Macleans A. Geo-JaJa

Structural Adjustment as an Inadvertent Enemy of Human Development in Africa

African economies have experienced numerous disruptions since the 1980s, while other parts of the world have significantly prospered. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has become impoverished in absolute and real terms, and today faces the need for some form of an economic miracle. According to the harsh verdict of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, Africa is unable to point to any significant growth rate or satisfactory index of general well-being in the past two decades. To a substantial degree, these two international organizations have themselves to blame. Following Africas emergence as independent nations after the collapse of colonialism in 1960, too many African nations immersed themselves in debt, overspending on public enterprises, public employment, excessive military, and, all too often, cronyism and corruption. Their currencies collapsed, and debt repayment ceased. When these troubled nations sought assistance, the international lending agencies justifiably demanded reforms classified as structural adjustment. However, structural adjustment programs (SAPs) and stabilization policies have seldom delivered on their promises. Even worse, the available evidence suggests that they have accentu-

ECONOMIC ADJUSTMENT, EDUCATION AND HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA: THE CASE OF NIGERIA

On the basis of the Nigerian experience, this article argues that the structural adjustment programs of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, when misapplied, can have a devastating effect on the educational systems that are essential to human resource development. The paper considers how the objectives of structural adjustment might have been accomplished without harming education, and recommends an outcomes-based educational policy for Nigeria which could serve equally well in other developing nations. The key message of the paper is that the ongoing austerity programs have been secured at excessively high human cost, and that it is time for a policy redirection that reaffirms education as the essential tool of all development.

Educational Decentralization, Public Spending, and Social Justice in Nigeria

This study situates the process of educational decentralization in the narrower context of social justice. Its main object, however, is to analyze the implications of decentralization for strategies of equity and social justice in Nigeria. It starts from the premise that the early optimism that supported decentralization as an efficient and effective educational reform tool has been disappointed. The author maintains that decentralization — on its own — cannot improve education service delivery, the capacities of subordinate governments, or the integration of social policy in broader development goals. If the desired goals are to be met, public spending must be increased, greater tax revenues must be secured, and macro-economic stabilization must be achieved without re-instituting the welfare state.

China's aid to Africa: competitor or alternative to the OECD aid architecture?

Purpose – The emergence of the Chinese aid consensus has come to have profound implications for sustainability. The Beijing Consensus “sovereignty doctrine” of non-interference, presents a stark contrast to the Washington Consensus architecture of imposed conditionalities and the serving of geopolitical interests. For this reason, from Africas perspective, the Beijing Consensus appears to represent the preferred comprehensive meta-narrative for Africa. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the attributes of “good” aid architecture in relation to the peculiarities of Africas challenges. Design/methodology/approach – In examining its principles, objectives, framework differences and impact, the Beijing model shows that it supports the human rights which “unleash”, empower and protect self-directed development grounded in ownership and in the strategic interests of recipients. Findings – The Washington Consensus has been problematic for African development because it is economistic and exclusively instrumentalist. While conceding to this shortcoming, the inability of the consensus to appreciate the unique and complex development problems of Africa is more troubling. Comparing the two, the Beijing Consensus, which is multidimensional and encompasses the intrinsic and non-economic roles of development aid, with the consequence of over-emphasizing expanding local policy, is adjudged practical for Africa. The conclusion is that the dominant Washington Consensus is too poorly articulated and structured to respond to declared determination for ownership, mitigating capabilities deprivation, and improving development control. Originality/value – This paper has argued that the basic approach of the Beijing Consensus has been more generous and more attractive for sustainable development in Africa. Much more important, perhaps, is the ability of the consensus to appreciate the unique and complex development problems which occur as a consequence of donor deafness on limited rights and conditionalities. In sum, the Beijing Consensus results in exclusionary changes of “less magnitude and speed” and promotes poverty reduction and sustainable development. Taken together, these factors and practices mean that the Beijing Consensus best serves the staircase of a nations pathway to indigenous development, when compared with the Washington Consensus. Such a comprehensive meta-narrative that builds alliances and creates a foundation for enlightened and effective politics of development aid will “unleash”, empower and protect the full potential of Africa.

