Why Educational Reforms Fail: A Comparative Analysis. Draft 2.

Overview & Synopsis

This paper presents an overview of educational policymaking in several developing countries in Africa by (1) examining the nature of various educational policies in these countries; (2) drawing comparative generalizations from the outcomes of the objectives of these policies; and (3) recommending ways to avoid the failure of educational reforms. Major educational policies in developing African nations have included the following: (1) primary education policies (increased coverage, quality improvement, and combining education with production); (2) secondary education policies (curriculum divsersification, technical and vocational education, and better links to employment); (3) vocational education policies; (4) higher education policies; and (5) other policies (including national unity, political ideology, financing, and regulation). Judging from the past record of educational policymaking in Africa, three main reasons emerge for the failure of many reforms to materialize. These reasons are: lack of implementation of the intended policy; partial implementation (including social rejection or the neglect of prerequisite factors); and implementation of unrealistic policies. To avoid past pitfalls, future policy statements should be concrete and feasible in terms of objectives, and the substance of a policy should be based on research-proved cause-effect relationships, rather than on goodwill intuition. Two tables are included, and two pages of references are appended. (IW)