Dr Dorcas Otieno, the Executive Director, Kenya Organization of Environmental Education (KOEE) said in the sidelines of the ongoing meeting of the Alliance of Religions and Conservation in Nairobi, Kenya that the toolkit recognises that Faiths are managing the youth who represents the future of any society.

Dr Otieno said the toolkit is about sustainable development which espouses values that include a call for respect for the environment, equality in sharing the natural resources and environmental care.

She said these values appeared common and cross cutting through religious groups which included, the Catholic, the Protestant churches, Muslims, and Hindu at meetings held between the KOEE and the Faiths in the recent past.

Dr Otieno said the faiths recognise that the challenges of water, sanitation, and health, agriculture and waste management in the era of climate change need active participation of the Faith to be solved.

She said the toolkit aims to address these issues through empowering the youth and children in Schools and colleges managed by the faiths.
Already, she said, teachers have been identified from 35 schools across the country and trained on how to implement the toolkit.

The teachers have already formed eco-schools that emphasize hands on experience. Out of these, nine schools are already running pilot projects that implement the toolkit with clear demonstration of conservation with religious values.

Dr Otieno said environment care is proving to be one route through which many faiths and religious groups can be united.

Already churches like the Methodist Church in Kenya with three million members, a university, major hospital and 533 schools, has drawn up its own long-term environmental plan. It has commuted to set up an Intensive Agricultural Training Centre to train in environmentally friendly and sustainable farming techniques, and will also organize creation awareness courses in schools and on radio programmes.

“The initiative to draw an environmental policy for our church was born following a conference with ARC in 2011 in Nairobi,” said presiding bishop of the Methodist Church in Kenya Rev Fr Stephen Kanyaru M’Impwii.

ARC’s head of Africa projects Alison Hilliard said it was inspiring to see all the extraordinary work being done by faiths in Africa. “I have been working on these programmes for many years, and I am constantly surprised and moved by the creative and energetic responses from faiths. Each plan is different, according to what the faith can do, and sees is important. I look forward, many years into the future, to seeing the fruits of these extraordinary initiatives being launched today.”

The programme emphasised the centrality in all faiths of thanksgiving and celebration for creation; it included singing and a chanted poem from the choir of All Saints Cathedral Primary School and the girl’s choir from the Muslim Academy, Nairobi.

AUTHOR: Henry Neondo
URL: http:// www.africasciencenews.org
E-MAIL: neondohenry [at] yahoo.com

Started September 2011 with seed money worth Ksh4 million from the university, the flagship science park has so far has been able to nurture three ideas into new bean varieties, with other products in their various stages of development.

“We want to come up with a complex to house all work now scattered in various departments by 2030 when Kenya hopes to be a middle income developing country with science, innovation and technology being the main driver,” said Dr Inyagwa Muleke, project coordinator of the science park.

Dr Muleke said the university has decided to set up the agro-science park since its core vision is agriculture based.

The centre aims to put in a number of units including biotechnology centre, innovation unit, herbal medicine centre, seed unit, agri-food centre among others.

“We have already asked the government to support us with Ksh360 million towards the project and there are strong indication that the government will do so,” said Dr Inyagwa.

To kick-start the project, Dr Inyagwa said the university gave the idea Ksh4 million which was spent to support scientists move their ideas into market among which include here bean varieties namely, Tasia, Chelanga, Tasia and Sankui.

For sustainability, Dr Inyagwa said the agro-based science park will draw revenue from its royalties, office space rent and consultancies.

AUTHOR: Henry Neondo
URL: http:// www.africasciencenews.org
E-MAIL: neondohenry [at] yahoo.com

The ESD Toolkit has proven to be effective for many audiences including national and provincial ministries, non-profit organizations, universities and colleges, teacher educators, school administrators, teachers, municipalities, and government officials. Although the ESD Toolkit w a s written for a North American audience, it has proven useful in countries and communities around the world.

