Overview of theinternational conferenceAcademic success in Africa: the challenge of languages CIEP, 27-28 March 2014

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This international conference was organised in partnership with:■ Agence française de développement (AFD) (French Development Agency)

■ Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) (Agency of Francophonie Universities)

■ Association pour le développement de l’éducation en Afrique (ADEA) (Association for the Development of Education in Africa)

■ Conférence des ministres de l’Éducation des États et gouvernements de la Francophonie (CONFEMEN) (Conference of Ministers of Education of French-speaking countries)

■ Direction du développement et de la coopération de la Confédération suisse (DDC) (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation)

■ French Ministry of Foreign A�airs

■ Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) (International Organisation of La Francophonie)

■ Partenariat mondial pour l’éducation (PME) (Global Partnership for Education)

With the participation of: ■ World Bank

■ European Commission

■ UNESCO

www.ciep.fr

DEDICATED TOTHE DEVELOPMENT OF

THE FRENCH LANGUAGE ANDEDUCATION WORLDWIDE

Introduction 2

A look at the language situation in Africa 4

Education systems and multilingualism in Sub-Saharan Africa 6

Language and academic success: examples of language policies 8

Measuring learning achievements in primary education 10

Initial and continuing pedagogical and language training for teachers, to improve performances in school 12

How can finances be optimised for academic success in a multilingual context? 14

Conclusion of discussions 16

CONTENTS

2

Introductionn Mr. François PERRET, director of the CIEP

n Ms. Anne-Marie DESCOTES, Executive Director of Globalisation, Development and Partnerships, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Developmen

n Mr. Vincent PEILLON, French Minister of Education

n Mr. Abdou DIOUF, Secretary General of La Francophonie

As international discussions on the "post-2015" agenda have begun, the first assessments of policies implemented by Sub-Saharan African countries have certainly shown that progress has been made, but also that we still have far to go, as it is likely that the United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG)of universal primary education in 2015 will not be fully achieved. Moreover, with the spread of basic education, improvement in the quality of learning outcomes re-mains the primary objective to meet at all levels of teaching beyond 2015. Fi-nally, the different language policies in Sub-Saharan African countries, whether established or planned, must take pluri-lingual circumstances into account, with priority given to pedagogical approaches, particularly bilingual approaches, and to teacher training. In this way, the diversity of languages in African teaching, far from being an obstacle, should be a factor in academic success, and social and economic development on the continent.

Ms. Anne-Marie Descôtes starts by saying that, "as international discussions on the post-2015 agenda have begun and while we have a certain hindsight today on efforts in education that have been rolled out over the last ten years by African governments, particularly concerning access and equality, this international conference is the opportunity to speak freely on the major issue of education in Africa, and more specifically on language teaching". Although the number of children attending school has increased by 70% since 2000, there are still close to 250 million young people who have not mastered the basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics. In an "ex-ceptionally rich" African language landscape, good education goes hand in hand with mastering the teaching language, also called reference language: "it is crucial for education policies to put language strategies in place". Mo-reover, as Ms. Descôtes explains, mastering the use of national, regional and international languages is a major challenge for young Africans, particularly when it comes to accessing decent and skilled employment. With the sup-port of all of the funding partners in the education sector, "the benefits of plurilingualism and the necessity of placing teacher training at the core of education quality" are, according to Ms. Descôtes, the challenges, or urgent situations, to take on.

Opening address byMr. Vincent Peillon, French

Minister of Education

Ms. Anne Marie-Descôtes, Executive Director of Globalisation, Development and Partnerships, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

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Mr. Vincent Peillon goes on to say that "the future's key investment is education, and the main factor of economic efficiency is youth training", and that it is therefore necessary to develop technical teaching and vocational training, which are adapted to eco-nomic development and which meet the needs of companies requiring skilled manpower. Although education remains the main catalyst for economic development, Mr. Peillon reiterates that mastering languages - vernacular, national and international - is also a factor of personal development, as they convey "a world of reflection, allegory and culture". Finally, Mr. Peillon calls for a space and principles fostering "co-development" between France (within Europe) and the African continent: "we must write our development and our future together" and be "capable of building a Franco-African education area" to preserve the values

His Excellency Mr. Abdou Diouf says that the challen-ges regarding quality must involve the development of language strategies for bilingual teaching in edu-cational policies. Although several school-based bilingualism initiatives have been put in place, the Secretary General of La Francophonie stresses that "in the absence of their inclusion in sector-specific plans or in the absence of setting a current language education policy, (...) they have no future". In the process aimed at helping countries to esta-blish academic language policies, the development of bilingualism is one of the mechanisms for improving the quality of education. Indeed, "native language and international language teaching each have their rightful place, their reason for flourishing together to become an active factor of develop-ment" because "far from being an obstacle to the objectives of academic success, teaching French in a plurilingual context is an asset". To be intro-duced into the classroom, this bilingualism has to be mastered by teachers, whose training is a key issue in improving the quality of learning. Finally, Mr. Diouf concludes that the roll-out and "strength" of bilingual teaching stand out as "ways to guarantee social peace": "using public education to respond to poverty fits into the same issue of development for all. It is on the en-tire African continent, as its future emerges and takes shape and as Africa's youth express their aspirations and their needs, that we must not spare our efforts on education." n

Opening addresses27 March 2014

His ExcellencyMr. Abdou Diouf, guest of honour.

