Challenges of Education Financing and Planning in Africa: What Works and What Does Not Work?

ISBN: 2-86978-205-5; ISBN 13: 9782869782051; 147 pages, 2008

This volume highlights the proceedings of the two policy dialogue conferences held by the CODESRIA Working Group on Finance and Education (WGFE) in 2004.

Part I of the book discusses the endemic crisis that has besethigher education in Africa since the outset of the post-colonial period. It highlights the critical state of higher educationsystems in Burkina Faso, Mali, Nigeria and Senegal by scrutinizing the causes, manisfestations and consequences of the crisis to posit useful recommendations and possible solutions.

Part II is a comprehensive review of the challenges facing the financing and planning of all levels and types of education — from kindergarten to graduate school — in selected Africancountries. The papers reveal the sources and mechanisms of funding education in Africa, drawing attention to the experiences of communities confronted with new funding sources. A new trend, which consists of designing decade-longeducational development plans, has emerged and is rapidily expanding in numerous African countries. This experience is examined and shared by the authors.