Project Materials

Abstract

In 1965, the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP) embarked on a series of African case studies designed to shed light upon several major problems confronting educational planners in developing countries. These problems included the integration of educational and economic planning, the costing and financing of educational development, the supply of and demand for teachers, the effect of rapid expansion on the quality of education, the planning of adult education, the bearing of educational planning upon external aid, and the administrative aspects of planning, including implementation. The task was undertaken in three stages. The first involved the collection and analysis of documentation on three English-speaking countries, Nigeria, Tanzania and Uganda, and two French-speaking countries, Ivory Coast and Senegal, where the studies were to be undertaken, followed by the drafting and critical review of provisional reports. The second stage consisted of field investigations by staff members and expert consultants, lasting one to three months in each case. In several instances reports were prepared by experts on the scene in accordance with outlines jointly designed and agreed to. The last stage involved the drafting, criticism, revision and final editing of the reports for publication. Two senior staff members of the IIEP directed the studies in the English-speaking and French-speaking countries respectively, from initial design to find editing. Altogether, eighteen field studies were carried out with the help of officials and advisers of the countries concerned. To the extent possible, the same problem was examined on a similar basis in different countries so that it could later be subjected to comparative analysis. Although the IIEP intends later to synthesize certain of the studies in book form, it considers that most of the full original reports should be made available promptly in monograph form for training, operational and research purposes. It should be emphasized, however, that the intent of these reports is not to give advice to the countries studied but rather to extract from their experiences lessons which might prove useful to others and possibly to themselves.

IIEP African studies

While gratitude is expressed to the governments, organizations and many indi- viduals whose co-operation made these studies possible, and to the Ford Founda- tion and the French Government for their help in financing them, it is emphasized that responsibility for the facts, analyses and interpretations presented rests with the authors. In making the decision to publish these studies, neither Unesco nor the IIEP necessarily endorses the views expressed in them, but they feel that their content is worthy of open and free discussion.