His ExcellencyMr. Abdou Diouf, guest of honour.

Listen to the opening addresses

"Education and knowledge are the future's key investments" Mr. Vincent Peillon

"The development of bilingualism is one of the mechanisms for improving the quality of education"

Mr. Abdou Diouf

4

A look at the language situation in Africa

n Mr. Louis-Jean CALVET, professor emeritus, University of Aix-Marseille

The geographic distribution of languages varies greatly between continents. Africa is a continent rich in languages: 30% of the world's languages are spoken there (approximately 2000 languages) com-pared to 4% in Europe.

However, the number of speakers of these languages varies a great deal: approximately 1/3 of the population speaks 50% of the languages on the continent. Languages therefore do not hold the same level of importance and are not used in the same contexts. To develop an academic language policy, we must know how to measure the re-lative importance of languages and the relationships that exist between them.

Mr. Louis-Jean Calvet has developed several approaches and tools to clas-sify languages according to needs. These can be used by governments to assess the situation in their country and create their own language poli-cies. Among these tools, Mr. Calvet has developed a "language gravitational model" that shows the linguistic result of globalisation and the effects of bi-lingualism, as well as a "barometer of world languages" (http://wikilf.culture.fr/barometre2012/), which enables to classify languages according to 11 relevant factors. As regards teaching lan-guages in Africa, the analysis he carried out from the typology of languages offered by www.ethnologue.com is of particular interest.

6 types of languages are present on the African continent: n  official national language (A); n  official regional language (B); n  vehicular language (C);n  standardised endogenous language used in teaching (D);n   language used daily by a linguistic community and passed down genera-

tion to generation (E);n  endangered language that is no longer passed on (F).

Generally speaking, it seems that 0.9% of African languages are type A and they are spoken by only 10% of inhabitants. 85 languages are classed as type C, representing 3.8% of African languages, and are spoken as a first language by 30% of the population. Type E languages represent 79% of all languages and are spoken by 34% of the population.

Professor Louis-Jean Calvet presenting the language situation in Africa.

Representatives of 24 Sub-Saharan

African countries as well as numerous

French and international bilateral

and multilateral institutions.

5

"To develop an academic language policy, a typology of local languages

must be established, which shows the relative importance of languages and the

relationships that exist between them"

Inaugural conference27 March 2014

Using this typology, 3 dominant functional profiles were identified for 38 African countries, from a language point of view. ➜ Countries with profile A are countries in which there is only oneofficial nation al language and where the teaching language is not an issue (Rwanda and Cape Verde).➜ Profiles A, C and E, for countries in which one or two official national languages, several vehicular languages and a large number of vernacular languages co-exist, characterise 11 French, English or Portuguese-speaking countries (Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Congo, Ivory Coast, Gambia, Libe-ria, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Chad and Togo).➜ Another profile features type A, C, D and E countries, in which a language policy has transformed the situation by making an E language into a D lan-guage (teaching language). This situation affects 11 countries: Botswana, Ghana, Guinea, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Senegal, Zam-bia and Zimbabwe.This typology compares language situations between countries so that com-mon language policies can be considered, by finding similarities between countries that may seem different. For example, Angola and Mozambique

are both Portuguese-speaking countries but do not share the same profile, and therefore are not likely to create the same language policies.However, these are only tools to support the decision-making process and it is up to the go-vernment to create their own language policy and planning: linguists put it forward and politi-cians establish it n

See the participants’ interviews

6

Education systems and multilingualism in Sub-Saharan Africa

Moderator: Mr. Bruno MAURER, professor, University of Paul Valéry Montpellier 3

n Mr. Boureima Jacques KI, Secretary General of CONFEMEN

n Ms. Hassana ALIDOU, Head of the UNESCO office in Abuja

"In Africa, multilingualism is a social reality but not an academic one": classes are of-ficially taught in a single language (often the former colonial lan-guage), this does not mean that African classrooms are monolin-gual. In the classroom, the door may be shut to multilingualism but it often enters through the win-dow. It is more put up with than desired, and considered to be a di-sadvantage when it could perhaps be an opportunity.The positions of African ministries as technical and financial partners in education have evolved between 2000 and 2010. Academic multilingualism was often considered to be a synonym forincreased costs and cognitive difficulties, and the interest of it was not always perceived. For the past ten years, these institutions have acknowledged that in using African languages there is perhaps a means of reinforcing cultural diversity and adding value to heritage, as well as a means of improving the quality of teaching because, as Ms. Hassana Alidou emphasises, "we cannot learn without understanding".However, even though we observe such a growing awareness, there are still very few countries that have opted for academic multilingualism in all of their schools. It appears that a certain number of challenges have to be overcome before national languages can be introduced into programmes.

