Africa: Education on the Brink

By William Minter | 29 April 2009

“Investments in education and training were signaled in the G20 Communique as a priority to stimulate the economy - and as a key strategy to get out of the global recession. However, these warm words about education were focused on the G20 countries themselves — and most of the children out of school around the world are in low income countries (LICs).” - Global Campaign for Education

With the International Monetary Fund gaining new prominence and new resources following last month G20 summit in London, debate is intensifying on to what extent promises for reform in the institution are illusory. In a report released last week, the Global Campaign for Education looked at the implications for education, concluding that so far policy changes by the Fund in response to the global recession are more cosmetic than substantive.

This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains a press release and excerpts from the full report, which provides a detailed analysis of the impact of IMF policy mandates on the education sector in developing countries.

For the full report and more about the Global Campaign for Education (GCE). visit http://www.campaignforeducation.org. The site also includes additional reports, including recent reports on West Africa and GCE evaluation of the latest multilateral “Education for All” meeting.

For a more general analysis of the role of the IMF in the current crisis, see the latest (April 24) bulletin of the South Centre, available in PDF format at http://www.southcentre.org. It includes an article by Centre director Martin Khor, “The G20’s Mistake: Boosting the IMF without Reforming It.”