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What are the meanings and aims of social sciences in a global social environment marked by ever-growing processes of exchange, connection, inequality and conflict? How do we contend with the social sciences as the science of modernization? How do we account for the Western-centered biases ingrained in their proclamations? And in what ways are the social sciences useful to scholars and professionals in different societies? These questions figure at the heart of IDEAS (International Digital Exchange between Africa and Switzerland), a project that aimed to examine them across continents and generations. [This article was written by the IDEAS Collective. Note: The publication date (2023) shown on the PDF is incorrect. The correct publication date is 2024.]

While reading circles have been utilized to promote extensive reading in many educational settings, studies on higher levels of reading engagement in under-researched, English-as-a-foreign-language contexts are still in their infancy. Therefore, the current study examines the factors that increase learners' levels of engagement in extensive reading tasks. I used learner diaries to collect data from 60 undergraduate students (ages 19-23) learning English as a foreign language in Mali. The findings suggested that cohesive groups with positive norms, behavioral changes during the task (e.g., investing an exceptional effort to achieve a significant learning goal, such as reading an entire story or a novel), and enjoyment after completing a reading task corresponded with these learners' high engagement levels in extensive reading. Although the findings of this study are specific to one group of language learners, they can still be applied to plan classroom interventions in other EFL contexts to promote learners' reading engagement.

Curricular reforms oftentimes cause more problems than they solve. Teachers' being kept out of curricular activities is one main reason for a reform to plummet. In this qualitative study, we examined the Malian curricular policy from two aspects -- reform and teaching and learning. Guided by Fischer's argumentative approach theory, this analysis involved 18 participants. While officials and principals were interviewed, teachers were both interviewed and observed. We tried to elaborate on the power of arguments to further principals' and teachers' concerns and needs in curriculum related tasks. We discovered that CBA reform has the potential to harness learner's chances to learn better. The identified challenges like the intricate dialogue between authorities and teachers need to be lifted to unlock the full potentiality of the reform and achieve goals. We also found that advocating for teachers' inclusion in curriculum-making remains as important as upskilling teachers' competence to contribute to curriculum processes. (Re-)Designing standardized textbooks can address the issues of curriculum content overload and concept opacity. This can also help unify practices and align content with contextual norms. To curb congestion, a typical phenomenon in resources-scarce areas like Mali, more classes or schools should mushroom.

Bilingual education that incorporates a local language alongside the official language has become an increasingly common approach in sub-Saharan Africa for improving literacy rates and learning outcomes. Evidence suggests that bilingual instruction is largely associated with positive learning and literacy outcomes globally. However, the adoption of bilingual education does not guarantee positive learning outcomes. This paper reviews bilingual programs in sub-Saharan Africa, with a particular focus on programs in six Francophone West African countries (Niger, Senegal, Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon). We identified factors critical to high-quality and effective bilingual programs. Implementation factors, such as teacher training and classroom resources, and socio-cultural factors, such as perceptions of local languages in education, constrain and contribute to the quality of bilingual education. These insights may help inform policy-makers and other stakeholders seeking to improve bilingual education programs in Francophone West Africa and other contexts.

Intensive project work framed within a directed motivational current theory can transform an assessment into an engaging learning opportunity. Accordingly, a project built around the "The BIG Issue" framework variant was implemented in an English as a foreign language classroom to explore the purposeful generation of group-directed motivational current experiences. The study additionally examined the parameters that facilitated total absorption in the project. To reach these aims, learner diaries were used to collect qualitative data from five students working in small groups. A thematic analysis of the data revealed that the participants experienced purposefully generated group-directed motivational currents. They also indicated that certain features related to well-designed projects, such as authenticity and congruence, engendered an exceptional productivity that helped informants sustain their heightened, motivational drive until they achieved their project work goals. As a result, learners' test taking anxiety was maintained at an optimal level, which in turn fostered complete engagement in project work. The findings of the study not only provide empirical validity for the purposeful facilitation of group-directed motivational current experiences, but also suggest that language teachers can use these experiences as an alternative in second language assessment to increase learners' engagement and productivity.