The first challenge is political and it stems from the actual status of national languages. Although used in informal teaching, these languages are often poorly defined by governments in terms of their legislation, function or use. Therefore they are not sufficiently recognized.

The second challenge concerns the acceptance of national languages as teaching languages by the population. Very few Sub-Saharan African coun-tries have language policies that value the use of national languages. Even if several trials are launched in the formal system to introduce national lan-guages (bilingual schools, satellite schools, French-Arab schools, etc.), these initiatives do not have sufficient distribution and recognition to convince the population.

Mr. Bruno Maurer, Ms. Hassana Alidou and

Mr. Boureima Jacques Ki.

7

"In Africa, multilingualism

is a social reality but not an academic one"

Mr. Bruno Maurer

Round table - 27 March 2014

The third challenge relates to didactics. Teachers do not always have the necessary skills in the teaching language to use it in the classroom, nor do they have all of the pedagogical skills to teach in their native language. The learning environment is therefore not favourable to the acquisition of knowledge by students.

The final challenge is of a pedagogical nature. Even if certain national lan-guages have been codified and transcribed, they are not sufficiently equip-ped (teaching materials, such as programmes or manuals, do not exist in national languages) to be applicable in the teaching environment.

Although taking on these challenges is a prerequisite to introducing natio-nal languages into teaching, the fact remains that establishing a policy of multilingualism in education raises a certain number of issues that countries must reflect on beforehand.Mr. Boureima Jacques Ki has expressed a few:n  To what extent can we teach and learn in national language(s) in a formal system, maintaining social cohesion and national unity and preventing the cultivation and exacerbation of regionalism?n  Do countries have sufficient resources (human and financial) to put such language reforms in place?n  Which strategies should be developed to ensure community adhesion to using national languages in the formal education system?n  In addition to its cultural value, language is one of the means that enables or facilitates access to decent jobs on both a national and international le-vel. Are the national languages in Sub-Saharan Africa currently able to fulfil this function and can they prepare young people for decent jobs against a background of globalisation?

While everyone agrees that introducing national languages into education systems depends on a country's desire to do so, and that this is necessary to improve the quality of teaching and employability, language policies must be adequately planned to guarantee their success n

A programme focused on the subject of

successful education in a plurilingual context.

130 participants attended the conference.

8

Angola Mr. Narcisso Benedito, Secretary of State for Technical and Vocational Teaching and Training, explains that Angola is a country made up of different ethno-linguistic groups,

the majority of which are of Bantu origin. Portuguese has been spoken in

Angola for more than 5 centuries. Education was made official in 1845 and was aimed mainly at Europeans and their descendants. In the first quarter of the 20th century, when the colonial presence was extended all over the territory, a large part of the population had never had contact with the Portuguese language. In 1961, the Portuguese government developed a network of primary schools across the territory to promote and circulate the Portuguese language and culture. In 1973, the numbers of students in primary education were greatly increased, even if drop-outs were frequent. Based on numerous international declarations advocating the right of everyone to live and be educated in their own culture, the Angolan education system's current reform aims to use national languages as a means of knowledge transmission and as a field of study. A pilot project is currently under way. Work has begun to structure 8 of the 200 languages present in Angola, to produce manuals and to train teachers in national languages n

Mauritania As Ms. Nebghouha Mint Mohamed Vall, former Minister of Education explains, French and

Arabic were in competition in the Mauritanian education system. As a former French colony,

this country first had classes taught in French. Upon achieving independence, it faced

demands, mostly from the Arab-speaking community, that its leaders introduce Arabic and religious

teaching to schools. This first language reform was overwhelmingly rejected by the rest of the population.

In 1979, there was an attempt at reconciliation when 3 other national languages (Pulaar, Soninké and

Wolof) were introduced into teaching. It resulted in a division in the education system: Arabic-speaking

schools and French-speaking schools, the latter of which later had to include Pulaar, Soninké and Wolof.

This system lasted for 20 years, so teaching

in national languages therefore remains in the testing stage.

