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UNESCO: Sub-Saharan African primary education boosted by increased spending

By David Thomas | Published: 28 April, 2011

Forty two million more Sub-Saharan African children entered primary school between 2000 and 2008, according to a UNESCO report released this week.

The Financing Education in Sub-Saharan Africa report reveals “tremendous” gains in the provision of basic education on the back of a 6 percent annual increase in real education expenditure across the region in the past decade. This includes a 48 percent increase in primary enrolment, while enrolment in pre-primary, secondary and tertiary education grew by more than 60 percent over the same period.

Albert Motivans, author of the report, says that the increases corresponded with a decade of economic growth across the continent, leading to a general increase in education spending.

“We’ve seen that the economic climate has been fairly stable and the generalisation across the region is that we’ve seen modest but positive levels of economic growth over the decade,” observed Mr Motivans.

Notable increases in education expenditure were seen in countries such as Burundi and Mozambique, with both countries registering a 12 percent annual rise. Elsewhere, progress has been more muted.

“Within the region there’s a lot of variation, some countries moving ahead rapidly and those which are staying the same or even falling behind,” Mr Motivans says.

Total public expenditure on education as a percentage of GDP fell from 6 percent to 5.4 percent in South Africa between 1999 and 2009, but the country recorded a large boost in higher secondary education provision.

Kenya recorded an increase in total public expenditure on education from 5.3 percent to 6.7 percent over the same period, with significant advances in primary education provision. Out of 26 countries studied in the report, only the Central African Republic reduced spending on education over the period. The country recorded a decrease in total expenditure on education as a percentage of government spending from 14.5 percent in 1999 to 11.7 percent in 2008.

However, a drop-off in growth levels as a result of the international financial crisis, as well as expected population growth in sub-Saharan Africa, risk undermining progress. UN forecasts estimate that the region’s population will almost double to 1.9bn in 2050.

“One of the important constraints is that populations are still growing at quite a rapid rate,” notes Mr Motivans, adding that “looking backwards one can say that there’s very large growth in enrolment, but when we look forward from the time of the onset of the financial crisis then we see a picture where there’s much less room for manoeuvre.”

The report also warns that many countries are a long way from achieving universal primary education by 2015 – one of eight Millennium Development Goals set out by the UN in 2000.

A significant challenge will be the compromises needed between getting more children into schools and providing an adequate minimum standard for those who already have a place. Secondary school systems will also be placed under greater strain by the expectation that primary school graduates will choose to continue their studies.

“As increasing numbers of primary school graduates demand access to secondary education, governments will need to expand further education by balancing resource requirements and availability, social demands and economic needs for a more highly skilled labour force,” the report says.