“Massive" educational deprivation continues to plague sub-Saharan Africa, South African Minister of Education Naledi Pandor said, as reported by the Mail and Guardian. "Despite country reports of progress, it is clear that an extraordinary effort will be required to ensure that all countries are directly assisted to succeed," she told the 15th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in Edinburgh, Scotland. In South Africa, as in most of Africa, boys are pressured into dropping out of school to earn money for their families, while pregnancy is the main reason girls leave school.

The purpose of the job is to lead and develop Concern’s Education programme in Cibitoke. This is a two year contract and the applicant must be fluent in French.

United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has pledged it would continue to support the education sector in the country as one way of achieving human resource for development. USAID Acting Mission Director Mary Lewellen made the pledge in Kasungu last week after being impressed by the progress and impact of the Malawi Education Support Activity (Mesa) which targets primary schools in Mzimba South, Kasungu, Machinga and Phalombe districts.

Will lectures in Afrikaans and English kill off the taal? Yes, reckons a very vocal band of current and former Stellenbosch University students, after the university recently approved the introduction of dual-medium instruction in the final undergraduate year of the arts faculty. For the past two months, a well-oiled media campaign has been raging in the letters and news columns of Die Burger, the largest Afrikaans daily in the country. From this it has been clear that not all Afrikaans speakers are happy that their language has to compete with 10 other official languages instead of being one of only two official languages.

We wish to invite youth groups/youth leaders to send in indications of interest for the 2nd Reality Camp Program to be held at the St. Rita's Rural Center Kadi Valley, Kaduna from 11th – 17th December 2005. The theme for this year is Program Sustainability...sharing our experience.

Developing women's ability to write is essential to enabling women to express their needs, wants and demands effectively and to influence the development of society. The creation and dissemination of information about gender is essential for both men and women to challenge the gender status quo. These processes have been at the core of Agenda's mission and the Writing Skills Development Programme adds to this. The Writing Programme has two primary objectives: to develop the writing skills of women from previously disadvantaged backgrounds and; to contribute to the development of gender-informed writers producing gender-informed media.

QuickGuides are 24 page books, readable in an hour, covering the fundraising and management needs of both large and small organisations. QuickGuides are the perfect way to learn about a subject quickly and easily, and because they are written and reviewed by knowledgeable professionals from all around the world they will be useful wherever you operate as they are not country specific. At £8 or US$14 per book, QuickGuides are accessible to all, and you can build your own library of expertise. And as a reader of Pambazuka News, you can take advantage of a special promotion of 3 books for the price of 2 until the end of March 2006. QuickGuides are a resource you can't afford not to have. Quote ref: pambazuka and order online now at our online bookshop www.quickguidesonline.com

En marge du 23ème Sommet Afrique France des Chefs d’Etat et de gouvernements prévules 3 et 4 décembre 2005

Organisé par : Coalition des Alternatives Africaines Dette et Développement (CAD- Mali)

Où : à Bamako
Quand : du 30 novembre au 4 décembre 2005

Partenaires associés:

Coté Africain : la RADDHO – Sénégal, le FNDP de la Côte d’Ivoire, le Mouvement Burkinabé des Droits de l’Hommes et des Peuples, la Ligue Tchadienne des Droits de l’Homme, la Ligue Togolaise des Droits de l’Homme, l’UIDH, RODADHD-Niger, FLAM-Mauritanie, Réseau Ouest Africain d’Alternatives au Développement (ROAD)

Coté français : l’Association Survie, Agir Ici, ATTAC (Groupe Afrique), CRID, CEDETIM-IPAM, Secours Catholique, CCFD, Peuples Solidaires, Fédération des Congolais de la diaspora, Terre des Hommes France

Tous ensemble pour exiger une autre coopération France Afrique privilégiant les aspirations citoyennes!

Education for All of the world's children is a global priority. The reality, however, is that millions of the world's poorest children will be denied their chance at education unless there are special interventions that target their development. Since such children do not form a special social category in poverty eradication intervention programmes, their inclusion in EFA efforts tends to be a hit-or-miss phenomenon. This publication looks specifically at poor children both in and out of school who live in Uganda.