The Education for Sustainable Development Toolkit will help schools and communities develop a process for creating locally relevant and culturally appropriate education. This Toolkit is based on the idea that communities and educational systems need to dovetail their sustainability efforts. Ideally, local educational systems can reorient existing curricula to reinforce local sustainability goals.

The ESD Toolkit is an easy-to-use manual for beginning the process of combining education and sustainability.

The ESD Toolkit has eight major components:

1. An introduction to sustainability. 
2. A description of the major thrusts and components of education for sustainable development and a method of bringing ESD to the school level. 
3. A discussion of 12 major issues that have slowed the progress of ESD. 
4. A case study of the Toronto Board of Education’s community consultation and subsequent curriculum revision that indirectly addressed ESD as a result of the citizens’ visions and desires. 
5. A description of management techniques for initiating change in schools. 
6. A brief description of public participation methods for including the citizenry in community decisions regarding sustainability and ESD. 
7. Exercises to help schools and communities to understand sustainability, create sustainability goals, reorient the curriculum to address sustainability, and initiate change within an educational system. 
8.  Links to other Web sites on sustainability, education for sustainability, historic United Nations documents, and communities that have developed sustainability plans. 

Click here to download the ESD Toolkit version 2 (PDF).

AUTHOR: Richard Matthews
URL: http://www.thegreenmarketoracle.com
E-MAIL: smallbusinessconsultants [at] gmail.com

Bhoomi Kosam, a dial-in program with a weekly viewership of 60,000 at its peak, grew in popularity with a primetime slot and a dedicated audience of families whose lives are tied with land. Starting with a tentative 15 minute run-time on 23rd January 2011 – the opening show as many as 25,000 tuned in – it became a 45 minute programme.

Million reasons
The idea of a television programme of land issues may strike as a niche one, but when you look at the statistics of legal issues and disputes on land – and with it millions of lives – the reasons or need for a show like this becomes obvious. Close to 17 million rural families across India are landless or have insecure land titles. In Andhra Pradesh alone over 6 million cases of land disputes have been identified over the years.

Bhoomi Kosam, literally meaning ‘for the land’, was born in the context of a crying need. The landless and land insecure families are unable to take bank loans for agriculture. They are not registered as cultivators leaving them vulnerable and at the mercy of private money lenders.

There are two million families who do not have land or are unable to use the land due to legal issues related to title or possession. So what does it means in terms of day-to-day lived experiences?

Imagine not having documents that can establish that the house you live in is yours, or having an address that belongs to three other people or losing all the documents that you had.

The biggest chunk of audience for the telecast catering to Telugu speaking audience was in Telangana – a part of the state that has seen slew of farmer suicides in the past.

Demystifying law
A big barrier for rural families with insecure land ownership and landlessness is lack of awareness and inability to demand justice or resolution. They simply do not know what to do about it and find legal channels inaccessible.

The existing legal and administrative systems are not only complicated but unaffordable for the poor. On an average, it takes 15-20 years for a case to move up to the revenue courts. For those who rely on daily wages to make the two ends meet and no assets to lean on, the struggle to run around offices and court for follow up is a luxury that they cannot afford.

Andhra Pradesh has nearly 200 laws and acts dealing with land, many of them unknown to the people and even to the revenue officials who deal with land administration.

Bridging the gap
The programme responded to an average of about a dozen callers per episode and each episode is divided into four sections. In the first section a generic land issue is discussed with the experts providing detailed information on the subject. These are accompanied with visuals, graphics and video clippings. This five minute-long package is researched by Landesa India and produced by HMTV and usually highlights a real person’s problem pertaining to land.

The problems could be loss of their ownership documents; or incorrect or incomplete documents; land related conflicts or as is often the case, the problem could be that the ownership claims have not been recorded in the revenue records. The land experts on the show explain how the situation can be resolved and provide information on relevant laws, rules and regulations. In the second segment, viewers are encouraged to call in with their queries. Two telephone numbers are repeatedly shown on the television screen throughout the show on which calls are received at the television station. From August 2011, three new sections were added to the programme. These are to explain revenue terminologies and records to showcase solutions and best practices.

