《非洲教育"二·十"行动计划(2006～2015)》评析

在非洲教育一体化进程中,非盟出台了《非洲教育"二·十"行动计划(2006～2015)》。该计划主要目的在于开发各国教育管理信息系统,建构区域教育一体化的有效机制,使教育完全成为非盟和区域经济共同体的主要议题,大力提高教育绩效,充分实现两性平等。为此,该计划将性别和文化、教育管理信息系统、教师发展、高等教育、职业技术教育、课程开发及质量管理确定为优先发展领域。该计划是非洲教育一体化进程中的重要里程碑,推动了非洲各级各类教育后续行动计划的产生,体现了当今国际先进的教育理念和诉求,强调和设想了非洲教育的本土化。这些对于非洲教育实践无疑产生了影响,但目前其影响还不够深入。不过,该计划本身处在动态发展过程之中。     

赞比亚私立高等教育发展及其影响因素分析

发展私立高等教育是非洲许多国家扩大高等教育入学机会、推进教育民主化的重要举措。赞比亚私立高等教育经历了一个颇为曲折的发展历程,20世纪90年代末才获得合法地位。究其原因,其中既有观念的问题、宏观政策法令的制约,还有高等教育入学适龄人口不断增大的压力、公立大学自身的危机等方面的因素。赞比亚私立高等教育既有公立大学不具备的发展优势,也存在不少问题。私立高等教育要获得更大的发展,还必须努力突破观念约束,加强资质监管,同时,政府也要给予适当的财政激励措施,创造公平、宽松的竞争环境。     

政策转移视角下博洛尼亚进程在非洲的传播:动因、路径与效果

博洛尼亚进程是21世纪以来最具代表性、影响范围最广的政策转移实践,对全球诸多区域和国家都产生了深远的影响。博洛尼亚进程在非洲的传播是“胁迫转移”和“自愿借鉴”的产物,其中也蕴含着欧盟扩散欧洲教育发展经验、提升国际影响力的诉求和目标。博洛尼亚进程在非洲的传播涉及技术性运行机制、工具、标准和规则等显性的内容,也涉及价值观念等隐性的内容。博洛尼亚进程在非洲的传播采取直接传播、间接效仿、中介传递“三维一体”的传播路径,实现输出方主导、输入方主动和第三方推介的有机融合。博洛尼亚进程引发非洲区域、次区域和国家在教育政策、制度和实践方面的变革与转型,但在一定程度上还存在着政策水土不服、政策失灵的问题与挑战。     

新时代非洲中文教育发展的动因、模式与路径——以赞比亚中文教育发展为例

赞比亚的中文教育在非洲具有典型性,内部拉力和外部推力共同促进赞比亚中文教育的平稳发展。内部拉力包括中赞两国的深厚友谊、赞比亚经济发展的需要以及中文教育相关政策法规;外部推力包括日益增长的华人群体和中文教育机构。赞比亚中文教育形成了孔子学院“一院多点”的伞状辐射教学模式,由中国企业和多所职业院校合作成立的中国—赞比亚职业技术学院形成“以一拖四”的树状运行模式。结合非洲中文教育在需求、规范、本土资源和师资、华人群体等方面的现实问题,借鉴赞比亚的实践,未来非洲中文教育当以“五元融合”作为发展路径开展创新突破,即国内与国外相融合、学科与事业相融合、中文教育与职业教育相融合、传统教学与新型理念相融合、普遍规律与典型案例相融合。     

文化的多样性及民主的全球化与本土化

政治文化是一个民族在特定时期流行的一套政治态度、信仰和感情,影响着各种政治角色的行为和一个国家的民主化进程。各民族和区域在发展中张扬着自身的文化个性,形成了不同的民主政治发展模式,表明一个稳定、有效的民主政府,不仅要依靠合理的政治制度和政府结构,还有赖于人们的政治价值取向。当今世界应该更加宽容和多元,从而为非西方国家走适合自己的道路、为民主的全球化与本土化的结合提供更为广阔的空间。     

非洲英语国家高等教育综合介绍

非洲英语国家高等教育综合介绍夏亚峰日前，笔者随国家教委调研小组，赶非洲英语国家进行教育考察，先后访问了埃及、苏丹、埃塞俄比亚、肯尼亚、乌干达、坦桑尼亚、赞比亚、津巴布韦、博茨瓦纳、尼日利亚以及加纳等非洲十一国。在紧张的访问日程中，调研组访问了各国的教...     