Gender Equity and Women Empowerment in Africa: The Education and Economic Globalization Nexus

The Millennium Declaration resolves to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women as a basic human right. The Declaration also maintains that giving women their fair share is the only way to effectively combat poverty, hunger, and disease and to simulate development that is truly sustainable. Progress towards this goal is assessed by measuring gender equality in three areas: education, employment and political decision-making. (United Nations, 2005, UNDP, 2004, UNESCO, 2006)

Education in China: The Urban/Rural Disparity Explained

China’s ups and downs over the past 50 years reflect the political ideology and the economic reforms applied to its social and economic development. Since the 1990s, China has achieved unprecedented social progress and global economic success. Along with these progresses, new reforms have been implemented to restructure and rebalance China’s education system. In spite of these reforms, disparities in education continue to exist between urban/rural areas and regions in China. At a time when the education system has expanded in size to a point unprecedented in China’s history, a crisis of quality education perpetuates the slow development of China’s rural areas. These rural areas are generally found in China’s western and border regions, contain a prevalence of ethnic minorities, and are less economically developed. The poor quality of education in China’s rural areas is evidenced in high drop-out rates, low enrollment, poor teacher quality, lack of resources, and inappropriate school curriculum. Policies and changes are suggested in line with the human development paradigm in order to improve education and participation and foster human development in rural China. Improving infrastructure to overcome geographic barriers is fundamental to increasing western growth, but increasing human capital formation (education and medical care) is also crucial because only through these improvements can China come up with new and better ideas to solve centuries-old problems like unbalanced growth.

Globalisation and the Future of Education in Africa

This chapter locates the process of globalisation, not in the narrow context of economics, but rather in its wider guises: sociocultural and political culture, as well as all other processes aimed at enlarging all human capabilities for nation-building. Also, in this chapter, globalisation is argued to be a discursively constructed myth, or grand narrative. This chapter first presents the opportunities and challenges that globalisation offers to Africa and examines how public expenditure has been impacted by one aspect of globalisation – the tidal force of finance-driven reform. We then review the way the process of globalisation, associated with neoconservative ideology is bound to reduce the ability of nations to collaborate and foster a human economic development partnership in national development (Zajda, Ideology. In: Phillips D (ed) Encyclopedia of educational theory and philosophy. Sage, Thousand Oaks, 2014a, Globalisation and Neo-liberalism as educational policy in Australia. In: Yolcu H, Turner D (eds) Neoliberal education reforms: a global analysis. Taylor & Francis/Routledge, New York, pp 164–183, 2014b, Values education. In: Phillips D (ed) Encyclopedia of educational theory and philosophy. Sage, Thousand Oaks, 2014c). The chapter suggests regulating globalisation in ways that minimise its impact on education through the use of safety nets of market creation. The conclusion show that globalisation has the potential to positively affect wealth creation and bring about social justice in education, but its current design has not allowed the achievement of these noble goals.

Education Localization for Optimizing Globalization’s Opportunities and Challenges in Africa

With decreasing diversity in societies in the world today, the dramatic impact of globalization on education has resulted in deprivation of opportunity that enhances human capabilities, as well as human development challenges. Globalization has led to internationalization of higher education in Africa, but countries do not have the resources to meet the exploding demand without compromising quality or equity.

Educational decentralization, public spending, and social justice in Nigeria@@@Dezentralisierung von bildung, öffentliche ausgaben und soziale gerechtigkeit in Nigeria@@@Décentralisation éducative, dons publics et justice sociale au Nigeria@@@Descentralización de la educación, gastos püblicos y justicia social en Nigeria@@@ОБРАжОВАтЕльНАь ДЕц ЕНтРАлИжАцИь, гОсУДАРстВЕННыЕ жАтРАты И сОцИАльНАь спРАВЕДлИВОсть В НИг ЕРИИ — В

