Establishing the nexus between education and development is fundamental to appreciating the core purpose of this book. In attempting to establish this nexus, the book examines the concept of the right to education and its impact on development. It would resolve if the later is dependent on the former and the situation in Africa as regards both concepts. Considering that Africa is generally accepted to be the least developed in the equation of continental statistics, the need to examine the factors that influence the poor state of development is fundamental vis-a-vis the role that education plays. For the purposes of this, low access to basic education is identified as playing a major role in this seeming underdevelopment. This situation is all the more disturbing as the government continues with political rhetoric: mainly insincere and pretentious commitment s to curbing poor access to basic education and developmental issues in Africa. In the human rights discourse today, the role of education is important as it forms the basis on which other rights are built. The government is required by national legislation and international law to protect, promote and fulfil human rights. African governments are under an obligation to ensure the elimination of all challenges capable of depriving the African child access to basic education .
In analysing the state of education in African countries, the lived realities present a situation in dire need of urgent revival. For instance in Nigeria, the level of illiteracy has reached an alarming rate and has consequently jostled all spheres of the national existence.1 The situation in Ghana , Zambia and South Africa all present the same challenges ranging from issues of access to education to poor quality of the accessed education. In Nigeria, with a population of about 180 million,2 an estimate of about 10 million children are out of school and almost the same number are forced to drop out of school because of an inability to sustain the requirements of the basic education system , most often occasioned by poverty , cultural and religious affiliations of parents.3 Issues of access, acceptability and quality today confront the education industry in Africa, providing a basis for poor development of the continent.
Some scholars have blamed the advent of the European colonialists on the African continent as a major contributor to the underdevelopment of Africa.4 Scholars like Mandela and Fafunwa opine that education has a central basis in ensuring and driving development thus aligning with the theory of both Mandela and Fafunwa the book advances the need to drive development in Africa by relying on the place of an enhanced access to quality education . The poor access and poor completion of basic education remain a major challenge . For instance in Nigeria statistics show that, at present, access to basic education in Nigeria is poor, especially in the northern part of the country, with quality below an acceptable threshold in the nation as a whole.5 Apart from the challenge of access, quality is another huge challenge in the realisation of basic education . The African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) to Nigeria noted that, despite the legislative provisions and policies in place in Nigeria, the quality of education is substandard, with many schools ill-equipped and lacking qualified teachers.6 The APRM, in addition, noted the impact of corruption and poverty as challenges hampering access to quality education in Nigeria.7 This example from Nigeria clearly finds expression in other situations across the African continent. With the menace of corruption leading to a lack of access to and, consequently, the non-availability of basic education , the problem deepens. Cultural and religious undertones, coupled with the non-adaptability of the curriculum content of basic education in Nigeria , further leads to the rejection of education.8
In understanding the nexus between education and development, it is equally important to take into cognisance the role institutions would generally play in ensuring a sustainable synergy. Smith9 and Heyns10 adumbrate the role of institutions in realising rights be it development or education vis-Ă -vis their relationship with the state. In this regard, Heyns projects the possibility of a struggle approach, which may arouse people towards realising their fundamental rights when the institutions fail to do their work. Laure-Helene,11 while providing a rights-based insight into social protection, discusses the mandate of the state to ensure the promotion, protection and fulfilment of rights. McLean and Mbazira12 explore the issues of litigating socio-economic rights, Olowu13 deals with the issues of justiciability of socio-economic rights and human development in Africa. Woolman and Fleisch14 provide insight into law and education. Veriava and Coomans in their treatise, âthe right to educationâ, identify core issue that is important to the focus of this book.
I argue that âdenial of the right to education is a denial of the full enjoyment of other rights that enable an individual to develop to his or her full potential and participate meaningfully in the societyâ .15 They advance that denial of access to education is a tool that can be employed to ensure the continued discrimination of a people and ultimately their underdevelopment. This is argued to influence the South African situation showing how education was used by apartheid to ensure that the black South African remained at the lower end of the ladder.
The right to a basic education is described as been a priority right above other socio-economic rights. It is an âunqualified right that necessitates a determination of the scope and content of basic educationâ .16 This approach requires the state to ensure that comprehensive measures must be adopted, well-articulated and co-ordinated towards realising the right to basic education.17
The work of McConnachie and McConnachie18 also support the views adopted in this book that the right to basic education is an unqualified right. They, however, advance reasons on which the right to education may be reasonably limited19 while also identifying the increasing impact of litigation in the quest to enhance the realisation of the right to basic education .20 McConnachie and McConnachie work provides a valuable guide as it examines the interpretation of the right to basic education in both India and South Africa amidst the challenge of resources while yet demanding and imposing âextensive range of obligation on the state to provide an educationâ.21 They explore the role of the courts by finding22:
The unqualified right will require courts to give content to the right to a basic education and to assess the impact of poor school facilities on learners and teachers to determine whether the right has been limited.
Thus for development to be achieved via education, the approach of the state must be âeffective , indicative and hold the real prospect of providing relief to the individuals whose rights have been violated, even if the relief cannot be immediateâ.23
Another aspect touched by the book is on the role the judiciary can play in this regard. The challenge facing the judiciary and the anticipatory role that t...