No.

Ik L EDUCATIONAL STRUCTURES IN ENGLISH-SPEAKING

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN AFRICA
by J„D. Chesswas

Unesco : International Institute for Educational Planning

No, 14 L EDUCATIONAL STRUCTURES IN ENGLISH-SPEAKING
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES IN AFRICA
by J.D. Chesswas
 IIEP/TM/14L/67

INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE F O R E D U C A T I O N A L PLANNING

7 , rue Eugène Delacroix
Paris 16e, France

E D U C A T I O N A L S T R U C T U R E S IN ENGLISH-SPEAKING
D E V E L O P I N G COUNTRIES IN AFRICA

by
J . D . Chesswas

This lecture is part of "Fundamentals of Educational Planning;

Lecture-Discussion Series" a controlled experiment undertaken by the
International Institute for Educational Planning in collaboration with a
limited number of organizations and individuals aiming at the development
of efficient teaching materials in the field of educational planning. By
their very nature these materials , which draw upon tape recordings ,
transcriptions and summary notes of seminars , lectures and discussions
conducted by H E P as part of its training and research programme, are
informal and not subject to the type of editing customary for published
documents . They are therefore not to be considered as "official public-
ations" .

The opinions expressed in this lecture are those of the author

and do not necessarily represent the views of the Institute .

The use, adaptation or reproduction, in whole or in part of these

materials is limited to institutions and persons specifically authorized by
HEP.
IIEP/TM/14L/67 - page 2

Introduction

Most English-speaking developing countries in Africa are ex-British

colonies, There are exceptions, such as Liberia where the educational
system reflects American influence, but the educational structures in the
great majority of these countries were influenced by the British educational
system and modified according to British colonial policies . In some cases ,
the newly-independent governments have made changes , thinking that perhaps
there was an educational structure and content more appropriate for their
particular situation. These changes depend on the governments themselves,
on the nature of the country and, of course, on the length of time since
independence, because change in an educational system takes time. Change
has to be planned very carefully, and there is an inevitable time lag when
one tries to change , for instance , from a six-grade to a seven-grade primary
school system, or the other way round. It is not simply a matter of putting
on another grade or just cutting off a grade. There is the whole question of
the content of education and the way the syllabus is organized»

There is , therefore , a common thread running through the educational

systems of English-speaking developing countries in Africa, and one can
draw out one or two important factors in educational planning in those countries .

Control of schools

Here there is quite a difference compared with the system which the
French left in their ex-colonies .

In the British Colonial system of education private organizations, especially

religious organizations, had an important rôle, In Uganda, over 90 per cent
of the schools were, and still are, owned by churches. This percentage is
possibly a little higher than in many other English-speaking African countries .
In most English-speaking African countries missionaries started schools
partly because this was their vehicle for evangelization, which they combined
with secular education. The missionaries were not necessarily British. In
Uganda, for instance, the Catholic mission was started by French and
French-Canadian White Fathers who had been running missions in Algeria,
and Dutch, and German missionaries are spread throughout English-speaking
Africa, This cosmopolitan element caused wide variations. The French-based
White Fathers , for instance , had to adapt their approach to the British system
with its peculiar examinations and, of course, to British-style administration,
 Ï I E P / T M / 1 4 L / 6 7 - page 3

Evolution of government control

While education in English-speaking African countries originated with

the missions , governments eventually decided to m a k e regulations , giving
a little money but letting the missions get on with it in their own w a y , subject
to a certain amount of control. Later they decided that they must have m o r e
control, and formed departments of education over the existing, perhaps
rather small but well-established, educational system run by the missions.
The function of this government department of education was to control
educational policy, to b e , as it w e r e , an additional and superior administrative
and policy-making layer . One or two government schools , usually at the
higher level, were started. The missions, generally speaking, kept elementary
and intermediate education in their hands . Government set up higher colleges
to which graduates from intermediate or middle schools who succeeded in
competitive examinations were admitted. In the early stages these colleges
were at the sub-university level and a few students were sent to the
United Kingdom for university studies . It was only later that such institutions
grew into the first local universities .

The government control over the mission schools was exercised by giving
them m o n e y in exchange for which the owners gave up some of their autonomy.
The missions still owned the schools but the government now gave them grants .
There were usually three possible methods: (i) a grant for either the whole
or part of the teachers' salary, or (ii) a capitation grant per child enrolled
and then "work out your own salvation", or (iii) a fixed block grant for each
school, possibly varying according to its size. In return for that : government
had the right to inspect the schools , the right to examine trainees from teacher
training colleges and to issue an official teaching certificate to successful
candidates, and the right to say whether a school should receive a grant. It
exercised a little m o r e pressure , although detailed control was still in the
hands of the missions . They lived m u c h closer to the people than government
officers, they employed the teachers, and (important point) paid them, although
the m o n e y c a m e from government. They thus had the real direct control in
their hands , but inevitably their principles sometimes clashed with government
policy, and from time to time administration of schools became a 'cat and m o u s e '
g a m e between government officer and missionary.
I I E P / T M / 1 4 L / 6 7 - page 4

A s time went on the missions were gradually turning themselves into

indigenous churches. They had their own theological training colleges, or
seminaries , where they trained m o r e and m o r e local priests . In the
Catholic Church, a growing number of local w o m e n became nuns and were
given increasing responsibility.

