Comparative study on thelocal meanings of educating
all and the process of adopting
EFA development goals inKenya, Tanzania, and Ethiopia
Shoko Yamada
GRIPS Development Forum

Background
Disconnection of global and local
 More standardized, streamlined development goals vs.
diversity of situation on the ground The efforts to “educate all” have longer histories than EFA
goals in many countries
Increasing external influences Development goals come with funding and different way of
doing things
Then, how do the policy-makers of each country think of EFA
goals and what is happening in the process of adopting
these goals into national policies and practices?

1Research Questions
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How do the actors involved in policy-making
interpret the concepts of “Education for All”?
What were their motivations to adopt EFA goals?
What are the perceived changes (positive andnegative) caused by the introduction of EFA
development goals?
How are the EFA goals linked to the recent aid
modalities?
To what extent is discourse shaped bycontemporary global forces vs. historicaldevelopment of education in each country?

Research Methodology
Constructivist approach of discourse analysis
 In-depth interviews with key government officials,

academics, staff of NGOs and donors
 Documentary analysis→To code key concepts, to find the relations between
concepts and to map them Independent analysis by respective country teams
 Synthesis of country cases→To find commonalities across and specificities
within cases

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Research contexts
 Tense political situation
 Reform within the ministries and staff change Distrust among stakeholders (MOE vs. university; MOE vs. NGO)
 General tendency of NGOs willing to share their view - difficulty toapproach government officials and some donor staff
 Personal factors (earlier relationships between the researchers andinterviewees)→Political nature of EFA development goals in the nationalcontexts→Diversity of perspectives according to the positions ofinterviewees

International goals in the field ofeducation“Education for All”

1. Expansion of Early
Childhood Care
2. Universal free compulsory
primary education by 2015
3. Expanded access to adulteducation
4. 50% improvement of adultliteracy rate by 2015
5. Eliminating genderdisparities by 2005
6. Improvement of quality ofeducation

MillenniumDevelopment
Goals (MDGs) on
education
1. Universal primaryeducation
2. Gender equity

3General Findings - preliminary Inclusiveness (wider concept of educating ALL) vs.

enrolment (EFA goals)
 Quality of education is eroding while enrolment
increases The concept is not new but measurement withsuccess indicators and funding mechanisms arenew Conflicting views about partnership/participation –whose views are to be reflected into the policies?

General Findings – preliminary (2) Relatively small number of Ministry officials areinvolved in tasks related to EFA, and the majority ofoperation are consistent before and after EFA.
 Need to think of the holistic development ofeducation system, instead of concentrating on a few
areas“We need to be involved in the designing of policies
more proactively and decide what is possible …
without [external] support, with our limited
resources…”

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