Worried about the unification of education systems, the

teaching materials. Some public schools may have managed

to establish quality bilingual teaching, but the vast majority

have not successfully implemented this reform and very

few children are bilingual. The reform on bilingualism

was inadequately prepared, and financial means and

skilled human resources were insufficient. Even today,

the majority of teachers considered as "bilingual" have

mastered neither of the 2 teaching languages. Moreover,

the lack of dialogue with the population and civil society

beforehand has led to this reform being rejected n

Language and academic success: examples of language policies Moderator: Mr. Jean-Marie Ahlin BYLL CATARIA, former Executive Secretary of ADEA

KenyaAt the end of colonisation and up to 1976, Kenya's language policy was highly unstable, explains Mr. David Njeng’ere Kabita, Senior Assistant

Director at the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development. From

this time, the government adopted a firm position, which it still holds, advocating the use of English, Swahili and national languages in teaching. Officially, each of these languages is both taught and used as a media of instruction depending on the geographic area. However, the population has displayed a marked reluctance for teaching in vernacular languages, fearing that these are not adequately equipped to be able to communicate certain scientific, technological and sociological ideas, etc. Despite awareness campaigns aimed at the various populations, a tension subsists between the national languages that play a part in preserving regional identity and social cohesion, and international languages that enable the pursuit of studies and economic and social insertion. The aim is to find the right balance between these languages to improve the quality of learning. Indeed, as shown in a study carried out in 2009, students were able to read better in English, but their oral comprehension was better in national languages. Following this study and based on the premise that teachers do not have the necessary skills to teach reading, a pilot project was established in 2012 that emphasises teacher training, the creation of teaching files for reading and the use of classroom materials. This project, which is still ongoing, has produced positive results, although it has been criticised by some teachers who believe it to be too prescriptive n

9

Round table - 27 March 2014

Burkina FasoMr. Winson Emmanuel Goabaga, Secretary General at the Ministry of

National Education and Literacy, recalls that the use of national languages as teaching languages has been written into the constitution of Burkina Faso

since 1997. Recently, summit meetings on education have recalled the necessity of using

them in education as a conduit for sociocultural values. The aims of bilingual education are an integral part of the overall aims of the education policy in Burkina Faso. It involves making the education system more consistent and adapted to the needs of the country's socio-economic and cultural development by introducing learning of the native language and cultural activities from the surrounding environment. Moreover, the aim is to boost the provision of basic education and to reduce gender inequality among geographic regions and among the socio-economic situations of students. Bilingual teaching also saves time at school as 5 years is sufficient for students to acquire primary education knowledge (as opposed to 6 in standard education) and the school examinations results are better. Finally, learning in a local language increases the parents’ involvement in their children's education and lets them participate in their schooling. However, for large-scale bilingual teaching, efforts must still be made to ensure that this education system is accepted by all, to teach certain languages beyond primary level and to train teachers. For example, in Burkina Faso, of the 7 national teacher-training colleges, only one offers training in the 9 languages recognised for bilingual education n

MadagascarMr. Pascal Pierrot Rabetahina, Secretary General at the Ministry of National Education explains that the language

situation in Madagascar is less complex than in Sub-Saharan African countries. Also a former French colony, Madagascar

has created its own language system by establishing a firm policy of “Malgacisation”.

From 1975, French was replaced by Madagascan as the teaching language. Teaching in Madagascan has yielded very good results. All notions and concepts to be taught can be expressed in this language. However, education in Madagascan has been widely criticised and has not been followed by private schools which continue to teach in French, therefore somewhat stigmatising public education. To alleviate this issue, a proposed legislation stipulating that Madagascan is the language of education, teaching and administration is to be submitted to the country's authorities. This shows the willingness of the government to take a firm stance on the country's language situation. The law will be progressively applied to education, notably for teacher training and in the adaptation of educational material n

ELAN AfriqueThe relationship between national

language and academic success has

always been at the heart of the language

policies in different countries. Some

countries have been testing this issue for

over 25 years (Niger, Mali, etc.) without

being able to generalise education

in a national language because this

issue, in its political dimension, is

extremely complex and delicate, and

touches on people's sensitivity and

identity, according to Mr. Amidou

Maïga, coordinator of the École et

langues nationales (school and national

languages) (ELAN

Africa) initiative.