浅析黔东南州服务型政府建设

建立服务型政府是国家民主化进程的必然产物,它已成为我国政府改革的主要目标之一。黔东南由于经济发展落后、自然条件恶劣以及人民综合素质不高等问题,导致在服务型政府建设进程中呈现出一些矛盾和挑战,需要政府从加强依法行政、推行政务公开、改善服务环境、树立服务理念、建立公共财政体制等方面加以解决。     

互联网对国家的冲击与国家的回应

周光辉、周笑梅在《政治学研究》(2001年第2期)上撰文认为：从政治学的角度来观察，互联网所带来的重大影响之一就是它在一定程度上推进了政府管理现代化和政治民主化的进程，但是同时，它也对传统意义上的国家观念和政府职能产生了相当的冲击。应该肯定的是。从人类发展的未来历史进程来看，互联网对于国家的冲击和消解具有一定的积极意义。但国家在相当长时间内无疑仍将是国际社会的基本主体。     

千年发展目标进程中的博茨瓦纳中等教育改革

联合国千年发展目标对非洲国家的基础教育产生了积极的影响。其中,博茨瓦纳是撒哈拉以南非洲国家中基础教育发展最好的国家之一。博茨瓦纳以中等教育改革为重点推动基础教育千年目标的进程。其改革措施包括:通过建立多元化的教育体制,加大对教育的投入;通过基础教育课程的改革,解决政策的适切性和课程设置的合理化等。同时,博茨瓦纳中等教育的发展也存在着一些困境和挑战。     

非洲大学联盟《战略计划(2011～2015)》评析

非洲大学联盟(AAU)是由非盟建立的一个区域性的大学协作组织。为了有效整合非洲高等教育资源、扩大人才培养规模和提高人才培养质量,非洲大学联盟于2003年制定了第一个《战略计划(2003~2010)》。2010年在总结第一个战略计划实施的基础上,又制定了第二个《战略计划(2011~2015)》。该计划针对非洲高等教育发展的现实需求,以促进非洲高等教育本土化与全球化为目标,提出了一系列的改革措施。该计划的实施将对非洲地区高等教育的发展产生深刻的影响。     

UNIVERSAL BASIC EDUCATION AND THE PROVISION OF QUALITY MATHEMATICS IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

In this paper, I discuss Universal Basic Education (UBE) in relation to the teaching and learning of mathematics in Southern Africa. I present the status of UBE for all countries in the region and then use 3 selected examples: Botswana, Malawi, and Zambia, to illustrate the provision of mathematics in the general framework of UBE in the countries. I draw from results of SACMEQ evaluations to compare the 3 countries’ quality of primary education and also the mathematical achievement of learners. According to the evaluations, countries that have better age-appropriate enrolment and provide a better quality of primary education seem to have better mathematical achievement than countries that have less age-appropriate enrolment and less quality of primary education. While this might seem obvious, it is important to note because of the many challenges that some Southern African countries are facing in their efforts in providing quality mathematics education to all.     

Learning through South–South development: Cuban-African partnerships in sport and physical education

Since the 1990s, Cuba has offered scholarships to students from low-resource countries to attend the Escuela Internacional de Educación Física y Deporte (EIEFD) for a six-year degree in sport, physical education, and coaching. Drawing on the experiences of EIEFD graduates from four Southern African countries (Zambia, South Africa, Mozambique, and Lesotho) the authors discuss the meanings that this South–South cooperation through education holds for international students and for the self-sufficiency of sport and physical-education systems within partner countries. The authors also show that upon returning home, many EIEFD graduates are left to negotiate insular job markets and inconsistent domestic commitments to public sport and physical education. The implications for South–South development through international education, and the place of sport and physical education therein, are discussed.     

Some trends in distance education in Africa: An examination of the past and future role of distance education as a tool for national development

Distance education figures prominently among strategies recently proposed to assist African countries escape from educational crisis. Africa has already made considerable use of distance education to extend access to formal education, although most public institutions have often been severely constrained by lack of finance and manpower. Case studies of Zambia, Kenya and Zimbabwe suggest that critical factors for the effectiveness of distance education are the provision of adequate resources and firm political backing. It is probable that distance education will continue to be used to strengthen formal education by training primary teachers, extending access to secondary education and by providing tertiary education although, so far, few African countries have attempted degree level studies at a distance. In order for all these programmes to be effective, more resources must be forthcoming and integration of distance education with the formal system is desirable. Otherwise distance education may remain at the periphery, its potential under‐used.     

