Since the 1990s, sub-Saharan Africa has experienced unprecedented attempts at reforming teacher and student classroom practices, with a learner-centred pedagogy regarded as an effective antidote to the prevalence of teacher-centred didactic classroom practices. Attempts at reform have been going on all over the continent. In fact, learner-centred pedagogy has been described as one of the most pervasive educational ideas in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa and elsewhere. Research has revealed that the major attempts have largely failed mainly because teachers have not been able to adopt instructional innovations to technical problems. This failure is also related to lack of resources, and poor teacher training programmes which lead to poor teacher quality, among others. This book attempts to explain why pedagogical change has not occurred in spite of the much energy and resources that have been committed to such reforms.The book also takes us inside what the author calls 'the socio-cultural world of African classrooms' to help us understand the reasons teachers dominate classroom life and rely disproportionately on didactic methods of teaching. Its conceptual analyses capture the best of both the sociology and the anthropology of education in contexts of poverty, as well as the politics of education.The book concludes that a socio-cultural approach should be the basis for developing culturally responsive indigenous pedagogies, though these may or may not turn out to be in any way akin to constructivist learner-centred pedagogies.

In Africa, with the expansion of coverage of primary education in recent decades, many of the remaining out-of-school children are in hard to reach areas, with low population density and poor transport. Providing access to education is challenging in such contexts, as the population in any village is often too small to support a conventional primary school. One of the answers is the use of multigrade teaching, where one teacher works with students of two or more grades. This paper examines the practice of multigrade teaching in three African countries, Uganda, Senegal, and The Gambia. Although these three cases had very different approaches to multigrade, their experiences suggest that multigrade teaching is a promising and cost-effective option, but that successful implementation requires sustained support from policymakers, adequate training of teachers, and careful explanation of the approach to parents and the communities.

As in most countries worldwide, Sub-Saharan African countries are striving to build their human capital so they can compete for jobs and investments in an increasingly globalized world. In this region, which includes the largest number of countries that have not yet attained universal primary schooling, the ambitions and aspirations of Sub-Saharan African countries and their youth far exceed this basic goal. Over the past 20 years, educational levels have risen sharply across Sub-Saharan Africa. Already hard at work to provide places in primary schools for all children, most countries of the region are also rapidly expanding access to secondary and tertiary levels of education. Alongside this quantitative push is a growing awareness of the need to make sure that students are learning and acquiring the skills needed for life and work. Achieving education of acceptable quality is perhaps an even greater challenge than providing enough school places for all. Thus, Sub-Saharan African countries are simultaneously confronting many difficult challenges in the education sector, and much is at stake. This book gives those concerned with education in Sub-Saharan Africa an analysis of the sector from a cross-country perspective, aimed at drawing lessons that individual country studies alone cannot provide. A comparative perspective is useful not only to show the range of possibilities in key education policy variables but also to learn from the best performers in the region. (Although the report covers 47 Sub- Saharan African countries whenever possible, some parts of the analysis center on the region's low-income countries, in particular, a sample of 33 low-income countries). Although countries ultimately must make their own policy choices and decide what works best in their particular circumstances, Sub-Saharan African countries can benefit from learning about the experiences of other countries that are faced with, or have gone through, similar development paths. Given the large number of countries included in the analysis, the book finds that Sub-Saharan African countries have more choices and more room for maneuver than will appear if attention were focused on only one or a few country experiences. Countries can make better choices when understanding the breadth of policy choices available to them. They are well advised, however, to evaluate the applicability of policy options to their contexts and to pilot and evaluate the results for performance and subsequent improvement.