The ELAN programme,

born of the

collaboration between 4 French-

speaking operators (OIF, AUF, AFD and

the MAE) and supported by the PME,

is implemented since 2012 in

8 African countries to develop bi- and

plurilingual teaching. Considering

that a large portion of students do

not possess the basic skills, the ELAN

approach aims to improve their skills,

particularly in reading and writing,

and hopes to contribute to a decrease

in drop-out rates. The ministries

of education having included the

development of bi- and plurilingual

teaching in their policy benefit from

the guidance of the OIF in establishing

the project through support in the

creation of action plans, production of

educational tools, training, educational

monitoring and advice, awareness-

building of participants, and terminology

and neology research to properly

equip languages. Simultaneously, an

international framework for expertise,

capitalisation, advocacy and capacity

building of bi- or multilingual teaching is

being developed. ELAN's testing began

with the establishment of 10 bilingual

schools (French – national language) in

each country. An evaluation is planned

for 2015 to compare the results with

those of the evaluations previously

conducted and to demonstrate the

project's efficiency. Emphasis on basic

teacher training with the introduction

of a bilingual module is planned in

future, as is guiding the countries

in their curriculum reform n

10

Measuring achievements in primary education

Moderator: Ms. Isabelle NOCUS, university lecturer, University of Nantes

n M. Jacques MALPEL, Coordinator of the Programme d’Analyse des Systèmes Educatifs de la CONFEMEN (PASEC) (Programme for the Analysis of Education Systems from the Conference of Ministers of Education of French- Speaking Countries)

n Ms. Toziba MASALILA, Director of the Consortium de l’Afrique australe et orientale pour le pilotage de la qualité de l’éducation (SACMEQ) (Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality)

n M. Sébastien GEORGES, Psychometrist, CIEP

Educational practises focusing on student assessments have developed spectacularly. Ms. Isabelle Nocus mentions that numerous evaluation tools and systems enable to control and certify the achievements of students, but above all enable to better understand the obstacles to their education, with a view to improving pedagogical practices and the opera-tion of education systems. The importance attached to evaluating academic skills in schools is directly linked to the fact that the improvement in student training, the decrease in academic failure and more generally, the training of individuals able to adapt to changes within society, are educational priorities for countries. Education systems must be provided with instruments that can help them evaluate the objectives that they have set and implement the mea-sures most likely to reach those goals.

The CONFEMEN programme for the analysis of education system is a good example. As Mr. Jacques Malpel explains, the PASEC measures the perfor-mance of students and identifies efficiency and equality factors for basic education. This measure is based on indicators that are comparable in space and time. Until 2012, the PASEC evaluations were carried out nationally at a country's request. They are now conducted on an international level, by groups of countries. In addition to this measure, another goal is the capa-city building of national evaluation teams in each country. The evaluations carried out show that the situation of education systems in Sub-Saharan Africa has deteriorated, particularly regarding French. The learning outco-mes are linked to three factors: the academic background (at school), the social environment the student comes from and family background (lan-guage spoken at home, family support).Mastering a language is an important factor for all learners. Generally spea-king, when students do not adequately master French, they also do not adequately master mathematics. Language is therefore an essential factor although it does not alone explain the weak performances that were ob-served. Even those countries that have chosen a national language must manage the transition between teaching in a native language and an inter-national language. The SACMEQ programme, presented by Ms. Toziba Masalila, is aimed at eva-luating the academic conditions and the level of student learning in regard to the programmes in force in the different countries. Tests are carried out with students and teachers to evaluate their skills in mathematics, reading and the teaching language. Teachers are evaluated to determine whether or not they have the level of skills required in the teaching language to be able to teach. These programmes have evolved to take into account the best criteria that is likely to help the leaders of countries to make decisions on education policy. The first project, carried out between 1995 and 1998,

Ms. Toziba Masalila and Mr. Jacques Malpel, representatives of the two main education evaluation programmes in Africa.

11

Round table - 28 March 2014

showed that there were gaps in the information gathered and that teachers were not sufficiently involved. As part of the second project, these observa-tions were taken on board and an evaluation in mathematics was included. In the third project, the evaluation focused on a large number of people and was extended geographically. Social criteria were introduced, such as the impact of AIDS. Thanks to these changes, the ministries of education have substantial data with which to define their education policies and plan their implementation. Reforms in academic programmes have, incidentally, been based on the results of these evaluations in certain countries. The SACMEQ results thus enabled the formulation of regional education strategies.

Evaluation programmes such as the PASEC and SACMEQ are therefore precious monitoring tools and can serve as a basis for creating reforms to improve the quality of education. Several factors can cause low levels of success among the students, particularly the teacher's level of language.Mr. Sébastien Georges explains that the CIEP has developed, in partnership with French-speaking African countries, skills evaluation and certification tools for language teachers based on the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFRL). The CIEP is also able to offer the Test de connaissance du français (French language test) for which it provides the administrative, pedagogical and scientific management. These tests deter-mine the teacher’s level in French and thusprovide objective information that can then be used to adapt teacher trai-ning. Four skills are usually evaluated: written and oral comprehensions, and written and oral productions.➜ In Burundi, for example, a special test was administered to almost 1400

teachers. The results indicate that only a small proportion have achieved level B2 (advanced intermediate) in French, and that the skills of teachers appear to be better in pro-duction than in comprehension. Furthermore, there does not appear to be a strong link between study levels and lan-guage. Strong provincial disparities have also been obser-ved: in certain areas, the majority of teachers are below the level of independence defined by the CEFRL.➜ In the Democratic Republic of Congo, approximately 300 people over 4 sites sat the French language test. Dispari-ties were observed in the results, particularly with regard to candidate gender: in 3 of the 4 sites men scored higher than women.➜ In Senegal, the results from the French language test have revealed that teachers have a higher level of expression than comprehension. Strong disparities were also obser-ved: for example, teachers with an initial training in science obtained better results in language tests than teachers with an initial literary training.