The programme has dealt with queries raised by nearly 280 people who called from across the state, from various districts. Most of them had problems related with land for which they were seeking solutions. Many of them are poor and illiterate people who cannot afford an attorney, don’t have the skills or knowledge to navigate the bureaucracy, or understand how they could address their problem. Though meant for rural audiences, it has a sizeable following in the urban centres too.

Impact
“We get very useful information from this programme. This kind of information on land issues is not available anywhere else and it is free of cost” said P. Prasad who was one of callers on the show.

The primary impact of the program has been of providing information and through callers of clearing doubts. Making people aware of their land rights in their language and in a style that is accessible was the unique selling point of Bhoomi Kosam.

Training on legal issues related to land has never been part of revenue administration’s affair in Andhra Pradesh, especially from the perspective of landless and vulnerable communities. Bhoomi Kosam also played an important role in bridging the knowledge gap and was very useful for the revenue officials.

The state government had launched a programme in 2003 to train and work with a cadre of paralegals at the grassroots. One of their key tasks has been to identify land related issues in the villages, facilitate their resolution through legal analysis, case investigation, land surveys and coordination with the revenue department.

Most of these young men and women were the most loyal viewers of the weekly program that updated them on land laws, related problems and solutions. For instance, P. Venkateshwara Rao, a paralegal, heard about the Andhra Pradesh Land Licensed Cultivators Ordinance 2011 for the first time on one of the episodes of Bhoomi Kosam.

The episodes of Bhoomi Kosam have been compiled on a CD, copies of which have been sent to revenue officials, NGOs, paralegals and others throughout the state. These are being used in training programmes as a visual aid to supplement inputs on land laws. In areas with high rates of illiteracy, explaining technical and complicated land issues and land laws with the help of visual medium proves to be more effective than any other means.

Who calls?
The maximum number of callers on the show are from the Telangana region (73%), followed by 21% of calls from coastal Andhra and 6% of calls from Rayalaseema region. About 45% of the calls are from urban areas, primarily from Hyderabad followed by Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam. 55% of the telephone calls are from rural areas. Out of the total callers of 276, 27 are women, a mere 9.78%. Land problems in the state are most acute in the Telangana districts, which is apparent from the fact that majority of the telephone calls are from this region.

Land relations in Andhra Pradesh are very complicated which have led to a large number of problems being faced by actual cultivators. In many areas, especially in Telangana the names of current holders and actual cultivators are not recorded in the land registers, such cultivators are not eligible for institutional finance and a range of other public benefits such as compensation in the event of natural calamities.

Another common problem across the state, and especially in the Telangana region, is the issue of Sada Bainama transactions where the poor have purchased land on plain paper and in the absence of registration of the sale deed are not recognised as legal owners of the land. In each of the Telangana districts about 1 lakh acres is under Sada Bainama transactions.

In tribal areas Land Transfer Regulations Act are not being properly implemented and the tribal are being denied their land rights. In large parts of the state, existing land records do not accurately portray the actual position of land holding and cultivation. Subdivision and fragmentation of holdings, due to household division over generations are most often not reflected in the land records which continue to list the names of deceased.

The television show is not being aired currently and a process is underway to repackage it with more interactive content and wider outreach.

AUTHOR: Parvinder Singh
URL: http://www.cellimages.blogspot.com
E-MAIL: parvinderster [at] gmail.com

Where is our Education Standard Going?