B y the time these countries achieved independence, some had missions

which were now virtually national churches,and the missionaries their
servants. This was an important development affecting control of education.
Even before independence the word "mission" was sometimes replaced by
"church" - a habit of years that was rather difficult to change.

So at the time of independence s o m e countries had already changed or

were changing to a national church. With independence they also acquired
fully responsible elected governments and inevitably some of them wanted
m o r e direct control over education and to lessen the control of the churches .
This is understandable .

Their principle is that education is one of the most important factors

in the development of these countries at their present stage - surely an
indisputable fact - and it is therefore felt that it is the duty of an elected
government to see that educational resources are used to the best advantage
of the country. T o leave effective control of schools in the hands of another
body would be shirking government's duty.

The degree to which governments are prepared to m a k e this change

largely depends on their attitudes to the clergy and churches , and very often
on the personalities of the politicians and clerics concerned. If the politicians
are prepared to grasp the nettle and really take control they can do so; but
in the process they have to be careful to watch rights written into the
constitution,

There might easily be difficulties over land. A s the land on which the
schools were built is owned by the churches,one has to be careful that one
does not violate the constitution in nationalizing the schools completely This
poses a difficult problem because it either m e a n s changing the constitution
(which usually involves a large majority vote in the national assembly) or
s o m e form of legal wrangling until effective control without actually nationalizing
can be secured.
 I I E P / T M / 1 4 L / 6 7 - page 5

The first point then concerns the rôle of private organizations in

education in English-speaking Africa. The second point concerns the
typically British system of devolving responsibility. Education in England
(apart from university education) is almost completely controlled by local
authorities. In Africa, Departments of Education w e r e , as mentioned
earlier, centralized. But the time c a m e when the colonial governments
felt that local organizations should take responsibility for certain services -
usually agricultural extension work, local health and inter services, and,
above all, education. The nature of this devolution depended, of course,
to a great extent on the political structure of the country. With a federal
system a multiplicity of educational policies and variations in the educational
structures are a likely result. This is, for instance, true to a certain
extent in Nigeria, which is a federation and has five ministries of education.
Although there are parallels , there are also minor variations between regions ,
which normally have the right to follow autonomous policies in education.
This is a very important factor for educational planning. A federation can
present considerable difficulties to the educational planner and there is no
doubt that planning must be undertaken state by state. But most English-
speaking countries of Africa do not have a federal system . They are
usually unitary states , although in most of them some responsibility for
education is devolved to local authorities , but policy is still controlled from
the centre . This is a most important point. Most of the finance comes
from the central authority, and central control in most English-speaking
African countries is therefore m u c h greater than in a federal system .
Normally local authorities are responsible for primary or elementary
education, the central authority for second-level education, while university
education is under autonomous bodies. Governments do, however, have
considerable influence, because most of the m o n e y for the universities
comes from governments either through direct grants to the councils
controlling the universities or through scholarships to students or both.
Probably well over 90 per cent of the income of universities in English-speaking
Africa c o m e s , by various routes, from government sources. So governments
are in a position to control the universities , although they would c o m e up
against considerable academic opposition if they were to try to press this
ability too far .

Local authorities are generally responsible for primary, sometimes

for secondary, education, Most of the m o n e y comes from the central
governments , and is usually part of a block grant for running the various
I I E P / T M / 1 4 L / 6 7 - page b

services for which they are responsible such as education.« rural health,
water supplies and agriculture . Local authorities m a y add something
from their own income but usually it is only a small proportion of the
total. Private financing of education, usually from fees, is also a small
percentage . It is quite normal for education controlled by local authorities
to be financed to the extent of at least 70 per cent by the central government.

Structure

Diagram I is an attempt to reduce the systems in the various

countries under consideration to a single diagrammatic representation - a
difficult, if not impossible task - and one must expect to find variations
from this pattern » The educational system in these countries is usually
divided into first, second and third levels according to the Unesco definitions.
There is usually some pre-first level education, that is, education prior
to the level at which government accepts responsibility. Generally, government
accepts responsibility at the age of about 5 or 6 but m o r e enlightened parents
(usually in urban areas) want their children to get an early start, and therefore
send them to pre-primary schools. This schooling lasts for one or two years,
the child being sent at any age from three and a half onwards , These schools
are usually privately financed and not controlled by government, but government
notes that they exist. They are usually considerably fewer in number than
the prinmry schools .