Whether intended for students or teachers, the evaluation tools that have been standardised and developed according

to a methodology based on international standards are true steering tools for educational systems. Countries now need to be guided in developing their own evaluation systems in order to systematise the collection of data and make the necessary adjustments to improve education policies n

"Language is an essential factor

although it does not alone explain the academic

performances of students"

Mr. Jacques Malpel

Mr. Sébastien Georges, Mr. Jacques Malpel, Ms. Toziba Masalila andMs. Isabelle Nocus.

The measure of academic achievements, a key issue

in improving the qualityof education.

12

Initial and continuing pedagogical and language training for teachers, to improve performances in school

Moderator: Mr. Ma-Umba MABIALA, Director of Education and Youth, OIF

n Mr. Maurice MAZUNYA, Director of CELAB, University of Bujumbura, Burundi

n Mr. Kadir Abdelkader GALY ADAM, Director of the institut de formation en alphabétisation et éducation non formelle (IFAENF) (training institute for informal education and literacy), Niamey, Niger

n Mr. Pierre DUMONT, OIF and AUF expert, member of the IFADEM group of experts and coordinator of the ÉLAN-Africa initiative international scientific committee

n Ms. Manuela FERREIRA PINTO, head of the French language department, CIEP

Teachers are "at the heart of the teaching and learning pro-cess", says Mr. Ma-Umba Mabiala at the start of this round table. However, in the African context, we are faced with a shortage of State teachers trained in teacher-training colleges. With the improvement in access to education, the need for teachers has been filled by employing community or contrac-ted teachers: they have received no teacher training, they often do not have the minimum level of knowledge to teach and they have not mastered the teaching language. In this context, it is difficult to ask them to teach sub-jects in a language that they neither speak nor understand. Teacher trai-ning is therefore one of the main mechanisms for improving the quality of schools in Africa, but it is not enough. According to Mr. Pierre Dumont, it is also urgent to establish "high-performing bilingual or multilingual educa-tion systems" based on languages actually spoken by teachers and students, to improve the quality of learning. Ms. Manuela Ferreira Pinto emphasises that "better trained teachers will be able to adapt to specific situations, to plurilingualism and its challenges. They will learn to take the diversity of languages in the classroom on board".

Like Burundi or Niger, a certain number of countries committed to reforms to emphasise pedagogical and language training for teachers.➜ In Niger, as in other countries, the development of a language policy for education was focused first on the informal sector. Mr. Kadir Abdelkader Galy Adam explains that the IFAENF is the only institution in French-speaking Africa that trains in national languages for teaching in these languages. Benefiting from this experience, the country now wishes to apply these language training techniques to the formal sector. It aims to promote "a substantial and conti-nuous teacher training so that they can teach in both their native language and French, a language that they have not necessarily mastered". This objective is achieved by creating new teacher-training colleges, improving programmes and using ICT in education for training. These schools must offer both initial and continuing training.

Mr. Maurice Mazunya presenting

Burundi's case and Mr. Ma-Umba

Mabiala.

Ms. Manuela Ferreira Pinto,Mr. Kadir Abdelkader Galy Adam, Mr. Maurice Mazunya, Mr. Ma-Umba Mabiala, Mr. Pierre Dumont.

13

Round table - 28 March 2014

➜ In Burundi, according to Mr. Maurice Mazunya, a new language policy and a new continuing training plan for teachers was adopted as part of the basic education reform (giving all students 9 years of primary and seconda-ry education, compared to 6 in the old system). Burundi's language policy was guided by three goals: to reassert the value of the national language (Kirundi) so as to make it a conduit for the country's cultural development, to institute a functional multilingualism and to comply with international commitments and recommendations. To best prepare this policy and en-sure its success, the government initially intends to organise summit mee-tings on the simultaneous or staggered teaching of languages. Then, it must clearly define the teacher profile for basic education (teaching one or two subjects) and the new initial training that is offered to them. Finally, it will be necessary to clarify the use of languages and the accompanying measures to work towards a uniformity in the use of teaching languages (in public and private schools).