One school in the pool of hundreds scores 100% percent results and the rest they don’t have a standard. I think if that is the case the regulatory body that looks into such standards should look into this matter. I think it is very hard to understand looking at such trend. As our government says education is the right of every child and citizen but what about the quality and standard. Are we giving them the right education, it’s high time for us to evaluate

• ONE SCHOOL GETTING 95 % DISTINCTION MEANS WHAT?
• THEY DID WHAT OTHER SCHOOLS DIDN’T? ARE THEY THE BEST OR SHOULD WE QUESTION OUR EDUCATION SYSTEM WHERE DID WE LACKED ……………
• THIS IS THE GAP OF WHAT WE CALLED OF DICRIMINATION, IF THIS EXISTS THEN THERE WILL BE LOADS OF ISSUES …………..
• THIS IS NOT EQUALITY WHERE STANDARDIZATION IS AN ISSUE, EVERY CHILD HAS THE RIGHT FOR THE BEST …………..

AUTHOR: Shreedeep Rayamajhi
URL: http://www.rayznews.com
E-MAIL: weaker41 [at] gmail.com

Historic Meeting Brings Government Leaders, Major Donors Together to Address Needs of Tanzania’s Youngest Children Major financial, legislative commitments to support young children within reach.

Government officials, major international foundations and locally-based early child development advocates meet this week for the nation’s first biennial forum to address the needs of young children in Tanzania, taking a visible step toward the development and funding of policies that enhance their nutrition, health care, education and safety.

The First Biennial National Forum on Early Childhood Development brings together advocates for young children and Tanzanian district and national level officials to bolster programs and services around young children’s nutrition, healthcare, early learning and violence prevention. Senior officials from the Ministry of Community Development, the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Educational and Vocational Training addressed the meeting, signaling the government’s interest in taking positive steps to improve the lives of Tanzania’s youngest citizens.

The Forum was immediately preceded by a meeting of 14 of the world’s leading foundations focused on child development, who announced that a collective financial investment would be made to fund critical programs supporting children 0-8 in Tanzania once government follows through on commitments to create an early childhood development policy and a line item in the Tanzanian budget dedicated exclusively to programs for young children.

“A government’s greatest responsibility is to ensure the health and welfare of its youngest citizens: its children,” said Lisa Jordan, Executive Director of the Bernard van Leer Foundation. “The time is now and the opportunity is ripe for Tanzania to put the needs of young children first, and we’re proud to offer support and tangible commitments alongside what we hope will be decisive action for children on the part of the Tanzanian government.”

In Tanzania, there are 7.6 million children under the age of 5 living in rural areas, where learning opportunities are limited and health services are scarce. Forty two percent of Tanzanian children under 5 are stunted in their emotional and physical growth as a result of malnutrition. Sixty-three percent of young Tanzanian children don’t attend pre-school, and for those that do, the student-teacher ratio is 74 to 1, signaling the lack of attention they receive.

The foundations agreed to fund several items, including a national database to track indicators of children’s health and welfare; a fellowship to support emerging champions for young children; a pilot challenge fund to build an evidence base for what programs for kids 0-8 are most effective in East Africa; and a corporate challenge fund to invest in businesses that are good for young children.

“Without proper nutrition and lack of adequate stimulation and learning, children do not have the opportunity to develop the cognitive, linguistic, social and other key functioning skills necessary to succeed in school and later become productive members of society,” said Peter Colenso, Director of Investments for the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation. “Investing in young kids is an investment in our future.”

Tanzania’s Vision 2025, an in-depth assessment of Tanzania’s history and direction, states the country’s desire to be a middle-income economy in just 13 years. The hope is that the momentum building discussions held during the Forum will yield concrete actions by the Tanzanian Government to ensure the passing and implementation of childhood development policies that will dramatically bolster overall well-being services and resources for young children.

“When we invest in children, we improve learning, earning and living for everyone,” said Mary Kabati, executive director of the Tanzania Early Childhood Development Network (TECDEN). Working with partners, we can seize this moment to improve the lives of young children and build a better society for us all.”

AUTHOR: Shout Africa
URL: http://www.shout-africa.com
E-MAIL: news [at] shout-africa.com

Nathan Hatch might be given a pass for the Griggs appointment since many so-called moderate Muslims have often been exposed as radicals after a period of time.