This critical review aims to question whether or not the enthusiasm around early childhood care and education (ECCE) programmes is producing premature models, ill-adapted to West African socio-cultural contexts. Reviewing research that investigates the impact of ECCE on cognitive development and school readiness, we first focus on the universal valuing of formal ECCE, supported by both scientific research and international education agendas. Second, we present a classification that provides a framework to grasp the multiplicity of ECCE programmes and models across West African countries and their relevance to local contexts. Based on the literature reviewed, we conceptualise a multilevel model of ECCE within a holistic and ecologic approach. In the third part, we present research that underlines the challenges for educators and their central role in the design of culturally relevant ECCE. The fourth part will draw from research findings and stress the need to rethink appropriate methods and research tools to assess the quality and outcomes of ECCE programmes in West Africa. We conclude by proposing to move away from ECCE perspectives in which marginalised communities are perceived as deficient towards locally relevant and socially just models.

Directed motivational currents (DMCs) are a unique and intense motivational drive capable of supporting second language learning. Learners throughout the world can experience these unique motivational feelings regardless of their teaching and learning contexts. Therefore, researchers and language teachers have been exploring cases of DMCs since the phase of their conceptualization to facilitate their classroom application. Despite the growing interest in the field, very few studies have focused on DMC benefits. The present study is an attempt to fill the empirical gap by examining DMC benefits and their usage in learning English as a foreign language. Learner diaries were used to collect data from five students who had already experienced a purposefully facilitated DMC. A thematic analysis of the data revealed that linguistic competence; that is, grammar, vocabulary, and spelling were developed in addition to real-life skills, such as presentation skills and positive group work dynamics. Learners not only used their newly acquired knowledge in their English classes, but also took advantage of it in their content-based courses, such as organization and administrative methods, to achieve their learning goals. The findings of the present study can be useful for second language teachers, who want to explicitly teach their learners how to use the benefits generated from their DMC experiences so that they can reach their long-term learning goals when the motivational currents fade.

The development of informal science learning programs (ISLPs) is a growing strategy among scientists seeking to engage communities. However, little scholarship exists on higher education ISLPs, limiting best practices for program development. This article explores the perceived impacts for student learners and scientist instructors of an international ISLP focused on marine science, using a mixed-methods approach of questionnaires, interviews, a task-based focus group, and participant observation. Learners perceived an increase in research skills and knowledge, and identified positive impacts associated with networking and forming connections. Learners did not significantly change their attitudes toward marine science or beliefs about careers in science. Instructors felt they helped advance their field and perceived positive impacts from cultural exchange, whereas only a few identified professional development impacts. This study suggests that higher education ISLPs should focus on creating space for different types of connections and increasing how scientists' participation is valued within the profession.

This study investigates university English learners' motivational and emotional responses to a performance-based assessment project before and after the project. Data were collected from 25 students learning English as a foreign language using two motivation questionnaires while they were working individually on a project called "Identity Poem". A quantitative analysis of the data using descriptive and inferential statistics revealed that participants were highly motivated before and after the project. This increase in the level of motivation at both stages could be explained by the supportive behavior of the teacher and by the topic of the project that aroused curiosity and interest. Their emotional state was also positive at both stages due to their perception of the feasibility of the project and a high level of confidence resulting from outstanding performance. Regarding the qualitative data, an analysis based on the number of references to a pattern was utilized. The findings corroborated the high level of motivation observed with the quantitative results before and after the project. They additionally supported the quantitative findings indicating that the participants' emotional state was relatively positive. However, a few learners were anxious, but their anxiety did not prevent them from completing the project. Regarding the pedagogical implications, project work can be used as an alternative in assessment so that learners can stay motivated during the assessment process. To achieve this aim, language teachers need to ensure that a project is within the learners' reach and provide them with quality feedback at every stage.

Although higher education plays a vital role in the socio-economic development of Sub-Saharan Africa, enrollment in universities in the region is unexpectedly low compared to other regions. However, Sub-Saharan African countries have made strides in increasing access to higher education amidst constraints and challenges. The efforts have led to increases in enrollment and what many countries did not anticipate is the increase in unemployment from the greater output of students. In this study, we use panel data from eleven Sub-Saharan African countries for 2000-2018 to analyze the relationship between higher education and unemployment. A panel fixed effect model was estimated, and the results indicate that unemployment has a negative and significant effect on higher enrollment. Besides, higher education enrollment has a significant but negative effect on employment. Per capita income significantly affects enrollment into higher education and has the expected sign. The estimates further show that government expenditures on higher education play a significant role in the demand for places in higher education.