Textbooks play a key role in enhancing the quality of learning, especially in the context of low-income Sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries characterized by large class-size, poorly motivated and inadequately trained teachers, and short effective school years. There are also high rates of illiteracy among parents and few reading materials at home for the student to bank on. Despite extensive investments by governments, the World Bank and other development partners, the majority of students in primary and secondary schools in SSA still lack the benefit of access to textbooks and the key reason for this shortage is affordability: textbooks are generally much more costly in SSA than in other developing regions. The need to increase access to key learning resources is of particular urgency because most African countries experience low learning outcomes which in part contributes to a high drop-out rate. Only two-thirds of those who enter school reach the final grade and only about half of these master basic numeracy and literacy skills. And although quality improvement depends on many factors inside and outside the school, there is wide agreement that availability of textbooks is both an indispensable and a cost-effective way of improving the quality of the learning process. A recent World Bank study examined the actual costs of textbooks, the scope for cost reduction, the portion of a national budget countries allocate to teaching and learning materials (TLMs) and hurdles in the way of making textbooks available to student. Some interesting findings from the study - - The availability of affordable textbooks to all students could be dramatically improved by devoting an estimated 3 to 4 percent of the primary education budget and 6 to 7 percent of the secondary education budget - The production process †“ methods, copyright, length of print runs, effective procurement practices †“ rather than the production costs should be the target of cost saving strategies - The increased integration of ICTs into education in SSA can provide important opportunities for promoting availability of electronic TLMs but electronic TLMs are not a substitute for printed TLMs including textbooks

This book is a comprehensive text for those interested in formal education in sub-Saharan Africa. It provides a thought-provoking overview of the key educational ideas, themes and issues facing schooling in Africa today, by drawing on a wide literature to examine evidence concerning both educational policy and the working realities of primary and secondary schools in Africa. Based on the author’s forty years of experience in researching and publishing on education in Africa, it takes a balanced but critical approach to analysing education in Africa, and discusses both positive and negative patterns across the region, as well as identifying differences between and within countries. The book examines major questions of educational provision, structure, content and process but does so in a way that raises challenging questions about gender, inequality, violence, authoritarianism and democracy in education as well the fundamental question of whether education is achieving its desired outcomes. It will be of great interest to students and researchers working in the fields of comparative and international education, education and international development, African education, African studies and development studies.

While everybody recognizes the development challenges facing Sub-Saharan Africa, few have put together coherent plans that offer real hope for any feasible and general improvement. Facing Forward combines an evidence-based plan that not only recognizes the deep problems but provides specific prescriptions for dealing with the problems. In the simplest version, focus on the skills of the people and do it in a rational and achievable manner. †“ Eric Hanushek, Paul and Jean Hanna Senior Fellow, Hoover Institute, Stanford University This book offers a clear perspective on how to improve learning in basic education in Sub- Saharan Africa, based on extremely rigorous and exhaustive analysis of a large volume of data. The authors shine a light on the low levels of learning and on the contributory factors. They have not hesitated to raise difficult issues, such as the need to implement a consistent policy on the language of instruction, which is essential to ensuring the foundations of learning for all children. Using the framework of “From Science to Service Delivery,†? the book urges policy makers to look at the entire chain from policy design, informed by knowledge adapted to the local context, to implementation. Facing Forward: Schooling for Learning in Africa is a unique addition to the literature that is relevant for African policy makers and stakeholders. †“ Professor Hassana Alidou, Ambassador of the Republic of Niger to the United States and Canada As the continent gears itself up to provide universal basic education to all its children by 2030, it has to squarely address the challenge of how to improve learning. Facing Forward helps countries to benchmark themselves against each other and to identify concrete lines of action. It forces policy makers to think “where do I go from here?†? “what do I do differently?†? and to examine the hierarchy of interventions that can boost learning. It rightly urges Ministries of Education to build capacity through learning by doing and continuous adaptation of new knowledge to the local context. Facing Forward will unleash frank conversations about the profound reforms that are required in education policy and service delivery to ensure learning for every child on the continent. †“ Dr. Fred Matiang’I, Cabinet Secretary for the Interior and Coordination of National Government, Government of Kenya (former Cabinet Secretary for Education) Facing Forward couldn’t have come at a more opportune time as countries in the region, including Mauritius, focus more on learning outcomes rather than simply on inputs and processes in education systems. The book underscores the important point that African countries need not exclusively model themselves on high-performing education systems in the world. Much can as well be learnt from other countries at the same level of development, or lower, by virtue of the challenges they have faced and successfully overcome. This presents opportunities for greater peer-sharing and networking with these countries. Indeed a number of key focus areas are highlighted in the book that demonstrate good practices worthy of being emulated. These cover domains as diverse as enabling factors leading to improved student progression, strengthened teacher capacity, increased budgetary allocation with a focus on quality, as well as improved technical capacity of implementing agencies in the region. †“ Hon. (Mrs.) Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun, Minister of Education and Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research, Republic of Mauritius