by malaria vectors, Anopheles arabiensis and Anopheles funestus. Methods: Mosquitoes were sampled indoors and outdoors weekly using human landing catches at eight households in four villages in south-eastern Tanzania, resulting in 616 trap-nights over 12 months. Daily temperature, relative humidity and rainfall were recorded. Generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) were used to test associations between mosquito abundance and the microclimatic conditions. Generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) were used to investigate the influence of microclimatic conditions on the tendency of vectors to bite outdoors (proportion of outdoor biting). Results: An. arabiensis abundance peaked during high rainfall months (February-May), whilst An. funestus density remained stable into the dry season (May-August). Across the range of observed household temperatures, a rise of 1ºC marginally increased nightly An. arabiensis abundance (~11%), but more prominently increased An. funestus abundance (~66%). The abundance of An. arabiensis and An. funestus showed strong positive associations with time-lagged rainfall (2-3 and 3-4 weeks before sampling). The degree of outdoor biting in An. arabiensis was significantly associated with the relative temperature difference between indoor and outdoor environments, with exophily increasing as temperature inside houses became relatively warmer. The exophily of An. funestus did not vary with temperature differences. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that malaria vector An. arabiensis shifts the location of its biting from indoors to outdoors in association with relative differences in microclimatic conditions. These environmental impacts could give rise to seasonal variation in mosquito biting behaviour and degree of protection provided by indoor-based vector control strategies