The COVID-19 outbreak stimulated an outbreak of online learning in many institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Educational institutions went beyond fighting the COVID-19 through social distancing norms to tackling Sustainable Development Goal Four (SDG 4) with the adoption of online learning as the new modality for instruction. Online learning has the propensity to ensure learners from all geographical regions have access to education, thereby addressing the inequalities in education. However, the disparities in the access to digital infrastructure had a negative impact on the online instruction in Sub-Saharan Africa. The online learning experience is best described as a "challenge-ridden online learning" with many teachers suffering from burnout and students lamenting on limited ICT resources, inadequate access to affordable and reliable internet, power outages, and anxiety over academic outcomes. Despite the challenges, the COVID-19 has presented a silver lining to online learning in Sub-Saharan Africa. Aside the attempt to massify online learning, many institutions have come up with novel technological innovations and inventions to bridge the digital divide in the region. The review gives an overview of the challenges, prospects, and practical implications of online learning in Sub-Saharan Africa. Abstract-The COVID-19 outbreak stimulated an outbreak of online learning in many institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Educational institutions went beyond fighting the COVID-19 through social distancing norms to tackling Sustainable Development Goal Four (SDG 4) with the adoption of online learning as the new modality for instruction. Online learning has the propensity to ensure learners from all geographical regions have access to education, thereby addressing the inequalities in education. However, the disparities in the access to digital infrastructure had a negative impact on the online instruction in Sub-Saharan Africa. The online learning learning" with many teachers suffering from burnout and students lamenting on limited ICT resources, inadequate access to affordable and reliable internet, power outages, and anxiety over academic outcomes. Despite the challenges, the COVID-19 has presented a silver lining to online learning in Sub-Saharan Africa. Aside the attempt to massify online learning, many institutions have come up with novel technological innovations and inventions to bridge the digital divide in the region. The review gives an overview of the challenges, prospects, and practical implications of online learning in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Societal ostracism and socio-cultural integration of children with disability, as well as parents' and monitors' challenges therefrom, constitute issues that deserve particular examination and consideration. Owing to that, through a qualitative ethnography, we investigated such issues employing in-depth interview and observation (n = 15). Some major findings are the following. Societal ostracism is a deeply-rooted social tendency of the mainstream in Mali that unobtrusively affects minority groups, especially children with disability. Due to that situation, if children with disability may end up wandering in streets and the consequences this entails, parents and monitors daily experience frustration, bewilderment, and disarray. Increased advocacy and sensitization by key actors would be an effective engine for driving socially paradigmatic change regarding the phenomena of societal ostracism and socio-cultural integration of children with disability. We also found out that preparing children with disability for socio-cultural life integration is as important as preparing society itself to welcome and receive these children. Parents and monitors need increased multifaceted support from government, social services, and relevant organizations to overcome difficulties and issues related to children's disability and their socio-cultural integration.

In recent years, much attention has been given to extremely poor levels of learning outcomes in low-and lower-middle income countries. Citizen-led assessments have played a vital role in highlighting this "learning crisis." Having developed these citizen-led assessments, members of the People's Action for Learning (PAL) Network are now increasingly devising and implementing actions aimed at tackling the learning crisis in different country contexts. This article documents the process we undertook of developing theories of change with PAL Network members across 10 countries to inform their shift from assessment of children's learning to action aimed at raising learning outcomes. The article highlights, in particular, the importance for theories of change to take account of context in identifying appropriate actions. Based on their country circumstances, the actions identified by PAL Network members vary, for example, from using assessment data to influence national government reform, to more localized activities associated with "teaching at the right level." For appropriate actions to tackle the learning crisis to be identified and successfully implemented, an important lesson from the PAL Network experience is the need to enable South-to-South learning and adaptation. As such, the article highlights a pressing need for flexible and iterative theories of change that reflect contextual realities.

This article argues that the best way to increase inquiry-based instruction is paradoxically to pay more attention to direct instruction because excessive attention to practices like close reading of texts and facilitating text-based discussions has led to neglect of content knowledge explanation as a core instructional practice. This article begins by exploring the centrality of background knowledge for meaningful inquiry and then considers what happens when such knowledge is absent from secondary classroom instruction. The second section examines reasons for the absence of pedagogical attention to acquiring background knowledge. The final section proposes a model of direct instruction, offering concrete examples focused on the expansion of Islam in West Africa. The article concludes with reflections on this model of instruction.

This paper examines three interrelated factors outside of formal provision of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in sub-Saharan Africa that have undermined TVET systems. The first is the process, pace, and levels of industrialisation, which has had a direct effect on TVET provision: low numbers of well-paying jobs requiring technical expertise. This has an indirect effect, which is the second crucial factor: lack of economic development and change in labour markets. There are very few jobs that would be considered 'middle class' or 'mid-level' in wealthy countries. Most people are in survivalist work. An international consensus since the 2000s on palliative approaches to development which address the effects but not the causes of the lack of economic development in Africa has resulted in mass poor quality provision of education--the third factor. Education systems are rapidly expanding and achievement levels rising, in the context of very little possibility of labour market rewards for most people, and substantial labour market rewards confined mainly to graduates. This reinforces deeply embedded cultural preferences for general education, which originate in the type of education systems established by colonial powers, as well as the relationships between educational credentials and elite jobs.

This article examines tensions that professionals in healthcare settings in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs) face in the evolving field around surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). Few public health problems are of greater global importance today than AMR, that poses a threat to our ability to treat infections. In this context, the microbiology laboratory occupies a prominent place and the knowledge field of microbiology is expanding. In this study, we interviewed twenty-three (n = 23) professionals with expertise on AMR and public health systems to synthesise knowledge on strengthening AMR surveillance in LMICs. By drawing on a practice approach [Schatzki, T. R. 2001. "Practice Theory." In "The Practice Turn in Contemporary Theory" (1-14), edited by T. R. Schatzki, K. Knorr-Cetima, and E. von Savigny. New York: Routledge.] combined with socio-cultural and cultural-historical theories (CHAT) [Engeström, Y. 1987. "Learning by Expanding: An Activity-Theoretical Approach to Developmental Research." Helsinki: Orienta-Konsultit] the analysis reveals seven tensions between elements of the systems and discusses how such tensions serve to frame implications for implementing a capacity strengthening programme. The analysis shows that the novelty of the AMR as well as being a multi-disease and multisectoral by nature challenges existing forms of professional practice in healthcare settings. It also suggests that AMR requires to be dealt with through inter-professional and inter-sectoral approaches, while maintaining a focus across the local, national, and global systems, which is essential for initiatives that are set to address challenges to global health.

The adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in September 2015 marked a new milestone for early childhood education, care, and development. For the first time in the framework of global goals, preschool education was described as integral to children's school readiness. Yet with few exceptions, much of the research on the impact of preschool has stemmed from high-income countries. Even fewer studies have examined preschool participation and later learning across multiple countries. This article helps fill this gap by connecting preschool participation to early primary reading outcomes, as measured by the Early Grade Reading Assessment. Drawing on a unique data set using student-level learning assessments from 16 countries, we use preprimary participation to explain primary school reading skills, including letter knowledge and oral reading fluency. We also model the influence of key demographic variables on these outcomes, including home language and classroom language of instruction (LOI). For a subset of six countries with exceptionally rich data, we examine national-level policy and practice to better understand what might explain the persistence or fadeout of the effect of preschool. Policy makers and practitioners alike will find these results useful in making cases for improving preschool experiences for children in low- and middle-income countries in the next decade of SDG-related efforts.

The COVID-19 pandemic has renewed concerns about how shocks may affect religious and other private schools in low-income countries, especially when they do not benefit from state support. By reducing parental incomes, shocks -- not only epidemics but also natural disasters and conflicts, reduce overall enrollment in school. But they may also lead to a shift from private to public schools with potentially differentiated effects by type of private school depending on context. In addition, household responses to shocks such as migration may lead to a change in the socio-cultural context in which households live, and these changes may also affect school choice. This paper explores the effects of shocks and migration on school choice in West Africa. Results suggest that shocks and migration lead to a shift from private to public schools, but with differentiated effects by type of private schools.