Source: UNESCO

Africa's science academies should do more to advise their governments on key issues that affect the continent, a conference in Kenya has heard. Delegates at the meeting called for stronger links between the academies and their counterparts in developed nations to help them fulfil this role. The 7-8 November meeting was the first conference of the African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI), a ten-year, US$20 million project funded by the US-based Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

An African roster for African professionals with a mandate to support international and humanitarian peace building missions within Africa seeks a Progamme Officer. The Officer will be based in Bulawayo and report to the Director and should be available to start in January 2006.

In the context of a renewed commitment to Education For All (EFA) at Dakar, this study examines the apparent failure of most attempts to provide educational services to nomadic groups. The study focuses on Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. It provides an insight into the challenges, constraints and opportunities for using education as part of an intersectoral approach to meet the development needs of nomadic communities.

The International Crisis Group (Crisis Group) is an independent, non-profit, non-governmental organisation, with over 110 staff members on five continents, working through field-based analysis and high-level advocacy to prevent and resolve deadly conflict. We are currently looking for a highly motivated, independent thinking staff member who will be located in Pretoria, South Africa. Working under the supervision of the Southern Africa Project Director, you will assist the team in overall office management and provide research assistance contributing to reports on security, political, governance, human rights and social issues related to the Southern Africa and Horn of Africa regions. The position will be based in our centrally located office in Pretoria.

The Electoral Institute of South Africa has a position open. Responsibilities include providing overall support to the Local Government Programme Officer, assisting in the development and implementation of all local government Projects, arranging and facilitating workshops, assisting in the conceptualisation of project proposal, researching and analysing relevant policies and legislation, general administration and the preparation
of reports.

The free primary education programme has won high accolades and Sh1.8 billion from the World Bank. World Bank country director Collin Bruce asked the Government to ensure that the money - for buying learning materials for the 18,000 primary schools across the country - would arrive in time to purchase materials for the new year. The money will be added to the billions of shillings the Government has invested in the programme since its start in January 2003 - one of the pre-election pledges fulfilled when Narc came to power.

In a seven-point communiqué issued at the conclusion of the recent two-day summit on Policy Reforms and Social Dialogue between government agencies and the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), the government was called upon to equip the Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria (TRNC) with the necessary tools for professionalisation. This is with a view to eliminating quacks from the teaching profession at all the levels of formal school education. "We also called on government to actualise the Teachers Salary Scale (TSS)," the NUT President Mallam Abdulwaheed Omar revealed in an interview.

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) has been informed by the Ethiopian Human Rights Council (EHRCO), a member of the OMCT network, that about 18,000 youths, arrested in Addis Ababa, were taken to the Dedessa River in Wollega and are being held in an open field near the banks of the river. Furthermore, the network says that more people have been killed, wounded and arrested following street protests on 31st October 2005 in Addis Ababa. The conflict has spread to towns such as Gondar, Bar Dar, Arbaminch town, Dessie, Nazareth and around.

The deadline for registration for the 2006 World Social Forum, to be held in Bamako, Mali from January 19-23, is fast approaching (November 15, 2005). Organisations must register first as individuals, and then as an organization (at the main website, link provided). Organizations can then go on to register their activity. This must be done at the main website (link provided) and again at the WSF Mali website (http://www.fsmmali.org - which is still under construction, but their contact details are [email protected]).

IFES’ current program in Nigeria builds upon work that began with transitional elections of 1998-99, under which a newly established Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ushered in a civilian administration and a new era in Nigerian politics. IFES’ work in Nigeria has focused on building sustainable electoral institutions that ensure a free, fair, and transparent process. It has also grown beyond technical assistance in election management and election law reform, to encompass areas of electoral process development such as political finance reform, voter education curriculum development, access for citizens with disabilities, and many more. Over the coming 3 years, the program will seek to leverage gains in the transparency, credibility, and efficiency of the electoral process, and to extend development of the process into new areas.

This is a key opportunity to play a leading role in influencing change in policy and practice as it relates to child protection, early childhood development, health and HIV. Responsible for the quality and effectiveness of our work in Luanda and Huambo provinces, you will lead, motivate and manage the team whilst maintaining a clear overview of the political, legal and security context. You will also act as our representative to government, the UN and other international agencies and donors, building key stakeholder relationships along the way.