The genesis of this book is a symposium, organized by the Institute for African Development (IAD) and held at Cornell University from April 17–18, 2015. The symposium had as its theme: Education and Development of Human Capital: Outcomes for Equality and Governance in Africa. The symposium examined education and development of human capital in Africa, with emphasis on outcomes that promote equality and good governance . Presenters at the symposium sought to identify challenges facing the education sector in Africa, and those policies which support inclusive and sustainable development. Education, in every sense, is one of the fundamental factors of development and growth. No country can achieve sustainable economic development without substantial investment in human capital. It enriches peoples’ understanding of themselves and the world, and it improves the quality of their lives and leads to broad social benefits for individuals as well as society.
The title of the 2000 World Bank Report asked the question, Can Africa Claim the 21st Century? (World Bank 2000). Contrary to general perceptions in many African states that if only “we had oil,” we would be well on the road to development, the answer to this question is not predicated on the ownership of natural resources, rather on such factors as education and skills development. Owning natural resources has not yielded positive transformation of an African economy. Instead, many resource-rich countries have been negatively impacted by what is termed the “resource curse.” The critical factor in development of Africa is the development of education and skills. The perceived African demographic dividend is predicated on developing a competitive skilled work force. It is estimated that Africa will, in 2050, have more people of working age than in China. For the population dividend to be an effective asset for Africa, it will have to be well educated, healthy, and skilled. If the population is not educated and skilled, the demographic dividend could turn out to be a mirage and could very well become a huge disaster, resulting in increased poverty, hunger, and disease.
Whatever misgivings Africans might have had about European education introduced in the context of colonial rule, by the time African countries started to acquire their independence in the 1950s and 1960s, there was a consensus across the continent about the merit of human capital theory. It stipulated a positive and linear correlation between education and socioeconomic attainment of individuals, as well as between the aggregate levels of education of nations and broader societal/national development. In May 1961, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) convened a historic conference of African states. The theme of the conference, which was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in May 1961, was “The Development of Education in Africa ” (UNESCO and UNECA 1961). The overwhelming recognition of formal education at that conference as “the priority of all priorities” led to the commitment of African governments, policymakers, and education decision-makers to support the policy of achieving universal primary education by 1980, and to increasing transition rates between the primary and secondary levels, on the one hand, and between the secondary and higher education levels, on the other. The conference, therefore, had set the tone of education in independent Africa in line with the self-reliant and capacity development dreams of the pre-independence struggles.
Although substantial gains were made, in quantitative terms, during the post-independence era, the optimistic outlook of socioeconomic development of the 1960s and 1970s and the Addis Ababa goals were not reached when severe economic problems and the debt crisis of the 1980s was experienced by many African countries. To emerge from debt, the African countries adopted debt management policies, including debt forgiveness agreements with the Paris Club, which were conditioned on the implementation of Structural Adjustment Programs (SAP) designed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.
Of particular significance to education is that some of the debt management conditions required reduced funding for education and other social services, resulting in a need for the introduction of user fees for accessing educational and health services. Consequently, the structural adjustment era reversed many of the gains that were made in the immediate post-independence era. By that same token, the severe economic crisis, debt burden, and the introduction of user fees—even at the basic levels of education—led to stagnation and decline of enrollment at all levels of education (Lumumba-Kasongo and Kennett 1992; Assié-Lumumba and Lumumba-Kasongo 1996; Mkandawire and Soludo 1999).
Seeing that the era of structural adjustment reversed development and undermined the achievements of the post-independence era, there were renewed calls for the restoration of funding for education. These renewed calls were to restore education to its classical position, as the ultimate means for individual socioeconomic attainment and for national development. The calls were reinforced by the assessments about the immediate-, medium- and long-term consequences of the policies of the SAPs carried throughout Africa. Assessments revealed that the cost of curtailing funding to education was much higher than the actual cost of the supply of education. Subsequently, a series of meetings and global engagements, sponsored by several international institutions, including the World Bank, United Nations Development Program (UNDP), UNESCO, and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) took place. In particular, the 1990 International Congress on Educational Management and Development, held in Mexico City, and the World Education Forum of 2000, in Dakar, reaffirmed the role of education in development globally. This role was again reiterated in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It is interesting that even the World Bank, which played a critical part in the previous policies, reversed its position, and in collaboration with UNESCO, commissioned the Task Force that produced a report in 2000: Higher Education in Developing Countries: Peril or Promise (Task Force on Higher Education and Society 2000). Thus, there is once more a buildup of consensus on the importance of education in the global development agenda (Hallak 1990; UNESCO 1998).
This may well explain why the African Development Bank (AfDB) in its 2014 Africa Economic Outlook Report , observed that, generally, Africa had made substantial progress in human development, as poverty levels had been falling, incomes are rising, and educational and health indicators were showing considerable improvement. The report also pointed out that the Human Development Index was showing a 1.5 percent annual growth. Indeed, the report indicated that 15 African countries were considered to have attained medium-to-very-high human development levels. Despite these data, it must be noted that there exists a significant number of countries in which income inequality is widening, and educational and health indicators are deteriorating. Thus, it is critical that there is more progress to be made with respect to gender inclusion and equality, access to education, health care, and environmental sustainability.
Therefore, there is no denying that since Africa lacks human capital and the requisite skills for rapid development, it needs to invest more in education and human capital development. This is the surest way to guarantee growth and enhance the living standards for its entire people. Moreso, investment in education and human capital is essential to ensuring the improvements necessary to make African countries competitive in the world economy, and thereby, create jobs for Africans. Thus, the role of education in reducing and eventually eradicating poverty, increasing economic competitiveness, and securing peace and stability cannot be overemphasized. Inadequate education also has a negative impact on citizens’ ability to participate in the country’s governance. The World Bank defines good governance as “the manner in which power is exercised in the management of a country’s economic and social resources for development, is an important factor in eradicating poverty, creating employment, promoting equality, and in the adoption of policies that foster inclusiveness, human rights, and improved livelihoods” (World Bank 1992, 1).
Pursuant to the foregoing, t...