Mobile phones are widespread in the rural areas of Mali and Burkina Faso, but their potential as a tool for knowledge transfer by extension services in the region remains largely unexplored. The aim of this contribution is to evaluate the potential of video on mobile phones as a tool for farmer-to-farmer exchange and agricultural extension in Western Africa's rural reality. This aim was addressed by interviewing 460 farmers in Mali and Burkina Faso. Third generation (3G) mobile phones with video and Bluetooth technology were found to be widespread in the study area. Furthermore, videos on 3G phones were found to have a high frequency of contact and a high information utility. The participating farmers reported that 3G phones are readily accessible: including to people who had previously had limited access to information sources, such as young women. Video based information is particularly advantageous to illiterate farmers, and has potential to transform the typically top-down nature of information flow from extension agents to farmers. The farmers, in this case, hold ownership of video based information, which thereby extends its outreach. These findings allow the conclusions that video on mobile phones has tremendous potential as a tool for agricultural extension and farmer-to-farmer exchange in developing countries. The use of video on mobile phones is a novel approach to farmer-to-farmer exchange, which could contribute to transforming and amplifying extension efforts and thereby enabling the necessary intensification of land use, while also enabling more resilient, inclusive and democratic farming systems.

Purpose: Soil fertility is decreasing in many parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. To mitigate this trend, various agricultural technologies are available, but their uptake by farmers has been low. Perception of the problem, information exposure, and knowledge play a major role in adoption of technologies. This study assessed empirically the levels of perception, knowledge and information exposure among African farmers as an indicator for potential adoption of soil fertility technologies. Design/Methodology/approach: The study used survey data of more than 2,400 small-scale farmers selected through random sampling from Ghana, Kenya, Mali and Zambia. The survey investigated socio-economic factors, exposure to media, perception and knowledge of soil fertility and other information. Findings: Many farmers did not perceive soil fertility as a major challenge, except in Mali; farmers were hardly receiving information on soil fertility from professional agricultural sources, and they often lacked accurate knowledge about soil fertility technologies. Radio was by far the most used information source for farmers. Practical Implications: The study has exposed the need for interventions to increase awareness, information exposure, and knowledge about soil fertility among farmers to strengthen the adoption of soil fertility technologies. It also calls for innovative ways of strengthening extension services through links with radio. Theoretical implications: The role of communication in the uptake of agricultural innovations is still under-researched, and hence this study exposes the need to investigate in-depth knowledge, perception levels, and quality and frequency of information exposure on various channels of soil fertility management. Originality: This is one of the few studies empirically measuring perception, information frequency on various channels, and knowledge of soil fertility among small-scale farmers in African countries.

This paper is the second in a set of two on the extent to which Catholic and other faith-based schools are serving the poor well. Catholic and other faith-based schools reach millions of children who live in poverty, yet this does not necessarily mean that they are serving these children well enough. The paper considers two separate issues. First, beyond academic subjects, Catholic and other faith-based schools emphasise learning related to values and religion. Do they succeed in doing so? Based on small sample survey data and qualitative fieldwork, as well as broader data on parental satisfaction with schools, the paper provides a tentative and mostly positive answer to this question, at least from the view of parents. The second issue is where performance is weaker. Education systems are affected by a learning crisis in the developing world. All schools should ensure that students learn, but too often this is not the case. The second part of the paper documents this learning crisis and the fact that Catholic and other faith-based schools are not immune to it. This is done in part through a rapid review of the recent World Development Report on education's promise, and a companion piece for sub-Saharan Africa. Estimates of performance for selected African countries are also provided. The results are sobering: too many children are not learning while in school. Finally, the paper briefly summarises evidence from the literature on interventions that could improve learning, including in Catholic and faith-based schools. [For Part I of the series, see EJ1206878.]

