Why some Education for All and Millennium Development Goals will not be met: difficulties with goals and targets.

Abstract

This article argues that for a significant number of sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries, the Education for All (EFA) goals and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) referring to education are unlikely to be achieved by 2015 but that with substantial external assistance countries at risk should make better progress. It argues that this will be possible only if (1) current status and starting points are clearly recognized, (2) links are made between the EFA and MDG goals, national development strategies on poverty reduction and theoretical considerations on the role of education in development, (3) access and equity issues are reconceptualized to reflect aspirations and specific patterns of participation, and (4) targets and indicative benchmarks adapted to context and starting points are adopted that nurture relationships between target-setters and getters and reconcile ambitions with sustainable financial demands across the education sector.

Citation

Southern African Review of Education, forthcoming 2008, 20 pp.

Why some Education for All and Millennium Development Goals will not be met: difficulties with goals and targets.

Published 1 January 2008