AFRICA SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

Conference Report

 Habari[1] CIES members,

       It is with tremendous pleasure that I report on the inaugural activities of the Africa Special Interest Group (ASIG), which took place with great success at the recently concluded CIES 50^th anniversary conference in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii. I would like to extend beforehand my gratitude to the following: ASIG officers, members, and all who organized, participated, and supported in the launching of ASIG this past year:  Kassie Freeman, Reitumetse Obakeng Mabokela, Christina N’Tchougan-Sonou, Joel Samoff, Francis Musa Boakari, N’dri Assie-Lumumba, Hilary Landorf, Nancy Kendall, Martial Dembélé, Lovie Lilly, Claudia Grigorescu, Fernanda Pineda and Siza Mtimbiri.

      ASIG found an auspicious niche in the democratic and representative spirit embraced and fostered by the CIES. In light of the coveted diversity and inclusiveness of multiple voices within the organization, ASIG gears its efforts towards scholarly exchanges and deliberation between, amongst, and for African, Africanist scholars and other interested parties. These formal and amicable grounds for discussion set the stage for the inquiry and presentation of current and relevant educational research, as well as developmental issues in the Continent.

      The plethora of panels and the all too-often academic penchant for reporting simplified or sensationalistic research findings regarding Africa, -largely attributable to lack of expertise or research experience- ultimately dictated the dire need for structuring and placing African issues within sound, authentic, and methodologically accurate frameworks. Similarly, we must understand and communicate that the African scene stretches beyond the scourge of HIV/AIDS, starvation, and civil wars. True to the complexity of every other region in the world, Africa presents itself as rather unique, diverse and intricate area for discourse. With this in mind, surely we can aim to dispel and move beyond the rhetoric of comparison and internationality. Clearly, more can be said and discussed about Africa, aside from the binary disease and civil war themes.  
 
     ASIG challenged its members and supporters to pave the road towards a more heterogeneous, analytical, and all-encompassing outlook of Africa and its people. Jointly with Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), we proudly initiated the intellectual forum with the following and aptly called panel: Quality Education in Africa: Developing quality nodes. Our distinguished panelists included Ambassador (Prof.) Michael Omolewa, Nigeria’s Ambassador to UNESCO and Hon. (Dr.) Kilemi Mwiria, Assistant Minister of Education, Kenya. Their presentations were followed by commentaries from three appropriately chosen discussants, namely Dr. Kassie Freeman, Dean for Academic Advancement, Bowdoin College; Dr. Daniel Wagner, Director of the International Literacy Institute at the University of Pennsylvania and Dr. Leslie Limage, Programme Specialist, Division of Basic Education, UNESCO.

                                    

       The lively and interactive panel had an impressive turnout of attendees.  Ambassador Omolewa opened the discussion with a paper titled “The challenge of limited access to education in Africa: A historical discourse".  He presented the historical discourse of quality education in Africa, tracing it from the colonial to the post-colonial time. He argued that access to traditional forms of education was for all in Africa and included quality; but with the introduction of Western education, access was restricted to enrollment. He therefore made a case for access at all levels, beyond enrollment and including retention and quality. This presentation paved the way for Dr. Mwiria’s, which focused on Kenya’s current efforts towards quality education for all. Titled “The challenge of access in relation to quality in Kenya”, Dr. Mwiria’s presentation centered on quality challenges and various education policies implemented in response, from both within and outside the country, including boarding schools, school grants, supporting non formal education, affirmative action for girls, curriculum revision to improve relevance, improvement of school inspection, of teacher distribution across the country and of school management. He argued and stated apropos that, “we need to ask questions about what kind of quality is feasible given available resources”.

                                                     

      Dr. Wagner summarized the broad issues of quality education, reiterating in the process the importance of getting all stakeholders involved in the education reform process “…leadership is central, but not the only thing.” He argued that learning was lost between Jomtien and Dakar and put forward the need to (i) put it back on the agenda, (ii) know what motivates a teacher to show up in class and (iii) gather more data on mother tongue instruction. Dr. Limage featured the Global Monitoring Report and its impact on literacy and basic education. The ensuing discussion period highlighted strong points on the state of education in Africa and the multitudinous –and at times complex- reasons for the educational demurs and mishaps. The dialectics on the role of poverty, prompted Dr. Birgit Brock-Utne to remark that “…too many children do not lead to poverty, it’s poverty that leads to too many children.”  The buoyant discourse ended with Dr. Kassie Freeman’s noteworthy comment that ultimately “action [was] the [key] piece that we continue to miss”.

 The ASIG Reception

      What better way to end an invigorating brainstorming session than with a delectable reception? Our reception attracted an extraordinarily diverse crowd of over 80 people, including our distinguished panelists, conference attendees and CIES members. We were joined by various luminaries, CIES members and stewards: President, Vice President-elect, past presidents, including Professors: Martin Carnoy, Steve Klees, Kassie Freeman, Val Rust, Robert Arnove, James Banks, Kingsley Banya, Macleans Geo-jaja, Mark Bray (WCCES President). CER co-editors: Drs. Ginsburg and Post and many more. The reception served as yet one more opportunity and atmosphere for collegial interaction, which I must add is very reminiscent of the awesome Hawaiian spirit! ALOHA!

                    

      If I may, I would also like to close this section with special thanks to the following: Dr. Hamidou Boukary and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa for all their support; the International Review of Education edited by the UNESCO Institute for Education, represented by Dr. Orrin Summerell, for generously underwriting the ASIG reception; and The IRE editorial board for their strong interest in a special issue on Quality education in Africa.

   

 Business Meeting 

At the business meeting, members expressed an interest in developing and expanding the work of the ASIG within the broad frameworks of CIES. We discussed possible membership benefits, how we can create a supportive environment for ASIG members, and plans for next year’s conference in Baltimore. A vote was also taken to elect the secretary, treasurer, program chair-elect, and chair-elect.  The following people are officers of ASIG:

 Webmaster: Siza Mtimbiri – Harvard University

Program Chair-elect: Anna Hammernik – University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Treasurer: Nancy Lubeski – Michigan State University

Secretary: Lovie Lilly- South Orange and Maplewood School District

Chair-elect: Martial Dembélé – University of Montreal

Program Chair: Nancy Kendall – University of Wisconsin-Madison

Chair: Joan Oviawe- Washington State University.

 For more information about the ASIG, please email ciesafricasig@yahoo.com (website under construction).

 See you next year in Baltimore!

 Ahsante Sana (thank you very much).

Joan O. Oviawe
Chair, CIES Africa Special Interest Group