But, in this case the Center for Security Policy (CSP) published its study on Islamic law (shariah) and the Muslim Brotherhood (Ikhwan) in October 2010. The study provided indisputable evidence that Griggs was connected with the Egypt-based Muslim Brotherhood and the Palestinian front group — the Holy Land Foundation — exposed by the Justice Department and federal courts as a radical group funneling money and other support to the terrorist group Hamas.

“On August 5, 2011, I wrote to Dr. Hatch informing him that Assistant Chaplain Khalid Griggs has a very troubling background. Specifically, I pointed out and backed up with over 50 pages of evidence that Imam Griggs is: a radical Islamist, affiliated with Muslim Brotherhood organizations, a Shariah supremacist who believes Shariah law should supplant the U.S. Constitution, and an adherent to a philosophy that violence is an acceptable means to accomplish his goals,” said Wake Forest alumnus and attorney Donald L. Woodsmall

“I then turned my letters and evidence over to Radicalislam.org. They assigned Claire Lopez to do further research and write an article on this issue, which has now gone viral on the Internet (her article, my letters to Dr. Hatch and my evidence presented to him can be found at http://www.radicalislam.org/analysis/wake-forest-universitys-radical-imam). Do you believe that you know more about Imam Griggs, Islam, Shariah law, and the Muslim Brotherhood than Claire Lopez? In case you are unaware of Ms. Lopez background, let me enlighten you, as she is a heavyweight in this field.

“Here is her bio:

“Clare M. Lopez is a strategic policy and intelligence expert with a focus on the Middle East, national defense, WMD, and counterterrorism issues. Specific areas of expertise include Islam and Iran. She began her career as an operations officer with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), serving domestically and abroad for 20 years in a variety of assignments, and acquired extensive expertise in counterintelligence, counternarcotics, and counterproliferation issues with a career regional focus on the former Soviet Union, Central and Eastern Europe and the Balkans. She has served in or visited over two dozen nations worldwide, and speaks several languages, including Spanish, Bulgarian, French, German, and Russian, and currently is studying Farsi.

“Now a private consultant, Lopez also serves as Vice President of the non-profit forum, The Intelligence Summit, and is a Professor at the Centre for Counterintelligence and Security Studies (CI Centre), where she teaches courses on the Iranian Intelligence Services, and the expanding influence of Jihad and Shariah in Europe and the U.S. She is affiliated on a consultant basis with DoD contractors that provide clandestine operations training to military intelligence personnel. Lopez was Executive Director of the Iran Policy Committee, a Washington, DC think tank, from 2005-2006. She has served as a Senior Scientific Researcher at the Battelle Memorial Institute; a Senior Intelligence Analyst, Subject Matter Expert, and Program Manager at HawkEye Systems, LLC; and previously produced Technical Threat Assessments for U.S. Embassies at the Department of State, Bureau of Diplomatic Security, where she worked as a Senior Intelligence Analyst for Chugach Systems Integration.”

In addition, Wake Forest University’s Assistant Imam, Khalid Griggs, is also the Imam at a Winston-Salem mosque with an aggressively jihadist mission statement. He is a board member of ICNA, a Muslim Brotherhood front organization that the DoJ listed as an unindicted co-conspirator in a terror funding case. He is a Shura Council member of MANA, which views mosques as Muslim community centers where Islamic conquests are planned and launched.

All of this information is freely available on the Internet. The Team B II report, “Shariah: The Threat to America,” was published more than a year ago and the Holy Land Foundation trial documents have been posted to the Internet for three years now.

“What part of a university president’s job is more important than conducting this kind of due diligence on the personnel who will be in direct, perhaps even daily, contact with the young students that parents send to Winston-Salem in the expectation that they will be guided in an academic environment that is professional, safe, and terror-free? There is none,” according to Woodsmall.