This article investigates what is commonly called multilingual writing. Based on case studies from Mali, and drawing on a number of West African settings, it argues that in fact, not all 'multilingual' writing is in effect multilingual. The article proposes a two-tiered classification of types of writing, based on linguistic properties of texts and the differing perspectives of writers and readers. This analysis contrasts writers' intentions to write (in) a particular language vs. to mobilise linguistic resources in a more holistic manner. The latter type of writing, it is argued, is better characterised as language-independent, since writers do not draw borders between what can be analysed as different languages from a code-based perspective often applied by analysts. The co-existence, spaces, and potentials of language-based and language-independent writing are examined in detail. This type of writing is invisible to language planners and often taken to be unreadable, akin to the mythical writing on the wall inspiring the title of the paper. Yet, in contexts with low educational resources and great linguistic diversity, language-independent writing presents a resilient and underappreciated alternative to language-based literacies.

This paper scrutinizes decentralization of education with reference to some countries around the world. We consider discussion on decentralization to be complex, critical and broad question in the contemporary education planning, administration and politics of education reforms. Even though the debate on and implementation of decentralization education can result from differences in ideological and philosophical backgrounds (McGinn & Welsh, 1999), in this scrutiny we begin by theorizing the concept, provides dimensions and goals of decentralization and demonstrate how decentralization has been implemented in some countries. Finally, conclusion is assumed in this debate as a summary and a conduit to further discussion and investigation of educational decentralization.

The training of teachers of West Africa is carried out by the Academy of Rouen (France) and organized around an annual training plan approved by the AEFE. Each trainer only supervises twenty teachers for 5 days. Teachers from eight countries (Mauritania, Cape Verde, Senegal, Gambia, Mali, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso), come to Dakar for a week. We have been asked four times tn Dakar (Senegal) to provide training for teachers of West Africa. It is all about being trained in order to resolve reading difficulties for students using our scientific research. This paper presents the theoretical framework of phonological awareness and letter names and the 0 phase and the beginning of Phase 1 of our research. We use these predictors as remedial reading difficulties among students aged 8 to 11 years. We present the first results.

This article examines "government-registered medersas" in Mali and suggests that their appeal and expansion are due to their unique and innovative integration of Western and Islamic educational epistemologies (not simply subjects). Registered medersas respond to parental demands for the early introduction of "secular" knowledge, alongside Qur'anic memorization. Secular subjects have not overwhelmed the schools' focus on spiritual development and discipline, even as they feature more Western organizational features and teaching methods. The value placed on secular subjects by parents signals their newer and expanded views on the purpose of schooling. Further, parents viewed registered medersas as accountable to them in terms of ensuring student learning, both in secular subjects and appropriate Muslim behavior and in ensuring the ability of students to continue their schooling beyond the primary level (and ultimately find productive work). Finally, because of their unique history, the regulatory environment in which registered medersas operate is significantly more autonomous and efficient than regular public schools in Mali.

As a tool in an educational delivery system contributing to social and economic development, distance learning has become an accepted and indispensable aspect of the mainstream of educational systems in developed and developing countries. Indeed, the globalization of distance education provides several opportunities for developing countries, including the West African sub-region, for the realization of education system goals, especially the growing need for continuing skills upgrading and retraining. As countries in the West African sub-region become more aware of the potential of distance learning, it is important for their educational planning that the opportunities provided by new technologies prominent in distance learning be realistically harnessed within the framework of well-defined policies. In this regard, a policy framework is needed to ensure that quality education is provided for learners in new and long-established distance education institutions in the West African sub-region. Regardless of the diverse distance education practices in the West African sub-region, a regional policy framework is possible and imperative to regulate the organization and implementation of quality distance higher education programmes in West Africa.

What can Mali, an impoverished, land-locked West African nation, teach educators about mobile technology? Little to nothing, one might think. Yet in Mali, as in much of sub-Saharan Africa, teachers and students are increasingly using mobile technologies for learning and teaching. While educators in the United States have debated whether, why, and how to use mobile technologies in class, many schools in the poorest countries in the world--the so-called developing world or Global South--have taken up the use of mobile technologies with gusto despite formidable obstacles. This article describes how schools in Mali, Honduras, Zambia, and Indonesia make the most of the technology they have.