To prepare and guide governments in such language reforms, their partners got involved in research as well as in the implementation of the projects. Mr. Pierre Dumont specifies that, as part of the continuity of the LASCOLAF programme (les Langues de scolarisation dans l’enseignement fondamental en Afrique subsaharienne francophone - the teaching languages in basic education in French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa), the ELAN programme notably works on pedagogical practices, methodological tools, curricu-la, training programmes and teacher evaluations. On the other hand, the IFADEM programme (Initiative francophone pour la formation à distance des maîtres - French-speaking initiative for distance teacher training) aims to improve teacher skills, in the pedagogy and didactics of language and non-language disciplines. Finally, Ms. Manuela Ferreira Pinto sets out the accompanying methods for teachers to teach in French as provided by the CIEP, depending on the alternating approach to languages in the classroom. Among others, approaches founded on the principles of French as a forei-gn language were developed, the pedagogy called EMILE (enseignement d’une matière par l’intégration d’une langue étrangère - teaching a subject

by integrating a foreign language) or the distance training system called PRO FLE to support the continuing training of French teachers, using a pragmatic approach that prio-ritises work in the classroom.

Success in language policies for education will inevitably happen through the pedagogical and language training of teachers in national languages as well as in French (or any other international teaching language) to meet the "need for quality, [to] strengthen the performance of stu-dents but also [to] contribute to worldwide language and cultural diversity and a better understanding among eve-ryone" (Ms. Manuela Ferreira Pinto) n

"Once upon a time there was a foreign

language school"

Mr. Kadir Abdelkader Galy

Adam

High-quality interventions have nurtured debates and exchanges between participants.

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How can finances be optimised for academic successin a multilingual context?

Moderator: Mr. Roger PILHION, Deputy Director of CIEP

n Mr. Luis RIERA FIGUERAS, Director, Human and Society Development, European Commission

n Ms. Aglaia ZAFEIRAKOU, Senior Education and Human Development Specialist, PME

n  Mr. Adama OUEDRAOGO, Senior Education Specialist, World Bank

n  M. Christian BARRIER, Director of Human Development, AFD

n Mme Mary-Luce FIAUX NIADA, Regional Advisor of the DDC

For more than 10 years, international funding partners in the education sector have combined their efforts into a single purpose: to guide countries in achieving universal primary education in 2015. Unfor-tunately, achieving this objective is often prioritised over quality. This is the-refore the main post-2015 objective to be achieved. Considering the number of successful experiences, the introduction of national languages in primary education appears to have a positive effect on the quality of learning. There are a number of funding partners who are already financially committed to establishing pilot projects in this field and who wish to continue beyond the testing phase. Mr. Adama Ouedraogo says that "countries wishing to establi-sh a multilingual policy must reflect, with their partners, on a global strategy that is time-limited and financially sustainable. Going for a global approach is recommended, as opposed to tests or pilot projects with no follow-up. Funding partners such as the World Bank are ready to invest where there is co-construction and agreement on a policy, to guide countries in their re-form". As part of the complementarity of assistance, funding partners strive to finance actions by heeding everyone's contributions and by using the management capability of ministries. This is why their approaches may vary.

The Partenariat mondial pour l’éducation (PME) (Global Partnership for Education) finances large projects in different countries, which comprise elements linked to learning improvement through national or official lan-guages. Ms. Aglaia Zafeirakou states that beyond project financing, the PME promotes and coordinates joint actions carried out with its partners (USAID, DFID, AFD, etc.). Together, they organise meetings between African coun-tries that share this goal to use vernacular languages to improve student learning. The PME also finances research in the field of teaching in ver-nacular languages. As such, 33 million dollars were allocated to different projects, such as ELAN, to provide and share knowledge on the issue of education quality improvement. The PME also supports the USAID initiative to develop a network to exchange experiences and capitalise on efficient actions to improve the quality of education and use of national languages.

The European Union currently finances language policy programmes in Sub-Saharan Africa and guides operators who reflect on these issues, such as the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA). Mr. Luis Riera Figueras explains that in the 2014 - 2020 period, 4.5 billion Euros will be invested in education and vocational training initiatives or projects that link school and the employability of young people and in which the issue of languages is taken into account.

Technical and financial partners have been able to explain the position of their institutions on financing education in a multilingual context.

15

Round table - 28 March 2014

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (DDC) approach is to promote local initiatives so that they can influence policies and be inte-grated into national budgets. Ms. Mary-Luce Fiaux Niada explains that the DDC supports the reforms in bilingualism in the education systems of diffe-rent African countries, especially the formal system, through the ministries and decentralised bodies. On a regional level, support particularly favours teacher-training colleges and regional education directorates to ensure the integration of bilingualism in training strategies and to improve pedagogi-cal follow-up. The DDC also provides considerable support to commu-nity organisations that have designed an informal education provision that always uses national languages; some of their experiences have inspired curriculum reforms in formal education in several West African countries.