To voice your opinion about having an Islamist on the faculty of Wake Forest University, contact:
The Chairman of the Wake Forest Board of Trustees, Jim Williams. His email is jwilliams@brookspierce.com.
Or, Dr. Hatch, the President of Wake Forest. His email is Hatch@wfu.edu

AUTHOR: Jim Kouri
URL: http://www.renewamerica.com/
E-MAIL: COPmagazine [at] aol.com

Tendai (left) and Chiwoneso

Zimbabwean students described being black in the United States as a challenge influenced by historical, regional and generational factors, but which offers international students an opportunity to educate colleagues about their country of origin.

“People have no idea where Zimbabwe is and they assume you can’t speak English and don’t know anything…so right from the introduction you have that barrier to overcome. But generally in that situation once you start talking, people understand you and where you come from,” said Tendai Machingaidze, a student with Albany Medical College in the U.S.

Tendai and Chiwoneso Tinago facilitated a public Food for Thought discussion session at the U.S. Embassy’s Public Affairs auditorium on Tuesday where they answered questions about their experiences as black students in the United States. The event was held as part of Black History Month commemorations and offered prospective Zimbabwean students interested in study abroad the opportunity to appreciate cultural and racial dynamics.

“Being black didn’t put me in a box because blacks come from different backgrounds. We are diverse in terms of the colour of our skin in America and also being from different countries and races. I did not experience any racism. There is sort of a balance as you go — we all want to know more about others and their different cultures,” said Chiwoneso, a Zimbabwean student in the U.S. since 2005.

The event was held as part of Embassy events to mark Black History Month and to offer prospective Zimbabwean students insights into life in the U.S.

“Sometimes people explain to you things in such an elementary fashion because you are not from there…. People are fearful at times of things they do not understand,” said Chiwoneso, who graduated with Bachelor of Science in Psychology at the William Carey University in 2009 before earning a Masters degree in Public Health at the University of Southern Mississippi.

There are over 1,100 Zimbabwean students in the U.S., according to the Open Doors report published by the Institute of International Education, a leading not-for-profit educational and cultural exchange organization in the United States.

Each February, the U.S. celebrates Black History Month to honor the struggles and triumphs of millions of American citizens over the most devastating obstacles — slavery, prejudice, poverty — as well as their contributions to the nation’s cultural and political life.

Tendai and Chiwoneso have a combined 15 years studying in the U.S. According to Tendai, geography and history play key roles in how America reacts to black African students.

“You have to look at history as well in the U.S.…and then it depends on which part of the country you are in, whether you are in the North or the South, because people have had different experiences. Being black living in the North — in New York or Chicago — is different from being black and living in Texas, Mississippi and some of these other (southern) areas,” said Tendai who graduated with a biochemistry degree from Syracuse University in New York in 2005 and completed Masters of Education degree at Southwestern Seminary in Texas in 2009.

“In the university setting, because there are international students from all over, it’s a little bit easier. People are more open and are used to seeing people from different countries, different races and cultures. If you are out working…you have to be able to work with that,” said Chiwoneso who has worked as an intern with different organizations including at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

The students also noted a generational gap in perceptions of black people.

“I had a friend of mine that I met in Texas and she had invited me over for Thanksgiving,” recalled Tendai. “Instead of having Thanksgiving holiday at her parents’ house, it turned out that they changed the venue to her grandparents’ house. She turned to me and said, I don’t think you can come to my grandparents’ house because my grandparents have never invited a black person,” said Tendai. “I ended up not going but we are still good friends.”

“Generation-wise, young people tend to be a little more open,” said Chiwoneso, who established an international students association during her undergraduate years at the University of Southern Missisippi to promote cross-cultural understanding among students. “I would tell people this is what we eat – sadza — and share experiences from other cultures.” Chiwoneso urged students to get involved in breaking down barriers.

The students explained their view that the barriers are not due to racism but to stereotypes that result from “being different.”