Next there is primary or elementary education. This usually lasts five

to seven years, depending on the country. S o m e countries used to divide this
into two stages , but recent tendencies have been to amalgamate them into
one , usually with a reduction of a grade in the total, Those 5 to 7 years of
primary or elementary school are all that the majority of the children,
sometimes as m u c h as 90 per cent, can hope for. A s few as 10 per cent
m a y go on to second-level schools .

Secondary or high school education is usually divided into two stages .

The lower stage lasts 4 or 5 years and consists of a general course . Parallel
to that is s o m e form of technical or vocational education (lasting either
3 or 4 years) . This is on a smaller scale and provides training, for instance,
for future craftsmen, such as carpenters, bricklayers, plumbers. In the
case of girls , it m a y be some kind of homecraft education - preparing them
for marriage .
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There is also at this stage s o m e form of teacher training, which m a y

last from 2 to 4 years , Such training is normally for teaching in the lower
grades of the primary school. The early years of such courses are devoted
mainly to broadening the educational background of the students with an
orientation towards their future work as teachers , and the content is usually
different from that in the parallel grades in the general schools . The final
grades of the course comprise professional training for teaching, including
practical teaching. They are usually examined by Ministry of Education
inspectors , and the Ministry of Education awards them certificates of
recognition as qualified teachers . In some countries , entrance might be
after one or two grades of secondary school, a practice which I consider to
be iniquitous .

Coming to the upper stage of secondary education, the main stream is

that typically English institution - the 'sixth form' , which is, in fact,
usually two grades of specialized education organized in two main groups ,
science and arts .

Parallel to the sixth form is a course for technicians , lasting usually

for two years. Entrance to the technicians' course can be from the secondary
general course or, in s o m e countries, from the lower stage technical courses.
There are also two routes into teacher training at this stage .

Teacher training after lower stage secondary can last from 1 to 3 years,
and entry is either from the terminal grade of lower secondary general
courses or from serving primary school teachers who could be considered
for an examination to enter an up-grading training course . These courses
produce teachers who would teach in the lower part of secondary or in the
upper part of primary. This m e a n s that students who are suitable for
higher level teaching but'miss the bus'because of the narrow selection for
entry into secondary schools , can go into lower stage second-level teacher
training and follow another route to teacher training at the upper stage.
This up-grading route is typical of the system bequeathed by the British
colonial educational system.

Finally, there is at the third level the university. Undergraduates

generally follow a three-year course after the sixth form to first graduation,
but medical courses are usually longer and s o m e m a y subsequently undertake
post-graduate studies lasting one or two years either in the national universities
or abroad. Postgraduate courses in education usually last 1 year and the course
for a Master ' s degree lasts a further two years . Also at the third level,
 Ï Ï E P / T M / 1 4 L / 6 7 - page 9

there are technological courses , usually in separate technological

institutes; and they last two or three years after the sixth form or after
the technicians' course., There can also be an overlap, here, entrance
being either from the sixth l'or m or the technicians' course.

Teachers:

Teachers in primary schools usually graduate from primary schools

and then have from. 2 to 4 years' teacher training. Teachers in upper
primary schools and the two lowest grades of secondary schools usually
graduate from the lower stage of secondary and then have 1 to 3 years'
training, Teachers in the upper grades of secondary schools are normally
university graduates „

- Teachers in technical schools are normally technicians or professional

technologists with or without teacher training. There m a y be some non-
technical teachers, with teacher training after lower secondary courses
teaching such subjects as English and simple Mathematics» A minority
of teachers in second-level teacher training colleges are university graduates ,
a majority with teacher training after lower secondary education. Teachers
in technicians' courses are usually technologists and those in teacher training
colleges at the upper stage of the second level are normally university
graduates.

Generally, the staffs of courses from the end of the lower stage of the
second level upwards , are mostly university graduates . Most of these African
countries have so few university graduates of their own at present that they still
have to rely to a very great extent on expatriate assistance. With the expansion
of education« this is changing. Ghana and Nigeria are moving towards the
stage where they will have enough of their own university graduates to begin
to replace the expatriates, and they will probably, within five to ten years,
be able to localise their teaching force completely. East and Central Africa
are less advanced and in s o m e of their secondary schools as m a n y as nine
teachers out of ten are expatriates . There are so m a n y other local openings
for university graduates and still a need to localize so m a n y sectors of
administration and the economy that teaching usually takes a very low priority.
The result is that if these countries did not employ expatriates the whole
secondary and university education system would collapse. Expatriates
constitute a very large sector of foreign aid to these countries.
ÎIEP/TM/14L/67 - page 10

There are also, unfortunately, quite a number of untrained teachers,

especially in primary schools . There is great pressure to achieve universal
primary education, but the supply of trained teachers and the money to pay
enough trained teachers is lacking. A vast expansion of primary education
therefore means that a large proportion of primary school teachers must be
untrained - with all the consequences that this involves .

