Curricula, Examinations, and Assessment in Secondary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

Description

Economic and social changes, fast evolution of technology, and the growing importance of Internet services and international communications--all these require secondary education providers to adapt what is taught and learned in schools. However, in Africa the content of secondary curricula is in most cases ill-adapted to 21st century challenges, where young people are mobile, have access to 'more and instant information,' and face health threats such as HIV/AIDS. In addition, implementation problems exist, and the time for instruction is often much less then what is required by the prescribed secondary curriculum. In Africa there is a need to develop a secondary education curriculum adapted to the local economic and social environment, but with international-comparable performance indicators. This study analyzes that challenge: the quality of curricula and assessment, and their development processes in secondary education in Africa against the background of existing contexts, conditions, and ambitions on the one hand and current pedagogical thinking on the other.
This World Bank Working Paper was prepared as part of the Secondary Education and Training in Africa (SEIA) initiative which aims to assist countries to develop sustainable strategies for expansion and quality improvements in secondary education and training.

Sujets

• Éducation

Informations

• Publié par: world-bank-publications
• Publié le: 15 février 2008
• Nombre de lectures: 13
• EAN13: 9780821373484
• Langue: English

Extrait

W ORLD BANK W ORKING P APER NO . 128
AFRICA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT SERIES
Curricula, Examinations, and
Assessment in Secondary
Education in Sub-Saharan Africa
THE WORLD BANKWP 128_FM.qxd 1/23/08 2:15 PM Page i
W ORLD B A NK W ORKING P APER NO . 128
Curricula, Examinations, and
Assessment in Secondary
Education in Sub-Saharan Africa
Secondary Education in Africa (SEIA)
Africa Region Human Development Department
THE WORLD BANK
Washington, D.C.WP 128_FM.qxd 1/23/08 2:15 PM Page ii
Copyright © 2008
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ISBN-13: 978-0-8213-7348-4
eISBN: 978-0-8213-7349-1
ISSN: 1726-5878 DOI: 10.1596/978-0-8213-7348-4
Cover photo by Jaap Bregman.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been RequestedWP 128_FM.qxd 1/23/08 2:15 PM Page iii
Contents
Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Executive Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Résumé analytique . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii
1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
The CASASE Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Methodology of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Definitions . . 2
Advance Organizer 4
2 Context of the Sub-Saharan African Secondary Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Enrollment in Secondary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Primary Completion Rates, Transfer Rates, and Gross Enrollment Ratios . . . . . . . . 5
Teachers and Student Teacher Ratios. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Differences Across Sub-Saharan African Countries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Social Perceptions of Education and Vocational Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3 Access, Equity, Quality, and Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Equity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Tensions Between Quality and Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Quality and Curriculum Reform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4 Formal Curriculum and Curriculum Structures in Sub-Saharan Africa . . . . . . . 15
Lengths of Educational Cycles Across Sub-Saharan Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Curriculum Structures in the Five Countries Visited. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Position of Technical and Vocational Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Exit Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Issues in Secondary Education Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Literacy and Language of Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Junior Secondary Education as Part of Basic Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
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iv Contents
Subjects and Learning Areas in Junior Secondary Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Curriculum Extensions at Both Junior and Secondary Level25
General Senior Secondary Education Curriculum Structure28
Vocationalized Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
5 Technical and Vocational Education and Training. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Starting Points for TVET33
Unification of TVET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Qualification Frameworks and Integration. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Implications of Frameworks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
6 Operational Curriculum: Current Trends in Instructional Methodology . . . . . . 43
The Need to Move Toward More Active Teaching and Learning Approaches . . . . . 43
Active Learning and Learner-centered Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
The Reality of Classroom Instruction and Learner-centered Education . . . . . . . . . 44
The Implementation of LCE46
Equity and Physical Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Further Curriculum Issues Influencing Instructional Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Curriculum, Teacher and Learner Support Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Textbooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
7 Attained Curriculum: Assessment and Assessment
Practices in Sub-Saharan Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Assessment, Examination, and the Wider Picture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Examinations, Assessment, and the Curriculum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Examination Results: Junior Secondary Level,
and Results of the TIMSS study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58esults Senior Secondary Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Standard Setting and Quality Assurance of Secondary
Education Examinations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Alignment Between Curriculum and Assessment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Assessment Items and Examination Practices62
Continuous Assessment and Assessment Instruments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Summary and Practical Suggestions for Examination and Assessment . . . . . . . . . . 65
8 Curriculum Development Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Policy Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Addressing the Gap Between Plan and Achievement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Considerations About Curriculum Implementation72WP 128_FM.qxd 1/23/08 2:15 PM Page v
Contents v
9 Capacity