Distance education and information and communication technologies (ICTs) have been marketed as cost-effective ways to rescue struggling educational institutions in developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This study uses classroom video analysis and follow-up interviews with teachers, students, and local tutors to analyse the interaction at a distance between learners in Mali and Burkina Faso and their French and Canadian instructors. Findings reveal multiple obstacles to quality interaction: frequent Internet disconnections, limited student access to computers, lack of instructor presence, ill-prepared local tutors, student unfamiliarity with typing and computer technology, ineffective technical support, poor social dynamics, learner-learner conflict, learner-instructor conflict, and student withdrawal and resignation. In light of the near death of the costly World Bank-initiated African Virtual University (AVU), this paper concludes by re-visiting the educational potential of traditional technologies, such as radio and video, to foster development in poor countries. (Contains 2 figures, 1 table and 2 footnotes.)

Early Childhood Development (ECD) has emerged as a theme in international and African dialogue on education in recent years. UNESCO's Division of Basic Education Early Childhood promotes an integrated approach to Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) policy development and review. The study examines how this is implemented in three West African countries, with similar cultural groups in their diverse populations: The Gambia, Mali and Senegal. In The Gambia there is thus far a proposal on how indigenous knowledge should be included in early childhood programs. The clos d'enfants [children's groups], in Mali demonstrates similar ideas through an international partnership with a local initiative program, developed in Bamako using mothers, local materials and toys made by the participants. Senegal's program combining local traditions and European pedagogical philosophies, the case des tout-petits [children's huts], came from the President. Analysis of these three cases suggests that these programs and proposals may be a springboard for UNESCO and partners to further develop ECCE with indigenous knowledge and practice in Africa.

Studies of African indigenous games often focus on a specific game or on games from different regions. This article, rather, examines five popular African board games in order to find the similarities and differences among these games. The analysis shows similarities among them. However, these similarities do not necessarily mean that these games are identical. The review of the games indicates that these games are different when elements such as rules and play are used to study them. This article also demonstrates that these board games are tools that can be integrated into the curriculum through a discussion of the educational affordance of each game. The article is an invitation to educators and game researchers to broaden the definition and exploration of game-based learning.

This study investigates how an interviewer's characteristics affect how respondents answer survey questions about democracy and political engagement. I analyze data from the 2008 Afrobarometer surveys, in which 810 interviewers surveyed 27,713 respondents across 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. Using these data, I study how interviewer education, age, and gender affect two outcomes: (1) response distributions to attitudinal and behavioral survey questions and (2) the likelihood of respondents saying 'don't know' to a survey question. The analysis also investigates how the respondent's perception of who sponsored the survey (NGO, private sector, government) affects attitudes. The results show that these interviewer characteristics affect the quality of survey data on political attitudes and behaviors. In the discussion, I consider the implications for research based on public opinion data about democracy and political engagement.

In this paper, our main objective is to test the hypothesis that child labor can be a rational response to low returns to formal education in Mali. To this end, after a literature review, we build a flexible conceptual model that explicitly links the child labor supply to the comparison of the expected returns to education with child labor. The empirical analyses are performed using the Malian permanent household survey. Estimations suggest that when returns to education are high in local labor markets, or when parents earn more than expected relative to their education level, the probability of child labor falls.

A decade ago, when "Current Issues in Comparative Education" ("CICE") published its first issue "Are NGOs Overrated?" both academic debates and development policy discussions were focused on the expanding role played by NGOs in the developing world. Today the language has changed--and so too, in some ways, has practice. In this article, the author looks at the new turn to "civil society" in development discourse. In particular, she answers the question: What does civil society have to do with the achievement of education for all--particularly in poor countries where universal access to basic education has not been achieved? First, she looks at how civil society engagement is being constructed in the official policy discourse of development aid organizations, raising questions about the narrowness and limitations of this conceptualization. She then argues for using a "social citizenship" lens when thinking about civil society and its role in the achievement of education for all. Throughout, she introduces examples from a recent study of civil society organizations (CSOs) and their interactions with internationally funded sector programs in education in four African countries: (1) Burkina Faso; (2) Mali; (3) Kenya; and (4) Tanzania. (Contains 2 notes.)