Finance

I have already touched on the system of finance in the section dealing

with local authorities , in which it was pointed out that the bulk of the finance
for education comes from central government funds, either directly to the
schools or via a local authority. The private contribution is mainly in the
form of fees and it is normally no more than a fifth of the total recurrent
cost, and in remote areas where there is a very low level of subsistence
existence, fees are aften almost negligible and virtually the whole of the
financing of primary education comes from public funds . The missions and
churches still make some contribution. Money comes from missions in
other countries and individual missionaries who happen to come from a
rich family sometimes put their own funds into the schools .

As a result of the limitations on public funds to support a large

educational system and of the awakened desire of people for education for
their children there are often non-aided private schools . They are difficult
to pin down because some of them grow up and die within a year or so,
rather like mushrooms . By the time one has found out and recorded some
basic facts about such a school, it may no longer exist» These schools fall
into various categories. The main group is the network of small, lower
primary schools run by the Churches „ Within a parish you will find grant-
aided and small non-aided schools (possibly of two or three grades) , both
run by the same church . Such n©n~aided schools, in some countries,
can have considerable importance in educational planning.

Virtually all capital funds come from either the central government's
own resources, by appropriation from the current income account, or foreign
aid. The local governments are not normally rich enough to be able to put
aside much of their money for capital purposes . The result is that the capital
development of primary education, which is a local responsibility, is usually
achieved by local self-help. The local inhabitants are gathered together by
 IIEP/TM/14L/67 - page 11

the priest or the chief or both of them working together. A site is chosen
and cleared. The people go into the forest and cut down small trees for
the poles , dig the foundations , erect the poles and fill the walls with m u d .
If they can get hold of a little money, they will put on a wooden frame and
a corrugated iron roof. If they cannot, they will put on the traditional
thatched roof. They will probably get some local sand to plaster the walls.
They might even get a little whitewash to make the walls look more pleasant.
That is the typical local type of primary school.

Language

M y final point concerns language. Africa suffers from a plethora of

vernacular languages divided into several ethnic groups. For instance,
facing one another on either side of the River Nile (which has its source in
Uganda and runs north through Uganda and the Sudan to Egypt) you have two
peoples who speak two languages which are as far apart as English is from
Russian. In Uganda, with a population of about 7 million, there are 21
languages divided into 4 ethnic groups. The question of language in education
can therefore be vital. In this case government policy is that English is
the official language, although over 90 per cent of the people do not speak
English. It is hoped that the day will come when all people speak it.

Colonial policy was to use the vernacular first in schools. When a

certain degree of literacy had been attained in the vernacular (after, say,
3 or 4 years) , English was introduced as a subject and after another 2 or 3
years , it became a medium of instruction for other subjects such as arithmetic
and physical education where the pupil does not require very much knowledge
of the language . Gradually other subjects would be moved to the English
medium . By the time the pupil reached secondary school, English was the
sole medium of instruction, with possibly a vernacular language taught for
examination purposes .

The trend since independence has been to adopt English as the national
language . Governments therefore want English to be taught from the very
beginning - at least as a subject - or even as a medium for teaching other
subjects. This poses considerable problems because children who speak one
language in their homes come to school for the first time and are immediately
taught through a completely foreign language. But it can be done . Uganda is
running a special in-service training college for teachers who are engaged in
teaching in schools in the main city under the supervision of expert English-
speaking infant-method teachers , who work out teaching and linguistic
IIEP/TM/14L/67 - page 12

techniques and train the teachers on the job. It is amazing to see the
results they can achieve within three years .

This is another very important factor in educational development and

planning. The natural desire of governments to have a universal language
(choosing one of the vernacular languages would provoke jealousies and
stresses) makes them therefore choose (wisely on other grounds) a world
language which is developed anyway. But that choice presents educational
problems when one is trying to teach it to children who speak another
language in their homes .

Using a local language is less c o m m o n . In Tanzania, Swahili is the

official language , and is used in all primary schools . There are , in fact,
many vernaculars in Tanzania, but Swahili, which has a Bantu basic
construction with a vocabulary enriched by other languages , especially
Arabic, is spoken throughout the country. This makes things easier for
the children when they just come to school because the structure of the
language in which they are taught is akin to the structure of the language
which they speak at h o m e .