Earlier today, I attended a Commonwealth Conference of Education Ministers at Westminster, having received an invitation from the Commonwealth Advisory Bureau.
Speakers were: HE Mr Abhimanu Kundasamy, the High Commissioner for Mauritius; Ann Puntis, CEO of Cambridge International Examinations; Ann Cotton, CEO of Camford International which has been hugely successful in advancing the education of girls in Africa; and Tim Loughton, MP and Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Children & Families.
Education in Mauritius
The High Commissioner gave a very insightful talk into his country's education system, values and policy decisions. He outlined how education in Maurituis is:
- Free until the age of 20
- Compulsory until 16
- Multi-lingual; literacy in Mauritius not only refers to the English language but also to the country's own. Like Kenya, children in Mauritius have a proficiency in two or three languages.
- Aspiring to be a 'knowledge hub' among Commonwealth countries
- Asking for private sector investment to partner with the state and lift up its education system
- Addressing the issue of quality by focusing on:
1. The learner
2. The educator
3. The curriculum
The Commissioner spoke also of the need for a consensus among developing nations about their educational objectives so that they can work together. Education, he said, can only prosper in conflict-free, inclusive states that actively encourage and support, for example, the education of the girl child and children of all races, backgrounds, languages and cultures. The key is to not discriminate.
To support its aim of becoming a knowledge hub in the region, Mauritius recently signed a (MoU) Memorandum of Understanding with Kenya and Tanzania in a bid to enlarge its visibility as a destination for higher education.
The MoU will ensure joint recognition of educational qualifications between the countries, with staff and student exchanges, and establish links between universities in their respective countries.
Elimu looks forward to finding out more about these links and since they would appear to support our aims as well, whether there is potential to engage with them as part of our work in Kenya.
Teacher investment
Ann Puntis of Cambridge International Examinations, the world's largest provider of international programmes and qualifications, focused on the value of teacher investment. Without it, everything else that anyone attempts to do will have only a short life expectancy.
Both teachers and teaching are very important to Elimu.
As Ann explained, examinations are moving towards a focus on skills of collaboration and critical thinking, if they haven't already, as opposed to knowledge and recall. The challenge for many schools in developing country contexts, including the ones we work with, is that this has not yet been reflected in the classroom. There is, I would say, a mismatch. It is difficult for schools to sufficiently prepare students for their exams, particularly when they reach secondary school, because they are looking at something entirely new. The curriculum so far in Kenya, for instance, has stayed largely the same, and with little training, engagement or support, teachers are not necessarily in a position to alter or adapt their teaching either.
This change in emphasis is one of the reasons why Kipsamo School's recent review of the way it teaches poetry, moving from recall to analysis as part of its link with Charles Darwin School, has been so important. It is concerning to Nandi Hills' education office, and others, that children will find later on that they do not have the skills they need. Likewise, the shift from individual merit to collaboration.
Ann cited the example of Singapore (a current favourite of the UK government's) where teamwork is formally assessed and the marks awarded count towards university admissions points. Students who do not achieve in this area will not be offered a university place. This is partly because teamwork and collaboration form part of most university courses. But it is also a response to a changing jobs market and a globalised economy where these skills matter more and more.
Girls' Education
Camfed is an international charity founded by Ann Cotton in 1993 to fight poverty and HIV/Aids by educating girls and helping women to become agents of change within their communities.
There was much about Camfed that I did not know but have some appreciation of now. Ann talked us through how the organisation works with what she called hard to reach schools in rural Africa. These areas all have distinguished levels of poverty where families are having to decide which of their children should go to school.
It is a threat that stalks many families, including people in Nandi Hills, but there are girls in the Maasai Mara, among other places but where I worked on behalf of another charity a couple of years ago, who never make it to school at all. The Mara is one of the most marginalised parts of the country. The consequences for these girls ripples out across their lives, their family's and their children's. Maasai girls are traditionally married young, ending their chances of formal schooling. And yet, because of the tourist industry which ironically is centred partly around the Maasai even though the benefits of it have rarely been theirs, they see all around them the things they have missed. There are, though, headteachers who have done remarkable things to try and change this. They have identified the most at risk young girls, worked with local chiefs and dug into their own pockets, financing the girls' education so that they can attend school without burdening their families. This in turn delays circumcision ceremonies, marriage and motherhood. The heads have brought these girls into their schools, kept them as 'close' as possible, and paired them with younger boys who have helped them settle in. That in itself may impact on the future perception of girls.
In the absence of social security and pension rights, poorer families depend on their children's education and future employment. It is this as well as cultural considerations which drives them to send their sons to school, as men are freer to travel and go where the work is, while their daughters can marry into someone else' family. They do not always feel that they really have a choice.
Camfed, like the headteachers I met in the Mara, recognises this reality, or the sense of that reality, which is why it takes a holistic approach involving families, schools and communities.
24 million girls in sub-Saharan Africa cannot afford to go to school and those who marry early have a one in 22 chance of dying in childbirth. One in six of their children will die before the age of five. Camfed's research has found that if one girl is educated she will:
Earn up to 25 percent more and reinvest 90 percent in her family
Be three times less likely to become HIV-positive
Have fewer, healthier children who are 40 percent more likely to live past the age of five
Ann said that Camfed tries to look at the world through the eyes of the dispossessed, meaning both the girl and her family, and to find solutions that fit.
It is clearly working. Through innovative education programmes, business training and small grants, more than 1,451,600 children in impoverished areas of Zimbabwe, Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana and Malawi have benefited from Camfed's work.
This is quite an achievement and one that Elimu can only hope to emulate by the time we get to 19 years. Our work does not yet focus on girls' education, although male/female equality is woven into it in smaller, everyday ways (i.e. with our mixed football teams), but it will be a part of Elimu's future.
Until then, a good few contacts and connections were made in Westminster, including the Commissioner for Mozambique, Mr Carlos dos Santos, who would like to get involved with Elimu.
There was much to think about and a reminder, too, that it's ok for change to happen in small steps with one small charity. Rome, as they say, wasn't built in a day - but some of it was. And in any case:
"If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito in the room.”
Thank you for reading,
Jo
To find out more about Camfed, please visit www.camfed.org
