There’s no disputing that many African countries’ education
systems are in trouble. Despite significant investment and some
improvements linked to the push to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals,
children in large parts of Africa are simply not being well taught or
learning what is needed as they progress through the school system.
A lot of the discussion around this problem centres on
resources: people argue that teachers must be trained better. More money must
be spent. This is, of course, correct. And governance is sometimes discussed,
though mostly only as it relates to central governments and their
responsibilities.
But the quality of local governance matters, too. Local
governments – those at a regional, provincial level, district or village level
– are closer to communities. They are more likely to understand particular
populations’ needs. At a practical level, they are often in charge of providing
or distributing goods and services. In education this would mean textbooks,
furniture and repairs to classrooms.
This suggests that local governance can have a real effect –
positive or negative – on the quality of learning resources in a community and,
by association, on how children perform? I set out to explore this effect by
using a series of surveys conducted by Afrobarometer in 33 African countries.
This is an independent and non-partisan research network which conducts
nationally representative surveys in Africa measuring public attitudes on
economic, political and social matters. More than 50,000 citizens have been
interviewed in the selected surveys I used for this study.
My study showed a strong link between the quality of
local governance and the quality of the educational resources in Africa’s
public schools.
In fact, I found that corrupt behavior by local government councilors
increased the likelihood that schools would lack textbooks, have poor
facilities and overcrowded classrooms, have poor quality of teaching, and would
record high levels of teacher absenteeism. This finding stands no matter how
much money a particular country’s central government had invested in education.
If Africa is serious about improving its schooling systems
(and meeting the Sustainable Development Goal related to education), it must
tackle corruption among local councilors.
What
the data shows
My research was based on survey data Afrobarometer collected
between 2018 and 2019. Some of the questions related to education; others to
people’s perceptions of their local government councilors’ performance and
ability.
Among the questions about education, interviewees were asked
whether they had encountered the following challenges in their local public
schools: expensive school fees; lack of textbooks or other learning supplies;
poor teaching; teacher absenteeism; overcrowded classrooms; and facilities that
were in poor condition.
For almost each of the items listed, more than 50% of the
respondents had encountered the challenge in the question.
Most interviewees complained particularly about a lack of
textbooks and teaching materials; poor teaching quality and teacher
absenteeism. These are all key determinants of what students can achieve by the
end of an academic year.
A
crisis of corruption
Corruption, like low-quality education, is a real problem
across Africa. In its 2017 Ibrahim Index of African Governance, the Mo
Ibrahim Foundation warned that the level of corruption on the continent had
risen.
This is borne out by what interviewees told Afrobarometer in
the surveys I studied. More than 80% of those surveyed on the subject said that
at least some of their local government councilors were involved in corrupt
activities. Less than 10% of those surveyed believed that their local councilors
listened to their communities.
The study shows that a 1% increase in the measure of local
government corruption is associated with an increase of about 0.4% to 0.9% in
the percentage of people who face poor human or physical school resources in
local public schools. This statistical evidence suggests tackling issues in
local governance can help education systems in Africa.
And it matters because good local governance can ensure that
textbooks and learning materials are available and that they reach the students
at public schools. The behaviors’ and attitudes of local government councilors
may affect the way public sector employees, like teachers, are hired and
treated.
The performance of teachers in public schools depends on
many factors, and their degree of accountability depends also on the degree of
accountability and responsiveness of those in charge of the management of the
schools that include local government councilors.
Taking
action
Improving the quality of education systems will have huge
benefits for Africa’s present and future generations. Part of this improvement
must involve tackling people’s negative perceptions about their local councilors,
whether those relate to corruption, effectiveness or responsiveness.
Central governance remains important. It should be coupled
with careful plans and actions to fix local governance make councilors more
accountable and ensure they’re providing the services schools need to thrive. #EndCorruption
#ResourceManagement #SDG4 #LocalGovernance #Accountability #Leadership
#BetterEducation #Africa
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