“It’s not racial profiling, it’s attitudes that you face. I remember I was watching the Olympics and there was a swimming contest. Kirsty Coventry’s race came up…and one of my friends remarked that there was no one representing Zimbabwe because there was no black person, so I had to explain that we also have white people in Zimbabwe,” said Tendai.

The students also emphasized that universities and colleges in the U.S. had programs to ensure that international students do not experience any form of abuse due to their skin color or origin.

“Most American universities encourage diversity…,” said Chiwoneso. “It is a good learning experience — it gave me an opportunity to grow in terms of how you present yourself to people.”

“In terms of their educational policy, students are offered a platform where you can report any racism affecting you. I didn’t encounter any,” noted Tendai.

AUTHOR: Shout Africa
URL: http://www.shout-africa.com
E-MAIL: news [at] shout-africa.com

South Africa stands to lose scarce skilled resources to other African countries as massive foreign direct investment projects in energy, mining, transport, telecommunications and water supply get underway on the African continent.

“SA is a favoured hunting ground for skills,” says Sandra Burmeister, CEO of Landelahni, Africa partner of the global Amrop executive search group. “Some US$150-billion of projects are planned on the Africa continent over the next three years, and many countries are more attractive than SA in terms of their regulatory environment. Research shows that 75% of investors across the globe believe Africa will become even more attractive as an investment option over the next three years.

“South Africa will need to produce significantly more skilled resources as growing numbers begin working cross-border,” says Burmeister. “The challenge becomes: How can we find and retain talent in South Africa and Africa? The African economy cannot create sustainable economic development, if it has to continually import – and pay a premium for – technical ability from the US, Europe and Asia.”

Africa demand for skills takes place within the context of global skills scarcity, as well as a local shortage of an estimated 800 000 engineers and other qualified professionals and technicians.

“We should be investing in technology and technology research as a continent, since technology underpins economic growth and creates competitive advantage,” says Burmeister. “In addition, we need to find ways of winning back migrant students and professionals. Africa is a resource rich continent, and increasing skills will elevate our potential for downstream, value- adding, wealth-creating opportunities.”

Africa demand

Since 2003, investment in Africa has exceeded that of other emerging countries. Ernst & Young forecasts that new African fixed direct investment (FDI) projects will reach US$150-billion by 2015, creating 350 000 new jobs per annum. The countries which will offer most FDI opportunities include SA, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana and Angola.

Current projects underway in infrastructure (water, electricity, transport) amount to USD 22-billion. Africa GDP growth is expected to average 5% through to 2015.

“As the communications infrastructure has improved in countries like Kenya and Nigeria, international companies are locating their Africa head offices in these countries so as to be closer to their key markets, frequently drawing an already limited South African scarce skills pool for key positions,” says Burmeister.

Supply challenges

Diaspora pool: The effect of the brain drain on Africa is enormous. Globalisation has led to the exodus of an estimated 17-million Nigerians (3,5-million in USA and UK alone). There are currently over 300,000 highly qualified Africans in the diaspora, 30,000 of whom have PhDs, according to UNESCO. More African engineers work in the USA than in the whole of Africa.

The annual amount of remittances received from the Africa diaspora is higher than the total foreign aid it gets annually. “This implies a significant impact on each country’s development,” says Burmeister.

“Africa has relied heavily on expatriates over the past 50 years, and organisations spend $4- billion annually to recruit and pay 100 000 expatriates to work on the continent. However a combination of global shortages and changing regulatory environments on the continent may limit this source in the future. In any event, local companies should consider redirecting some funds to training longer-term local skills rather than importing short-term high-cost expatriates.”

Tertiary education qualifications: Africa suffers from low numbers of adults with tertiary education qualifications. Across sub-Saharan Africa, only 0.38% of adults have a tertiary education compared with a South African average of 0.60%. Kenya leads the continent with 2%, against a global average of 3.94% of adults with tertiary education.

