Introduction:
This unit further explores the provision between 1974 and 1986.
By the end of this unit, you should be able to: Explain the development of education up to 1974 Discuss the evolution of policies
Analyse the concepts of each of the major policies Illustrate the recommendations of the policies.
7.1.1 BACKGROUND:
There was what was called the educational reform movement of the 1970, world wide. These were large scale innovations and reforms which aimed at reorganizing existing educational structures and to modernize teaching content and methods. The reform movement is believed to have been precipitated by external events. For instance in the United Kingdom new society had been introduced by the second world war (1939-1945), In USA, there was a shock in the 19505 at Russian ability to launch a spacecraft and in Africa and in Asia there was felt impact at the end of colonialism.
Apart from the above the general causes, there were specific factors to the 19705 Education Reform Movement in newly independent countries.
Among these factors were:
(i) In the 1960s stress was put on expansion of the education system and quantity.
(ii) National desires to come up with their own new and different programs and institution.
(iii) The need for economic self sufficiency: perceived to be tenable thrush massive changes in school curriculum and out of school education/training network.
(iv) The need to give expression in schools to new national ideologies.
(v) Not citified with out comes of the 19605 development decade – (disillusions)- hence the need for something better.
(vi) Misgiving about education system, which was perceived to be: highly selective, promoting individualism and elitism, credentialism, paper qualifications appearing more important than knowledge/skills, too academic and irrelevant to the needs of many promoting inequalities and alienation and undermining self-reliance.
7.1.2 PATTERN OF REFORMS
The general pattern of the reform movements was: Pressure from citizens for massive change-decision by government to change (reforms) - rapid planning – large scale execution.
7.1.3 RESULTS OR OUTCOMES
These include; high public expectations plus overloaded of education bureaucracy, both leading to (b) delays, unexpected outcomes, public disillusion, resistance; all these resulting in (c) reforms being reduced in scale or reforms being swallowed up by traditional structures, methods etc.
7.1.4 GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE REFORMS They were ambitions in terms of time, energy, material resources Invested. Seldom with pilot phase, many initiations such as mob planners, teachers, parents etc did not take part in implementation phases, frequent failures, maintenance of status quo, external advisors from aid agencies were rarely used and there was financial, human and infrastructure demand.
7.1.5 WHY REFORMS FAILED?
In spite of few successes here and there, on the whole the education reforms are considered to have failed due to various reasons:
(a) Inadequate public, professional consensus and participation – especially exclusion of teachers.
(b) Too ambitions. Requirement for their implementation (reforms), exceeded financial, material, human resources available at that time – (Demand out stripped supply). Did not pay much attention to economic, demographic and logistic factors.
(c) Ministry of Education has no capacity to implement reforms- it became overstretched all round.
(d) Wrong strategies were used for instance; management strategies suitable for daily routine tasks in stable environments (situations) were the ones applied to these educational reforms and innovations!
(e) Implementations relied too much on political slogans, personal commitment and voluntary service for a few people.
(f) Unfavourable or unstable political or economic environment. (g) Resistance/opposition by elite groups.
(h) Concentration on individual elements of the reform instead of on the total package.
(i) Planning took centre stage at the expense of implementation and evolution. This led to piece-meal executions that stressed quantity instead of quality. (j) Ignored important aspects such as: population growth, health and girls
education.
7.1.6MAJOR TRENDS/PATTERNS IN EDUCATIONAL REFORMS General development in education depicts a consistent pattern. All of it ie development sprung from ideas, criticisms and protest movement or groups. In short, the pattern can be grouped into four major trends: Educational Reforms, Structural Trends Formations, radical criticism and dissent.
Educational Reforms: This refers to reforming and reorganizing existing educational policies, structures and modernizing teaching content, materials, equipment and
methods. The purpose here is to bring about felt positive changes on the socio- economic level in the country.
7.1.7 STRUCTURAL TRANSFORMATION
These are aligned to revolution, political ideology and large scale movements that advocate for social and political upheavals. The key stakeholders in this pattern of changing education provision are the students themselves through unions and youth movements. For instance Cuba and China are well known for this trend. The aim is to have an integration of education and work and blending in of society in educational reforms. This is like militant approach to changes of educational structures and systems.
RADICAL CRITICISM: This view or approach belongs to proponents such as; IVAN ILLICH. This movement believes in the philosophy of de- institutionalizing education and de-schooling society. Their argument is that education constitutes an independent variable in each society and a direct faster in social contradiction. Management of education system make it unable of education systems make it unable to meet citizens expectation. Instead the powers that be (political leadership)uses education as an instrument of repressing, alienating and de-humanizing societies.
Ivan Illich wanted schools changed and suppressed and all institutions to be inverted –turned upside down or reversed. This he believed would restore man‟s freedom in the society and enable him resume control of the institution and recover his initiative in education. Illich believed that formed education had colluded (eaten, spoilt) and needed purification. However, these ideas remained strange for they could not be aligned to any theory or school of thought.
DISSENT: The fourth clarification of the reform trend or pattern is what is called the dissent – (strong opposing views, protesting, rejecting stance) against what may have been put in place by authorities or approved systems of governance. These opposition‟s views usually would come from users of educating themselves: students, philosophies, politicians, educationalists and parents.
In the Federal period 1953-1963, there was two tier education system in the then Northern Rhodesia (Zambia). There was European education which was the responsibility of the Federal Government, with its headquarters in Salisbury now Harare in Zimbabwe. There was also African education which was the responsibility of the territorial government in Lusaka. European education was quantitatively and qualitatively superior to African education because it was better funded and more adequately staffed.
In 1964, the Zambian government priorities were to unify the two systems: ensure equality of educational opportunity for all citizens and expand the unified school system at all levels.
To realize the above objectives, there was need to have a legal framework within which to operate. Consequently, in 1966, the Education Act was legislated into law to guide all educational enterprises in the country, from the late 1960s and beyond.