The Agence Française de Développement (AFD) (French Development Agency) guides education policies and takes the issue of languages on board, hence the agency's support of the ELAN initiative. The AFD is pri-marily interested in skills acquisition and socio-economic integration. Mr. Christian Barrier explains that the issue of multilingualism does not stop at mastering local languages and their use in early primary teaching. In French-speaking countries, it also involves mastering French both at tea-ching level and at student level, as the primary objective is to improve the quality of education. This issue is also found in companies demanding fast and pragmatic solutions for employing qualified staff who can understand the directives in French, the working language. The result is the same in the areas related to vocational training and the integration of young people on the labour market in general.

The World Bank, for its part, can offer financing for the development of bi-lingualism, but only if the education sector is a key priority in a country's na-tional strategy for development and if the development of bilingualism fits into a holistic approach to improve the entire education system. The World Bank's investments in education are also driven by its strategic framework (entitled "Learning for All: Investing in People’s Knowledge and Skills to Pro-mote Development") based on three principles: invest early, invest smartly and invest for everyone.

The introduction of national languages into education systems is an initia-tive that funding partners are ready to support. Ms. Aglaia Zafeirakou em-phasises that financing is available to support countries in the development of their education system, on the condition that these resources enable the various actors to work together to implement activities that work, and to obtain concrete results for improving the quality of learning n

The introduction of national languages

into education systems must fit with

a sector-specific approach.

Mr. Christian Barrier, Mr. Adama Ouedraogo, Ms. Aglaia Zaferakou, Mr. Roger Pilhion, Ms. Mary-Luce Fiaux Niada and Mr. Luis Riera

16

Conclusion of discussionsn Mr. François PERRET, Director of CIEP

The introduction of African languages into education systems reflects a political desire and is necessary to improve the quality of education and to guarantee social cohesion. This was the conclusion established by the 130 participants from 24 African countries and numerous French and in-ternational cooperation institutions who attended the two-day conference.

Different examples of language policies implemented in African countries have shown that this desire is not new and has already been applied to a nu-mber of pilot projects that have produced very good results. However, these projects remain in the testing phase; they still have not been broadened to a national level. This two-day conference has enabled exchange, particularly on the success factors of language and educational policies conducted at a national level. Mr. François Perret specified that the creation of a favou-rable literate environment, the need of language and pedagogical training for teachers, the adaptation of curricula and of the content of teaching and training, as well as the methods of evaluating students, are the factors to take on board to guarantee successful language policies and to improve the overall system.

The effects of universal primary education are now visible. The proportion of access to education has increased considerably and today, in both prima-ry and post-primary education, major questions are posed on socio-pro-fessional quality and integration. Assessments of students who began their education in a language other than their native one did not in fact yield convincing results. By contrast, those conducted on students in bilingual classes showed that beginning education in a national language is rather more successful.

In light of these results, it lies with governments to create a nationwide strategy to introduce national lan-guages into their education system. External financing may be provi-ded to implement such a policy. In fact, international partners who have already pledged their support to initiatives in the field of bilingual teaching are ready to re-affirm their support should it be a priority for the country and should it fit into a global development strategy. The success of such a reform depends on a large number of factors and must be in-tegrated into an even larger political and social system that is not limited to the field of education.

Mr. François Perret makes it clear that we must not limit the issue of lan-guages to the field of education but must consider them as way of deve-loping, not only as a factor of impro-vement in education but also in so-cial integration and cohesion n

Toward a development of

language policies in education

systems.

Closing address,Mr. François Perret.

Overview of theinternational conferenceAcademic success in Africa: the challenge of languages CIEP, 27-28 March 2014

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This international conference was organised in partnership with:■ Agence française de développement (AFD) (French Development Agency)

■ Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) (Agency of Francophonie Universities)

■ Association pour le développement de l’éducation en Afrique (ADEA) (Association for the Development of Education in Africa)

■ Conférence des ministres de l’Éducation des États et gouvernements de la Francophonie (CONFEMEN) (Conference of Ministers of Education of French-speaking countries)

■ Direction du développement et de la coopération de la Confédération suisse (DDC) (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation)

■ French Ministry of Foreign A�airs

■ Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) (International Organisation of La Francophonie)

■ Partenariat mondial pour l’éducation (PME) (Global Partnership for Education)

With the participation of: ■ World Bank

■ European Commission

■ UNESCO

www.ciep.fr

DEDICATED TOTHE DEVELOPMENT OF

THE FRENCH LANGUAGE ANDEDUCATION WORLDWIDE