Attrition in Africa universities compounds the problem. The estimated university dropout rate across Africa is estimated at 50%, against 60% for SA,  46% for the US and 16% for the UK. “In SA, the pass rate of engineering students is 12.5%, compared to the international average of 25%,” says Burmeister. “If we can increase the graduation rate, we can increase the supply of skills.”

Female graduates: A recent global survey on women in emerging markets reveals that female enrolment in universities and graduate schools has increased dramatically. According to  Burmeister, no data is available across the African continent, but female graduates have quadrupled in SA over the past five years, albeit off a low base. Women make up 65% of college graduates in the UAE, 60% in Brazil, and 47% in China – representing an outstanding way of expanding the talent pool.

Strategies for building the talent pipeline

Sustainable development demands that Africa develop its own skills base. Burmeister believes there is no quick fix solution to meeting the challenge of talent shortages and building a leadership pipeline. “Instead,” she says, “multiple, innovative strategies are required to buy, borrow and build the skills needed in core sectors.

“People from different backgrounds, engaged in debating these issues can lead to groundbreaking solutions. Capturing new and expanding markets requires diversity among the leadership team. In any skills short market, effectively employing all available educated and skilled resources is an obvious choice to make. The business case for diversity is clear, whether gender-based or cultural.

“Forward-thinking companies are systematically bridging the generation gap by creating work experiences that build leadership qualities and test resilience. Their models are custom-designed for the next generation, from building flexible career paths to creating compensation that match their values and work preferences..

“Approaches to filling the talent pipeline include increasing bursary spend in core scarce skills areas of the business, increasing graduate hiring and training programmes, using objective assessment tools to assess potential of existing and prospective employees, using secondments for mentoring programmes, using contractors for short-term projects and implementing smart strategies like cross-functional project teams and offshore assignments for exposure and accelerated training.

“These strategies can assist in generating the skills base required by business in South Africa and Africa is to meet the challenges of a sustainable, expanding economy.”

AUTHOR: Shout Africa
URL: http://www.shout-africa.com
E-MAIL: news [at] shout-africa.com

Nonetheless, this “O-Model” of education for success—which pumps a lot of resources into schools, equips them with state of the art facilities, and invests in qualified staff, hands-on management, and strong mentorship—indeed presents an historic opportunity for South Africa. So, there are good and obvious reasons for South Africa and other African governments to applaud, listen, and pay attention to OWLA’s achievement. It is a rare phenomenon for African schools for all Grade 12 students to pass and be accepted to universities in South Africa and abroad all at the same time. Oprah herself, in her celebratory comments, has hinted at working with the South African government and other African governments to promote education for the underprivileged.

But can this “O-Model” of education for success be replicated and emulated to address South Africa or any other sub-Saharan country’s educational crisis? The answer is both yes and no.

Yes because depilated schools, haphazard learning environments, and laissez-faire leadership and management style are what is failing kids from disadvantaged communities because they are trapped in these failing schools.

No because the O-Model focuses too much on the top performing students-those students who are academically talented; therefore, a struggling child from the same underprivileged background stands no chance to be admitted in the Oprah-like leadership academy/school.

This approach of pitting the top against the bottom is what is at the heart of the education crisis in South Africa and Africa in general. To be a struggling child (boy or girl) in the African education system is to be condemned to a life without opportunities or support. Instead of helping a struggling child by raising him/her to the level of an academically gifted student, for the most part resources (such as scholarships, bursaries, recognition, and other incentives) are spent on the top performing students or top performing schools.

What is the plight of a struggling child, an underachiever, in the African education system? Is he/she teachable or not? The answer is an affirmative yes. Every child is teachable and I believe that underachievers from poor communities, if provided opportunities at the same ferocity as what the O-Academy does, would turn out to be top achievers too.

AUTHOR: Ndumba Jonnah Kamwanyah
URL: http://foreignpolicyblogs.com/
E-MAIL: Ndumba.Kamwanyah [at] umb.edu