Indigenizing civic education in Africa: Experience in Madagascar and the Sahel

In Africa, as in many countries of the South, democratization is sometimes perceived as a process modeled upon outside – and specifically Northern – experience. Formal civic education programs in those countries arguably reflect the same bias and have not always been notably successful. Yet there are rich patterns of civic involvement and democratic process in African culture and in the myriad ways in which it has adapted to development challenges, often more successfully reflected in non-formal and informal education endeavors. This article reports on a comparative study of related experience in Madagascar and Sahelian West Africa and draws conclusions regarding ways to draw inspiration for school-based civic education from such ground-level sources.     

Making educational policy under influence of external assistance and national politics — a comparative analysis of the education sector policy documents of Ethiopia,Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia

The article analyses the context and content of current national education sector policy documents from four African countries (Ethiopia, 1994; Mozambique, 1995; Namibia, 1993; Zambia, 1996). These documents are examined in relation to the educational policy agenda presented in World Bank publications and in the documents of the Jomtien Education for All conference. In all four cases a considerable degree of agreement is found between the national documents and the donor agenda, particularly in the countries undergoing structural adjustment programmes. The analysis also suggests that this influence is moderated by multi-party politics, and by remnants of previous socialist ideology.     

Extra tuition in Southern and Eastern Africa: Coverage,growth, and linkages with pupil achievement

The phenomenon of extra tuition is witnessed in many countries and some educationalists have described it as a parallel education system. However, the incidence and impact of extra tuition have often not been studied systematically, especially in Africa. In this article cross-national data for six African education systems (Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Zambia and Zanzibar) collected by SACMEQ, the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality, have been used to assess: (a) the incidence and growth of extra tuition, (b) the characteristics of students who received extra tuition, and (c) the association between extra tuition and student achievement. The analyses presented in this paper showed that extra tuition was a widespread phenomenon in all six education systems, and that receiving extra tuition was positively associated with the socio-economic levels of students’ home backgrounds. The association between tuition and student achievement was mixed. The issues and challenges associated with tuition have been discussed and some suggestions for further research made.     

Regional inequality in university attainment in seven African countries since 1960

Inequalities in access to university education are of concern across the world, but many countries in Africa have faced particularly pronounced regional and ethnic inequalities in educational attainment. Have such disparities increased or decreased since the 1960s? Using census data to trace the sub-national origins of university students in seven African countries (Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia) over successive birth cohorts shows that regional inequalities in access have taken a u-shaped path. In the first two decades of independence, as higher education expanded from a low base, graduates were growing more regionally and ethnically representative of the national populations. Since the 1980s regional inequalities have increased in most countries, on account of a growing attainment gap between people born in the largest cities and the remaining populations. This growing educational advantage accruing to those born in the main urban metropolises was initially driven by a slowdown in enrolment growth, coupled with high rates of skills-selective urban migration and higher educational performance in the urban regions. This new urban bias is rapidly changing the composition of the region’s educational elites.     

The nature and role of religious studies at the University of Zambia: 1985–2005

The place of religion in higher education has been and remains a complex issue internationally. This article aims to outline the nature and development of Religious Studies at the University of Zambia in Lusaka (UNZA) as an instance of how religion entered higher education in an African setting. In doing so, it will also provide perspectives on the method that has been adopted in the study of religion and religious education and will highlight elements of the role which these disciplines strive to play at UNZA.     

非洲高等教育质量保障中的地区合作——以东非大学理事会为例

非洲国家在推进高等教育质量保障方面面临着重大挑战,主要表现为高校缺乏完善的质量保障框架和质量保障能力。除了推进和完善国家层面的质量保障体系之外,在地区与全球一体化的进程势不可挡和不断加快的时代,非洲还在尝试建设区域性高等教育质量保障体系。在东非一体化的进程下,东非大学理事会推动的高等教育质量保障框架试点的成功具有重要的示范作用。非洲高等教育质量保障中的地区合作有助于非洲大陆人力资源的流动,进而可以推动非洲经济的发展和一体化进程。