The Working Group on Education Sector Analysis (WGESA) was established in 1989 under the aegis of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA). Its objectives are to improve the quality, use and accessibility of education sector studies as means to design improved national education policies and co-operation programmes.

The Group has a Steering Committee with representation from African ministries of education, the African research community, international funding and technical assistance agencies, and international and non-governmental organisations. It has approximately 140 members representing the same constituencies.

WGESA Activities

During 1989-95, the Working Group undertook a number of inventory and analytic overviews of education sector studies. The most recent one, entitled Analyses, Agendas and Priorities for Education in Africa. A Review of Externally Initiated, Commissioned and Supported Studies in Education in Africa, 1990-1994, was published by UNESCO in 1996. In this study, approximately 240 education sector studies in Africa are reviewed for their similarities and differences in, for example, approaches, methodologies, content, focus of analysis and relevance. Some of the conclusions from this work lie behind the present activities of the Working Group which aim at 'Africanisation' of education sector analysis. The lessons included that education sector studies have been commissioned by international funding and technical assistance agencies rather than national governments; that education sector analysis has been undertaken by external experts rather than nationals; and that the studies have and fulfilled an international rather than a national agenda.

The present activities focus on a number of country-based initiatives which aim at bringing the general analysis in the above mentioned inventory and analytic overview to the specific national context in Africa. The Working Group is presently facilitating national reviews of education sector analysis in the following countries: The pilot study was completed in Zimbabwe in August 1997 and the final report was published by the Working Group in early 1999. Three reviews are ongoing in Burkina Faso, Ghana and Lesotho, and are expected to be completed during 1999-2000. The reviews are undertaken by national, self-constituted teams facilitated by Working Group resource persons.

Furthermore, the Working Group provides technical assistance to governments and international funding and technical assistance agencies which aim at developing innovative approaches in education sector analysis and policy formulation. The Working Group is presently providing assistance to a national review of education sector analysis in Mozambique which is being undertaken by a national team of researchers as a support mechanism for the implementation of the Education Sector Strategic Plan. The Working Group also provides assistance to the SADC (Southern African Development Community) Initiative in Educational Policy, Planning and Management. It has provided assistance to the European Union Pilot Study on the Co-ordination of Analytical Work on the Education Sector in Ethiopia. The Working Group published the study entitled Studies of Education in Ethiopia 1994-1997 in 1999.