Section: Research Projects
In May 2004 the Centre of African Studies was awarded funding from the UK's Department for International Development (DFID), under its Policy-Oriented Research Programme, to do a study on the contribution of post-basic education and training to poverty reduction, in collaboration with researchers in South Africa and India.
For 25 years within the World Bank, and increasingly within other multilateral and bilateral agencies, education, and particularly primary education, have been held to have a powerful relationship with many other development outcomes, and, through these, with the reduction of poverty more generally. The primacy of primary education is symbolised in its position as a Millennium Development Goal (MDG), and within DFID as an element in their Public Service Agreement (PSA). The alleged positive developmental outcomes of basic education are frequently cited as self-evident. But nowhere in the MDGs is post-basic education and training (PBET) mentioned. Only with regards to gender parity is secondary education mentioned.
This study sought to revisit these ideas. It:
* examined critically the research and policy evidence from the late 1970s till now for how basic, primary education translates into developmental outcomes and, thus, into poverty reduction, paying particular attention to the critical systems and national capacities that may be necessary for this current relationship to be secured;
* explored and synthesised the research and policy evidence for how different sectors of PBET are held to relate directly to different MDGs, and to poverty reduction;
* documented the existing evidence for PBET contributing to system capacities and to the infrastructure of knowledge societies;
* examined the interplay between the changing donor positions on basic and post-basic education, and the policy dialogue taking place between donors and national governments.
In addition to an examination of international research by the Edinburgh team, national studies were carried out in India, Rwanda, South Africa, Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania.
The project ran from May 2004 to May 2006.
University of Edinburgh, Centre of African Studies, UK
Professor Kenneth King (Kenya study)
Dr Neil Thin
Rachel Hayman (Rwanda study)
Robert Palmer (Ghana study)
Ruth Wedgwood (Tanzania study)
National Institute of Educational Planning & Administration, New Delhi, India
Professor Jandhyala Tilak (India study)
Human Sciences Research Council, Pretoria, South Africa
Dr Simon McGrath
Salim Akoojee (South Africa study)
"Educating out of Poverty? A Synthesis Report on Ghana, India, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and South Africa", by Robert Palmer, Ruth Wedgwood and Rachel Hayman, with Kenneth King and Neil Thin. DFID Researching the Issues, No 70, 2007. This report is available from DFID Publications.
A working paper series has been produced, providing full country studies for India, South Africa, Rwanda, Kenya, Ghana and Tanzania. Short briefing notes drawn from each country study, as well as one briefing note bringing together the main findings of the project, are also available.
PBET Working Paper Series (pdf format)
1. Post Basic Education and Poverty in Tanzania, Ruth Wedgwood
2. Post-Basic Education and Training and Poverty Reduction in South Africa: Progress to 2004 and Vision to 2014, Salim Akoojee and Simon McGrath
3. The Contribution of Post-Basic Education and Training (PBET) to Poverty Reduction in Rwanda : balancing short-term goals and long-term visions in the face of capacity constraints, Rachel Hayman
4. Beyond the Basics: Post-Basic Education, Training and Poverty Reduction in Ghana, Robert Palmer
5. Post-Basic Education and Training for Growth and Poverty Reduction. Towards a History of Policy in Kenya 1963-2005, Kenneth King
6. Post-Elementary Education, Poverty and Development in India, Jandhyala B G Tilak
7. The Role of Post-Basic Education in Alleviation of Poverty and Development, Jandhyala B G Tilak
8. Education, Training and their Enabling Environments: A Review of Research and Policy, Kenneth King and Robert Palmer
9. Skills Development and Poverty Reduction: The State of the Art. Kenneth King and Robert Palmer
1. Beyond basic education: how post-basic learning can make education sustainable and valubale. Lessons from Sub-Saharan Africa and India. Overview Policy Brief. Neil Thin.
2. Post-Basic Education and Training for Growth and Poverty Reduction. Current Challenges from 40 Years of Kenya s Policy History. Kenneth King
3. Post-Basic Education, Training and Poverty Reduction in Ghana. Robert Palmer.
4. Beyond Primary Education in Tanzania: Establishing an environment for the benefits of education to be realised. Ruth Wedgwood.
5. Beyond Basic Education in Rwanda: Balancing Medium-Term Goals and Long-Term Visions. Rachel Hayman.
6. South Africa: Post Basic Education and Training for Growth, Employment and Poverty Reduction. Salim Akoojee and Simon McGrath.
7. Post-Elementary Education, Poverty and Development in India. Jandhyala B G Tilak.
Development Studies Association, 6 November 2004 'Bridging Research and Policy on Education, Training and their Enabling Environments'. A reviewed version of this paper was published in the Journal of International Development 17(6):803-817, 2005.
Members of the team presented papers related to this project at the 8th UKFIET International Conference on Education and Development in September 2005. Reviewed versions of these papers were published in the International Journal of Educational Development, Volume 27, Issue 4, (July 2007).
* Skills for Work? From Skills Development to Decent Livelihoods in Ghana's Rural Economy, Robert Palmer
* Are the MDGs enough? Donor perspectives and recipient visions of education and poverty reduction in Rwanda, Rachel Hayman
* Post-Elementary Education, Poverty and Development in India, Jandhyala B G Tilak
* Balancing Basic and Post-Basic Education; Quantity, Quality and Inequality; Service Provision and Productive Capacity;
in Securing Poverty Reduction and Growth in Kenya. Kenneth King
* Education and Poverty Reduction in Tanzania, Ruth Wedgwood
* The South African Development State, Poverty and Post-Basic Education and Training, Salim Akoojee and Simon McGrath
This page was published on 12 March 2009