Social innovation
International development, Comparative education, Africa

Educational development and international cooperation in sub-Saharan Africa:
Educational universalization and inequalities in the era of SDGs
Graduate School of Human Sciences
Professor Nobuhide Sawamura
https://researchmap.jp/read0058549?lang=en

Abstract
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are goals to beachieved globally by 2030, and with regard to education, the SDGs
call for providing inclusive, equitable, and quality education for all.
While quantitative expansion of education is progressing in Africancountries, qualitative disparities are widening within and amongcountries. The purpose of this study is to explore the issues ofeducation and inequalities under the global movement toward universalization of education in the diverse societies of Africa. Whilefocusing on field research to grasp the reality of individuals in difficult circumstances (Figure 1), we are also attempting to redefine
disparities and inequalities from multiple perspectives.

continue our research by including areas with different cultures andcontinuing long-term exchanges with local people so that we canprovide feedback to contribute to Japanese society in the future.

Social innovation▍ Background & Results
The number of out-of-school children in the world has decreased
significantly since 2000, but in recent years the trend has reversed:
the number of those children has been increasing substantially.
This is particularly relevant in sub-Saharan Africa, where the population growth rate is high. In addition, measures taken by education
providers, such as increasing the number of schools, have been
initially effective. However, later on, the complicated interplay offactors on the demand side, such as problems within the children’s
families and society in general, appears to slow down enrollment
increase. It is not clear what constitutes “quality education,” even if
it is one of the SDGs. Particularly in African countries, priority has
been placed on quantitative expansion, which is easily visible, andqualitative improvements are unlikely to occur. As universalization
progresses, if qualitative aspects are taken into account, the disparity may still widen, while being shrouded.
Case studies of several African countries examined how disparities and inequalities are occurring and what corrective measures
are being attempted. Many of the problems of educational disparities and inequalities are largely the result of the colonial period
and subsequent international assistance. The colonial influence issignificant in terms of official language and language of instruction,
but it has also infiltrated the entire educational system. This could
be further reinforced by international aid and exchange along with
the idea that Western-style or globally standardized education isright and is the correct way to go.

Figure 1: Conducting research in a private school
established by residents in a slum area, Kenya▍ Significance of the research and Future perspective
This study is unique in that it attempts to depict the reality of
disparities and inequalities under the universalization of educationby sharing people’s sense of life (Figure 2). It makes full use ofdata obtained in the field to understand such realities surrounding
education and the efforts made to reduce these disparities and inequalities. Rather than uncritically accepting the SDGs, it attempts
to decipher the phenomena occurring in the local context, in eachcountry and region, to help achieve these goals. We would like toFigure 2: Interviewing parents of primary school children in Cote d’Ivoire

P a t e n t
Sawamura, Nobuhide; Ogawa, Miku; Sakaue, Katsuki (Eds.), Educational universalization and inequalities in the era of SDGs: country case studies andinternational comparisons, Akashi Shoten 2023 (in Japanese)
Sawamura, Nobuhide, Little known facets of African education: Low-fee private schools supporting formal education in Kenya, Manufacturing &technology 2020, 72 (4), 90-93 (in Japanese)
Ogawa, Miku; Sakaue, Katsuki; Sawamura, Nobuhide, Inequality in the universalization of education in the SDGs era: A new direction for educational
Tr e a t i s edevelopment studies, Journal of International Development Studies 2020, 29(2), 5-20. doi: 10.32204/jids.29.2_5 (in Japanese)
Sawamura, Nobuhide, Universal primary education in Africa: Facets and meanings, in Jamaine Abidogun & Toyin Falola (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook ofAfrican education and indigenous knowledge, Palgrave Macmillan, 2020, 637-655
Sawamura, Nobuhide (Ed.), Education of children facing difficult circumstances in developing countries: Insights from field studies on refugees,disabilities and poverty, Akashi Shoten, 2019 (in Japanese)UR
L https://ic.hus.osaka-u.ac.jp/eng/
K e y w o r d development assistance, international cooperation, education, developing countries, Africa