Education: No success without policy dialogue

© UNESCO-IBE 2006

Training Seminar on Policy Dialogue in Education

Dakar, Senegal, 21 to 29 April 2006

 

Recent studies show that policy dialogue is a central component and a critical success factor in educational reforms. It is also a key element in improving the quality of education. Five teams of experts in the design and implementation of the educational policies from the Ministries of Education of Burundi, Djibouti, Guinea, Mauritania and the Central African Republic, will share their experiences regarding policy dialogue in education. The meeting took place in Dakar, Senegal, on 21 to 29 April 2006.

 

One of the major trends that characterizes education systems worldwide is the taking into account of policy dialogue as a central element in determining the development and management of the educational policies. African education systems passes through acute crises, often closely related to resistance to essential reforms and the challenges of access and quality. These conflicts generated by the absence of consensus and cooperation between the various members of the educational community further weaken education systems.

 

Faced with this problem, many people involved in educational reforms have requested more open dialogue and a greater role in the defining of educational policies. They want the saying "education is the business of everyone" to be more than a simple slogan. These claims are strongly reinforced by the process of democratization in progress in several African countries.

 

International researchers have clarified the role of key players in creating successful educational policies for African countries, as well as the need to reinforce the managerial capacities. Furthermore, a study undertaken by the UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Africa (BREDA) reveals that financial resources, often declared insufficient, are not always the principal difficulty encountered.

 

"Despite all efforts, financial in particular, authorized during the last ten years, rare are the cases from which emerge realistic strategies... governments, sometimes with the guarantee of the financing agencies, have the tendency to conceive of reform projects without always paying attention to those who will be in charge of piloting the project, carrying out reforms in the field and providing support." (Study on the problems of management of education systems and on obstacles in implementing of the programmes of educational reform in sub-Saharan Africa, Results/First stage, 2001).

 

Among the key competencies needed to ensure the good management of education systems are: vision, dialogue, negotiation, analysis and communication.

 

The seminar has been held under the auspices of the IBE in partnership with Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) and with the support of the Senegalese National Commission for UNESCO. This seminar is the fourth in a series of activities on policy dialogue, implemented by the IBE and the ADEA in French-speaking Africa. The first three seminars have been organized in March 2003 in Bamako (Mali), and in April and November 2003 in Dakar (Senegal).

 

 

See also: