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It is 40 years since Coombs (1967) first drew attention to the World Education Crisis, and specifically problems in the educational systems of countries in the developing world. Today, many of these problems remain, and are most visible in the educational systems of countries in sub-Saharan Africa. A large number of children remain out of school and for those who do enrol, less than half complete the primary education cycle. More worrying is the fact that those who do complete primary schooling leave with unacceptably low levels of knowledge and skills. The problems of access to education, and the quality of learning opportunities and learning outcomes are unevenly spread between rural and urban areas, better- and worse-off constituencies, and between boys and girls. This raises questions about the nature of the state and its commitment to equality and equity for all. The chapters in this volume argue that quality, equity and democratic accountability are inseparable objectives in the quest to strengthen and improve educational systems in the developing world. Between them they highlight the specific problems of quality, equity and democratic accountability in a number of African educational systems, and provide useful insights into ongoing work by national governments and international donor agencies to remedy these shortcomings. Contents include: Introduction (David Johnson and William Beinart); The Challenge of Learning: Improving the Quality of Basic Education in Sub-Sahara Africa (Andriaan M. Verspoor); Improving the Quality of Education in Nigeria: A Comparative Evaluation of Recent Policy Imperatives (David Johnson); Education and Democracy in The Gambia: Reflections on the Position of Development Projects in a Small African State (Michele Schweisfurth); International and Comparative Research and the Quality of Education: Learning from the Primary School Management Project in Kenya (Michael Crossley); Remaking the Nation: Changing Masculinities and Education in South Africa (Elaine Unterhalter); Redressing School Inequalities in the Eastern Cape, South Africa (Anthony Lemon); Language, Literacy and Equality: minority language communities in the Cameroon (Barbara Trudell); and Gatherers of Knowledge: Namibian Khoisan Healers and their World of Possibilities (Chris Low.)

an: ED504799; source: Symposium Books; docTypes: Book; pubTypes: BookReport;