This study situates the process of educational decentralization in the narrower context of social justice. Its main object, however, is to analyze the implications of decentralization for strategies of equity and social justice in Nigeria. It starts from the premise that the early optimism that supported decentralization as an efficient and effective educational reform tool has been disappointed. The author maintains that decentralization — on its own — cannot improve education service delivery, the capacities of subordinate governments, or the integration of social policy in broader development goals. If the desired goals are to be met, public spending must be increased, greater tax revenues must be secured, and macro-economic stabilization must be achieved without re-instituting the welfare state.ZusammenfassungDiese Untersuchung stellt den Prozess der Dezentralisierung von Bildung in den engeren Zusammenhang der sozialen Gerechtigkeit. Ihr Hauptthema ist jedoch, die Implikationen der Dezentralisierung für die Strategien zur Chancengleichheit und sozialen Gerechtigkeit in Nigeria zu analysieren. Sie geht von der PrÄmisse aus, dass der anfÄngliche Optimismus, der die Dezentralisierung als ein effizientes und effektives Werkzeug zur Bildungsreform unterstützt hat, enttÄuscht wurde. Der Autor stellt die Behauptung auf, dass Dezentralisierung — für sich allein genommen — die Verfügbarkeit von Bildungsangeboten, die KapazitÄten der untergeordneten Regierungsebenen oder die Einbindung der Sozialpolitik in die weiteren Entwicklungsziele nicht verbessern kann. Wenn die erwünschten Ziele umgesetzt werden sollen, müssen die öffentlichen Ausgaben erhöht, grö\ere Steuereinnahmen sichergestellt und makroökonomische Stabilisierung erreicht werden, und zwar ohne den Wohlfahrtsstaat wiedereinzuführen.RésuméCette étude situe le processus de la décentralisation éducative dans le contexte plus proche de la justice sociale. Son objet principal, cependant, est d’analyser les implications de la décentralisation pour les stratégies de l’équité et de la justice sociale au Nigéria. Elle part de la prémisse que l’optimisme de départ qui soutenait la décentralisation comme étant un instrument de réforme efficient et effectif s’est révélé trompeur. L’auteur maintient que la décentralisation — seule — ne peut améliorer la distribution des services d’éducation, les capacités des gouvernements subalternes, ou l’intégration d’une politique sociale dans un élargissement des buts du développement. Si l’on veut atteindre les buts désirés, les dons publics doivent augmenter, des taxes sur les revenus plus élevées doivent Être assurées, et une stabilisation macro-économique doit Être réalisée sans une nouvelle remise en place de l’étatprovidence.ResumenEste estudio sitüa el proceso de la descentralización de la educación en un contexto más restringido, el de la justicia social. Sin embargo, su principal objetivo no es el de analizar los efectos de la descentralización sobre la equidad y la justicia social en Nigeria. El trabajo parte de la premisa de que la expectativa optimista inicial, que habia apoyado a la descentralización como herramienta de una reforma educativa eficiente y efectiva, ha quedado defraudada. El autor sostiene que la descentralización, por si misma, no es capaz de mejorar los servicios de educación ni las capacidades de los gobiernos regionales ni la integración de una politica social dentro de unos objetivos de desarrollo mayores. Si se quieren alcanzar los objetivos deseados, sin reimplantar el Estado de bienestar, habrá que incrementar el gasto pÚblico, asegurar una mayor recaudación fiscal y lograr la estabilidad macroeconómica.РЕжУМЕДАННОМ ИсслЕДОВАНИИ РАссМАтРИВАЕтсь пРО цЕсс ДЕцЕНтРАлИжАцИИ В БО лЕЕ УжкОМ кОНтЕкстЕ сОцИ АльНОИ спРАВЕДлИВОс тИ. ЕгО глАВНыМ пРЕДМЕтОМ, тЕ М НЕ МЕНЕЕ, ьВльЕтсь АНАлИ ж ВлИьНИь ДЕцЕНтРАлИ жАцИИ НА стРАтЕгИИ РАВЕНстВА И сОцИАльНОИ спРАВЕДл ИВОстИ В НИгЕРИИ. ОНА Н АЧИНАЕтсь с пРЕДпОсылкИ О тОМ, ЧтО РАННИИ ОптИМИжМ, к ОтОРыИ пОДДЕРжИВАл ДЕцЕНтРАлИжАцИУ кАк ДЕИстВЕННыИ И ЁФФЕктИВНыИ ИНстРУ МЕНт ОБРАжОВАтЕльНО И РЕФОРМы, РАжВЕНЧАН. АВтОР стАтьИ УтВЕРжД АЕт, ЧтО ДЕцЕНтРАлИжА цИь сАМА пО сЕБЕ НЕ МОжЕт УлУЧшИть пОстАВкУ ОБ РАжОВАтЕльНых УслУг, ВОжМОжНОстИ жАВИсИМых пРАВИтЕль стВ ИлИ ИНтЕгРАцИУ сОцИА льНОИ пОлИтИкИ В БОлЕ Е шИРОкОЕ РАжВИтИЕ. Дль ДОстИжЕНИь жЕлАЕ Мых цЕлЕИ НЕОБхОДИМО УВЕлИЧИть гОсУДАРстВЕННыЕ жАтРАты, ОБЕспЕЧИть Б ОльшИЕ пОДОхОДНыЕ НА лОгИ И ДОстИЧь МАкРОЁкОНОМ ИЧЕскОИ стАБИлИжАцИИ БЕж пЕР ЕУстРОИстВА гОсУДАР стВЕННОгО сОцИАльНОгО ОБЕспЕЧЕНИь.

Nordic Aid and the Education Sector in Africa: The Case of Tanzania

The chapter studies the contribution of Nordic Aid to quality education in Africa with a focus on Tanzania. It reviews and draws heavily on existing evidence on the contributions to education and self-determination. The chapter asserts that traditional aid in general has not supported rights in education, but that Nordic aid supports the multiplicity of indigenous education that has retained an important place in human rights and self-sustaining development. The chapter argues that in Tanzania marketing English as a language of instruction is a roadblock to consciousness-raising for social reconstruction and participation of Tanzanians in their own educational development to enrich the development process. The chapter concludes by calling for a rethink of aid conditionalities that market colonial knowledge systems and replacing them with schooling that emphasize culture and voice in diversity, promote freedom with significant economic and social impact that broadens valuable capabilities.