Back to the Blackboard

The report argues that sub-Saharan Africa's focus on Universal Primary Education (UPE) is insufficient for economic development if not paired with a robust secondary education sector. It identifies critical gaps in teacher quantity and quality, the devastating impact of HIV/Aids on educators and students, and the prevalence of corruption in school funding. The document advocates for a shift toward vocational training, science and mathematics education, and a 'basic education' framework (extending to age 16) to avoid a bottleneck of primary graduates who cannot progress. It highlights East Asia's historical success in integrating education planning with job creation as a model for the continent.

• Sub-Saharan Africa faces a severe shortage of qualified teachers; Unesco estimates the continent needs at least 3 million more teachers to handle increasing enrolments.
• The HIV/Aids pandemic severely undermines education by forcing children to leave school to care for family and by killing teachers; UNAids predicted that by 2005, up to 20% of educators in sub-Saharan Africa would die from the disease.
• Secondary education is critically neglected, with World Bank estimates suggesting only about 25% of primary graduates enrol in secondary school and only 10% complete it.
• There is a significant deficit in mathematics and science education; in a 1998 study of 41 countries, South Africa's average score of 275 out of 800 was well below the international average of 487.
• Gender disparity remains a major barrier, with Unicef estimating that 60% of girls (approximately 24 million) in sub-Saharan Africa were not in school in 2002.
• Corruption in the education sector is widespread, ranging from the embezzlement of school funds to the sale of fraudulent diplomas in countries like Cameroon and Kenya.
• Current target-setting for Universal Primary Education (UPE) often creates a 'façade of precision' where unreliable data is used to make specific judgments, and the drive for measurable results can lead to dubious practices to inflate examination scores.
• Expanding secondary education to a Gross Enrolment Rate (GER2) of 50% across sub-Saharan Africa would require an additional $2.3 billion per annum in recurrent funding.
• East Asian nations achieved economic transformation by integrating human resource development with job creation and prioritizing technical education over general professional degrees.

APA

Govender, P., & Gruzd, S. (2004). Back to the Blackboard. South African Institute of International Affairs. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Nepad-Policy-Focus-Back-to-Blackboard.pdf

Chicago

Govender, Peroshni, and Steven Gruzd. Back to the Blackboard. South African Institute of International Affairs, 2004. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Nepad-Policy-Focus-Back-to-Blackboard.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Govender |first1=Peroshni |last2=Gruzd |first2=Steven |title=Back to the Blackboard |publisher=South African Institute of International Affairs |date=2004 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Nepad-Policy-Focus-Back-to-Blackboard.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{govender2004back, author = {Govender, Peroshni and Gruzd, Steven}, title = {{Back to the Blackboard}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2004}, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/Nepad-Policy-Focus-Back-to-Blackboard.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }