Pergamon hr. 1. Educarionoi Developmenr. Vol. 14. No. 3, pp. 223-232, 1994

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THE CHANGING ROLES OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN THE FIELD OF EDUCATION (IN THE CONTEXT

OF CHANGING RELATIONSHIPS WITH THE STATE)

DAVID ARCHER

ACTIONAID, Hamlyn House, Macdonald Road, Archway, London N19 5PG, U.K.

Abstract - Historically NGOs have played a significant role in promoting Non-Formal Education. However, in the context of Structural Adjustment Programmes NGOs are now under increasing pressure to fill in the gaps left by declining State provision in the formal education sector. In doing so, NGOs can become, often unwittingly, agents of privatisation. This paper draws on studies from four countries (El Salvador, Bangladesh, India and Uganda) to chart and review the changing roles of NGOs in the education sector (and in their relationships with Ministries of Education) and tries to identify both positive and problematic practices. The paper concludes that service delivery in the education sector is inherently problematic for NGOs and stresses the importance of NGOs as innovators who must document their work more rigorously than in the past in order to feed into policy debates and influence major players.

INTRODUCTION

Despite the rhetoric of Jomtien, governments committed to implementing Structural Ad- justment Policies are more likely to be re- ducing than increasing education expenditure. In line with many other SAP measures, talk of ‘privatisating’ education is becoming more com- mon. Meanwhile, NGOs (Non-Governmental Organizations) are blossoming in many parts of the world and eulogies to their effectiveness are common, even from such unlikely quarters as the World Bank. (When generalised, such eulogies are of course dangerous, for although some NGOs are effective, many are not.) These developments are placing an increasing pressure on NGOs to reconsider their roles in the education sector.

In the 1960s and 197Os, NGOs tended to focus on developing education initiatives indepen- dently of the State - identifying alternative approaches, supporting experimental schools or promoting non-formal education. This was particularly noteable in Latin America, where the Popular Education movement, based on

This paper is based on field work in El Salvador, India, Bangladesh and Uganda, 1992/1993.

conscientisation and the mobilisation of grass- roots organisations, tended to locate NGOs firmly in opposition to government.

With the foreign debt crisis and recession of the 1980s NGOs were forced more onto the defensive in the field of education. As education provision, particularly in rural areas, declined, many NGOs had to struggle locally and regionally, to put pressure on Ministries of Education to continue delivering (or improve) basic education provision. In the 1990s with Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPS), NGOs often find they are fighting a losing battle. Non-formal and alternative approaches to education become luxuries if the basic edu- cation system is collapsing. The question then arises: in such circumstances, what role should the NGOs adopt? Should NGOs become in- volved in service delivery of basic education? If so, then are NGOs becoming effective agents to the privatisation of education (which are policies which most NGOs oppose)?

In this paper I look at studies from four countries (El Salvador, Bangladesh, India and Uganda) to chart the changing roles of NGOs in the education sector (and in their relationships with Ministries of Education) and try to identify both positive and problematic practices.

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224 DAVID ARCHER

EL SALVADOR

During the 1980s the civil war in El Salvador polarised the country and led to hundreds of thousands of people being displaced. Many of these became refugees in neighbouring Honduras where the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) organised them into refugee camps. One such camp was at Colomoncagua. About 90% of the refugees were illiterate, but, with the help of a number of NGOs, a literacy programme and basic education system was established, with a curriculum adapted to the lives of the learners. Most of the refugees were peasant farmers but in the camp they had no land so NGOs also developed a range of practical workshops and gave skills training in anything from cobbling to motor mechanics, pottery to carpentry. The camp was highly organised and productive, and as one person put it ‘education is the motor of the camp’.

Ten years later, in 1990, although the civil war continued the refugees decided to collec- tively return to El Salvador. They repatriated to the North of Morazan, on the border between a government-controlled area and a guerrilla- controlled area, calling their new community Segundo Montes. Many NGOs followed them and ensured that the basic education system established in the camp would continue, by paying the (untrained) teachers a basic allow- ance and providing materials.

In December 1991, a peace agreement was finally signed between the government and the guerrillas. The guerillas have now demobilised and regions such as the North of Morazan have opened up. What will happen now to the education system in communities like Segundo Montes?

International NGOs cannot afford to finance basic education in Segundo Montes indefinitely (as most have a time-limited presence in the region). Ideally the government would assume responsibility, but there are problems with this. The teachers are not professionals but the community does not wish to have teachers from outside. This could be resolved by some accelerated professional training course so that the untrained teachers (who are very experi- enced) can gain official recognition. NGOs are indeed pushing for this - the Ministry of Edu- cation is stalling, knowing that if the teachers become qualified there would be pressure on the Ministry to pay the salaries.

At the moment the Salvadorean government is pursuing a Structural Adjustment Programme which has severely curtailed its budget for education. In such circumstances, even if the will was there (which it may well not be) the Ministry of Education is reluctant to extend its limited resources to covering areas of the country such as Morazan where they have had no presence for ten years. Particularly, they are not going to invest in areas where they see NGOs already covering the costs of basic education.

NGOs are thus caught in a service delivery mode which they cannot sustain. When one NGO pulls out of education provision, some juggling may take place and another may assume some responsibility. But the NGOs are not committed to an indefinite presence. It seems that the only way NGOs could get the government to assume any responsibility would be to pull out and let the education system collapse; but, even then there would be no guarantee of a government response. Multi-lateral funding linked to Salvadorean Reconstruction may offer some short term solution but will not solve the longer term situation. NGOs are now struggling to find ways of reducing the running costs of the education system in Segundo Montes in the hope that this may be a step towards finding a solution.

This short study, then, illustrates some of the difficulties faced by NGOs when they become caught up in service delivery of education: difficulties which are sharpened at a time when SAPS are being implemented.

BANGLADESH

In Bangladesh, the Ministry of Education now laments the nationalisation of education back in 1972, saying that it led to a ‘loss of community involvement, support and control’. Moreover:

[Nationalisation] enhanced the status and benefits of the primary school teacher but their conversion into government officials led to the development of a bureaucratic system that, by its very nature. excluded community participation and led to a deterioration in the quality of delivery.

(Education For All: National Plan of Action; Ministry of Education 1993)

Underlying such laments is a desire to reduce the government’s costs of education delivery

THE CHANGING ROLES OF NGOs 225

per child in order to be able to extend education provision to attain Education for All (EFA) by the year 2000. One way of doing so is to increase the responsibility of parents and communities for education. Certainly change is needed. Only 45% of children enrolled in grade 1 manage to complete the five grades of primary school, and on average it takes a child nine years to do so. To reach EFA by the year 2000, the number of teachers in Bangladesh needs to almost double and about 10,000 new classrooms would need to be built each year. These targets are effectively unattainable.

Meanwhile, NGOs in the education sector in Bangladesh are thriving. Most well known of course is the Bangladesh Rural Advance- ment Committee (BRAC). Whereas, in the past, BRAC implemented a wide range of NFE programmes covering anyone from young children to adults, they have, in the last two years, specialised. They now run Non-Formal Primary Education (NFPE) courses only for school drop-outs in two age groups: g-10 year olds and 11-14 year olds. Over 70% of learners are girls and all come from poor families (criteria include having illiterate parents who own less than 0.5 hectares of land). BRAC presently run 14,000 NFPE centres and plan to expand rapidly in the coming years - to 32,000 centres in 1994 and up to 50,000 by 1995. Much of the expansion will take place with World Bank funding.

BRAC NFPE centres have an impressive record - with just a 2% drop out rate in their two-year courses and 90% of students going on to formal primary schools (usually entering at grade 4). The success rate compared with primary schools is perhaps less surprising when one considers that the average NFPE class size is 33 whereas in government primary schools a class size of 62 (at least in grade 1) is the norm (and ratios are deteriorating). BRAC now plans to extend the NFPE course to 3 years so they can complete the primary school cycle and students can then directly enter secondary school. Whether the success rates to date can be maintained with the rapid expansion planned, especially as they are now entering areas of the country where they have not previously worked, must be questioned.

BRAC regards itself as running centres that are supplementary rather than parallel to the school system. However, the level of coordi- nation with the government system is perhaps

less than ideal. There is coordination to some extent at a national level, but at a local level, dialogue between BRAC NFPE centres and primary schools is very rare - and even on a regional level the ATEOs (Assistant Thana Education Officers) do not usually liaise with BRAC (and vice versa).

Given BRAC’s large-scale expansion plan and the Ministry of Education’s impossible task of seeking EFA, joint planning between the Ministry, BRAC and other NGOs at a local, regional and national level would seem essential.

Many other NGOs in Bangladesh run educa- tion programmes for school age children, often calling their provision, ‘Children’s Learning Centres’ (CLCs). In Bhola Island, ACTION- AID has established 115 CLCs in response to demands from local people, articulated through women’s savings and credit groups (shomitis). These CLCs are generally established in poor areas where the local primary school is too far away. They teach using government materi- als but have flexible hours and involve the local community. The ‘shomiti’ has to build a basic structure, identify a teacher (usually unqualified) and contribute towards the teacher’s pay (though it still works out as cheaper than sending a child to primary school). A similar approach (though with many variations) is fol- lowed by many other NGOs in the country.

Most CLCs run by NGOs have almost no contact with the local primary schools or the Ministry of Education. There is no joint plan- ning, no joint training, no sharing of materials, no exchange of experience - and there has been a lack of initiative on both sides to try to improve the situation.

If the Ministry of Education wishes to even approach achieving EFA, coordination with NGOs is going to be essential and must occur at every level. It may be unrealistic to formally register NGO centres as primary schools: it seems that at present official registration can only be attained with a significant dose of bribery. However, coordination and some level of recognition must surely be sought. One pos- sibility would be to acknowledge the CLCs (and indeed BRAC’s NFPEs - though in a different way) as ‘satellite schools’ (or feeder schools). Joint training and the sharing of materials and experiences could be encouraged. CLC courses could be acknowledged (and suitable exams designed) so that entry into primary schools

226 DAVID ARCHER

would be facilitated. Some sort of organic link between CLCs and schools must be developed. The Ministry of Education has plans to pilot a satellite school programme - but it needs more than a pilot if any impact is to be attained-and coordination with NGOs will be essential.

Another Ministry of Education initiative may hold the key to success. It plans to create ‘Village Education Committees’ (VECs) to involve the local communities more actively in primary schools. These VECs could be the ideal structures to coordinate provision on a local level. However, at present, the indication is that BRAC and other NGOs have little confidence in the VEC initiative - and primary school teachers appear un- likely to be very accommodating to NGO involvement. It will take concerted Ministry of Education action if the NGO potential in Bangladesh is to utilised in a planned and effective way. But it will also require NGOs to be more open to cooperation - and to some NGOs, such cooperation is regarded as inherently contradictory - comprising their non-governmental status.

INDIA

One example of the way in which NGOs and governments can liaise effectively (which may be a useful model in Bangladesh) is to be found in the State of Rajasthan, in India: where two Ministry of Education initiatives, ‘shiksha karmi’ and ‘lok jumbish’ are harnessing the potential of effective local NGOs.

The Shiksha Karmi programme is run by the Rajasthan State Ministry of Education, with funding from SIDA (Swedish International Development Authority). It arose out of a recognition that teacher absenteeism was a major obstacle to education in remote areas. Two locally resident people are given intensive training to become ‘Shiksha Karmis’, replacing single professional teachers who don’t turn up or who perform badly. There is a strong focus on recruiting women. Male Shiksha Karmis must have completed 8th grade (end of middle school) and female Shiksha Karmis must have completed 5th grade (end of primary school). Most are 18-30 year olds. They are provided with 30 days initial training (and another 30 days each year) plus 2 days a month (total 54 days a year).

When a school is run by a Shiksha Karmi

it becomes known as a ‘Day Centre’. Two Shiksha Karmis between them also run a ‘Prehar Pathsala’ (Night Centre) for children who cannot attend the day centre.

The government pays stipends to Shiksha Karmis, but in various areas the government delegates the running and supervision of the programme to local NGOs. The Urmul Trust is one such NGO, which runs the Shiksha Karmi programme in 23 schools in Lunkaransar and 1.5 in Baiju. Most of the schools are in remote areas (at least 3 kilometres from a paved road). At the moment, in the pilot areas (359 villages in 30 blocks with 750 Shiksha Karmis teaching a total of 35,795 children), about 15% of schools are run by Shiksha Karmis.

There is a potential conflict between Shiksha Karmi teachers and professional teachers - who may be concerned about the de-profes- sionalising of teaching. However, although some local teachers express resentment, there is, as yet, no organised opposition. The teach- ers unions, though strong, are mostly interested only in pushing for better pay. Moreover, at the moment there is little unemployment amongst professional teachers in the region so, as most are reluctant to work in remote areas, the existence of Shiksha Karmis can even be positive for them - saving them from the threat of difficult postings. However, if the size of the Shiksha Karmi programme expands or if teacher unemployment rises some future conflict may develop.

Also funded by SIDA, Lok Jumbish is described as a ‘people’s movement for Educa- tion for All’. This is another programme being promoted by the Ministry of Education in Rajasthan and closely complements the Shiksha Karmi programme. Lok Jumbish is being pioneered by Anil Bordia (who at one time was Secretary of State for Education and now Chairs this specific programme).

Lok Jumbish has ambitious goals to make education less centralised and dependent on government through the creation of Village Education Committees (VECs) which will lead the overhauling of primary education. This radical decentralisation is backed up by a decentralisation of the government budget. VECs will normally contain about eight people, nominated at a community assembly. Each VEC will be asked to do a local survey of educational needs and then draw up a village plan. The plan may propose anything from

THE CHANGING ROLES OF NGOs 227

changing the school calendar or school hours, to setting up a Non-Formal Education (NFE) centre, from proposing a special school for girls to requesting Shiksha Karmi teachers. These committees will also play a role in promoting education, monitoring attendance and managing the schools or other educational institutions.

Changing teachers attitudes is also a key part of Lok Jumbish. Training programmes will be run for professional teachers by experienced NGOs (provided with government ending) with a particular focus on attitudinal change. Such training will also be the basis for develop- ing local curriculum materials and teaching aids. Local teachers will normally participate in the VECs, so they will be involved at every stage, ensuring that the recommenda- tions are realistic. This involvement should help to ensure that the result is not a parallel or alternative system of education but some- thing supplementary to the existing system. In some ways, through their involvement in such a participatory process, teachers will be empowered, returned to respected position in society, with responsibility at a local level (ra- ther than being small.cogs in a big machine).

As well as VECs there will be Block Level Committees in the 14 pilot Blocks (one of which is Lunkaransar). These block level committees will involve 10-15 people (including govern- ment officials/NGOs/‘peoples representatives’ - but not political representatives) and will play a role of approving the VEC plans. Once approved the plans will be implemented either by the Ministry of Education’s own operational team or by local NGOs. This respect from government for local NGOs is a relatively new phenomenon and could produce some interest- ing results. The government still retains a planning role (only building a partnership with one NGO in any one area) but delegates where possible to agencies which have a knowledge of the local villages. It is interesting to note that the government retains the operational option (so it is not dependent on NGOs) and that the operational team is itself said to be very similar to an NGO.

There are of course problems and limitations to this process. The Ministry is not willing to compromise on the core national curriculum so some things won’t change (though some curriculum reform and development is likely). In some villages, teachers will probably dominate

VECs (and their presence in other villages may silence critics of the existing school). It will be dificult to respond to the specific needs of every village in every case (some generalisations are likely in order to ensure rational use of resources). Moreover, although it may be flexible when it is at a pilot stage, it may be much more difficult to retain such flexibility if it is scaled up in future. Perhaps most importantly, though, the process may well unleash forces which it cannot control. What happens in such an eventuality will be interesting to document.

The Urmul Trust, which is working with the government in the Lok Jumbish and Shiksha Karmi programmes in Lunkaransar was set up in 1984. Initially the Urmul Trust focused on Primary Health Care work, training local people as ‘swasthya saathis’ (front-line health promoters). However, the Urmul Trust has evolved to work in community mobilisation, in- come generation, awareness building, environ- mental issues, education and communication. The Urmul Trust has been involved in non- formal education work for many years. Indeed Urmul’s experimental ‘Maru Shala’ schools use many of the approaches proposed in the Lok Jumbish programme, but take the process a step further.

The Maru Shala schools only operate in areas newly irrigated by the Indira Gandhi canal. The canal has led to significant relocation of the local population who are encouraged to build their homesteads in the newly irrigated land that they have been allocated. Having previous- ly lived in close-knit desert communities, their lives are rapidly transformed. The dispersed communities lack a focal point. Schools are often a considerable distance away. Moreover, as the social structure/extended family is often broken down in these communities, girls are more in demand than ever to help out at home. The result is a very low attendance of girls at school.

The Urmul Trust will only support a Maru Shala where the local community has showed its commitment to education. Local people must build a basic structure, find a local person to provide teaching and run the school for six months before the Urmul Trust will provide assistance. The Trust will then help to provide better accommodation and contribute to paying teachers. Most importantly they will provide intensive and innovative training for

228 DAVID ARCHER

the teachers. Local people continue to be involved in the management of the school through an education council which can also address other local education problems.

Rather than work with strict grades which parallel the formal system, the Maru Shala schools work with informal mixed age and mixed ability groups. There is much less disci- pline than in a traditional school. The teachers are also helped to produce a wide range of locally relevant materials. The ideas and meth- ods of David Horsburgh are a particular source of inspiration. A strong focus is placed on visual learning and games. There is no point of reference or attempt to seek equivalences with the formal system, but in practice the children are learning well and should enter secondary schools with little (educational) difficulty on completion. The Maru Shala is a much more creative and stimulating environment than a normal school and this shows in the children’s self-confidence and overall behaviour.

The Lok Jumbish programme is unlikely to promote quite such radical change as that found in the Maru Shala schools. The re- quirements of agreed curriculum, standards and testing will limit the amount of innovation. This will also, in the long term, mean that Maru Shala schools will probably be unsustainable, because without integration into the formal system long-term financing will be a struggle. Still, if the existing formal schools move even half-way towards a more creative and locally accountable approach (with schools like the Maru Shalas experimenting with innovations, some of which are taken on board) then this would be substantial progress for the children of Rajasthan. l

UGANDA

In Uganda the Mubende Integrated Teacher Education Project (MITEP) is another interest- ing example of NGO/Ministry of Education cooperation. MITEP aims to provide teacher training to licensed but untrained primary school teachers using a distance education approach.

A survey by ACTIONAID in 1991 revealed that 82% of teachers in Mubende district were untrained. This situation had arisen as communities, faced with a lack of provision by the Ministry of Education, have built schools

and employed teachers directly, only seeking Ministry of Education recognition and assis- tance at a later stage. When such Ministry assistance does come, it is not even enough to cover an adequate salary for teachers, so parental contributions remain the basic means of financing schools. Although these schools coufd be seen as positive examples of commu- nity initiative, the lack of training for teachers can result in poor quality education.

Training for such teachers is not easy to ar- range. Most teachers in Mubende were settled with their families and it was unrealistic for them (both financially and personally) to attend a two-year residential course at a teacher train- ing college, which was the only formal training the Ministry of Education provided and ac- knowledged. For this reason, ACTIONAID developed a distance education approach, so that teachers could train whilst still teaching. However, in most cases the teachers would have been unwilling to learn if there was no formal qualification, recognised by the Minis- try, at the end of the course. ACTIONAID therefore entered into negotiations with the Ministry of Education and bought them into the management of the project.

The aim is to train 900 untrained teachers over a three year period, ending with the Grade 3 Teacher’s Certificate. Correspondence courses are supplemented by fortnightly tutorial support in local study centres, school visits twice a term and face to face work in the vacations, A total of 22 modules (compris- ing 154 self-study units) are being produced, covering a range of subjects from Education and Professional studies to Language Edu- cation, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, Art and Craft, Music, Religious Education and Physical Education.

MITEP is administered by a Project Manage- ment Board on which ACTIONAID and the Ministry are represented. ImpIementation is the responsibility of a Project Coordination Unit, while a separate Project Academic Com- mittee monitors the quality of the study pro- gramme and ensures full accreditation. Three teacher training colleges are involved in provid- ing support to the trainees - and in supervising the network of tutors who are based in study centres (which cover a cluster of schools within 30 minutes walking distance).

The close working relationship between ACTIONAID and the Ministry of Education

THE CHANGING ROLES OF NGOs 229

is an important example of cooperation. Rather than working in isolation in small scale projects (and rather than seeking to oppose the State or even complement it), ACTIONAID with MITEP has acted as a catalyst, prompting the Ministry to adopt an innovative approach and at the same time has enabled the Ministry to cooperate in a pilot of the approach. For the Ministry of Education the use of distance education for teacher training addresses a clear need in a cost-effective way. They are now rep- licating and scaling up the project in the whole of the Northern Region, drawing on the experi- ence of MITEP to create ‘NITEP’ (Northern Integrated Teacher Education Project). One concern is that this scaling up is happening before a full evaluation of the MITEP pilot experience, and therefore NITEP may make many of the same mistakes that are inevitable in MITEP but could be avoidable in future by learning well from the pilot.

VISUALLY INTERACTIVE LITERACY: BANGLADESH, EL SALVADOR AND

UGANDA

The final study in this paper is of a cross- cutting project which seeks to break new ground in literacy teaching, building on the (now) traditional Freirean approach but adding ideas and methods developed within ‘Participa- tory Rural Appraisal’ and within the body of ‘Visual Literacy’ work.

One of the greatest weaknesses of the Freirean approach in practice has been the immense difficulty faced by literacy facilitators seeking to generate ‘dialogue’. Time and time again, when it comes to the classroom situation, facilitators sidestep dialogue (or any effective discussion) and fall back on what they see as the ‘meat’ of teaching literacy. The cases where this is not true tend to be those highly politicised literacy programmes where there is more of a tendency to impose a new consciousness on learners than to generate a truly critical consciousness. These tendencies should not be seen as surprising - it is difficult to promote effective discussion, and yet facilitators are of- ten expected to do so with very little training.

One of the roots of what is now known as Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) is the Freirean approach to literacy; yet, to date, the techniques developed by practioners of PRA have been fed into health and agricultural

work and not back into literacy teaching. Practitioners of PRA have developed a wide range of techniques for st~cturing and fo- cusing discussions whereby poor communities are encouraged to construct maps, charts, calendars and diagrams which are based on their reality and help them to analyse and systematise their knowledge, effectively com- municating their needs to development workers from outside the community. Illiterate commu- nities are encouraged to use whatever materials are locally available (sticks, stones, beans etc.) to develop these various maps and charts, elaborating their own codes of representation.

The use of these PRA techniques for literacy teaching clearly has potential and this potential goes beyond just helping to structure and focus discussions. The alphabet is simply anoth- er code or pattern, another more elaborate way of ‘representing’. By developing a set of visual ‘symbol cards’ (based on a survey of the local community, and pre-tested), the transition between the community’s own codes and the use of a pen and paper to represent things (initially in drawings) can be made. The introduction of the written word can then be made in ways where its spatial location on a map/chart, constructed by learners themselves, will facilitate recognition. As learners become more confident using the ‘symbol cards’ to con- struct maps and charts they are able to explore local issues more systematically, and effectively generate their own curriculum materials. The literacy ‘primer’ is abolished. The facilitator records each chart and map produced onto a flipchart so that it can be referred back to. (The process of learning to draw becomes instructive to the facilitator - who realises just how difficult it is to get things to look right - which is precisely the struggle faced by illiterate people with letters.)

The possibilities of using PRA and visual ‘symbol cards’ within adult literacy programmes are now being piloted by ACTIONAID in three projects:

(1) Bundibugyo in Uganda (50 villages); (Z&Bhola Island in Bangladesh (10 villages);

(3) Usulutan in El Salvador (18 villages).

The Bundibugyo project in Uganda has thrown up many interesting issues already. It is a multi-lingual community with three main local languages: Lubwisi, Bokonjo and

230 DAVID ARCHER

Table 1

Unit PRA technique: Discussion

2.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

Natural Resource Map: environment: Lubwisi: kiti - tree Bokonjo: amikura - mountains Rutoro: ekibira - forest

Human Resource Map: work/change: Lubwisi: mulimo - work Bokonjo: omubiri - work Rutoro: omulimo - work

Household Map: population: Lubwisi: abaana - children Bokonjo: omuyi - family Rutoro: abaana - children

Mobility Map: isolation: Lubwisi: kwetuwo - isolation Bokonjo: akathali - market Rutoro: ekyaro - village

Ideal Future Map: parish councils: Lubwisi: kasumi kakwisa - future Bokonjo: ekyarwa - village Rutoro: isomer0 - school

Rainfall Calendar: soil erosion: Lubwisi: musiya - soil erosion Bokonjo: esenda - soil erosion Rutoro:

Agric. Calendar: planting/crop rotation: Lubwisi: kuhela - planting Bokonjo: erihera - planting Rutoro: ekigesa - harvesting

Gender Farm Labour Calendars: gender workloads:

Lubwisi: musasa - man Bokonjo: omulhume - man Rutoro: omukazi - woman

Hungry Calendar: coping strategies/storage: Lubwisi: njala - hunger Bokonjo: entsalha - hungry Rutoro: sitoha - store

Market Prices Calendar: cooperation: Lubwisi: maghobho - profit Bokonjo: emihogo - cassava Rutoro: enyobwa - groundnuts

Buying Calendar: price changes: Lubwisi: muhendo - price Bokonjo: sitoha - store Rutoro: emihendo - price

Health Calendar: diarrhea: Lubwisi: eskanda - diarrhea etc. etc.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

Curative Matrix: malnutrition: Lubwisi: bwomili - health; njosi - malnutrition

Herb Matrix: effective herbal remedies: mughaso ghwe bisingo

Illness Causes Matrix: prevention: kwelinda - prevention; masigho kunuwa - drinking water

Vaccination Card: immunisation - based on cards;

Body Mapping: alcoholism: bakamaji - drunkard

Reproductive Map: pregnancy: mukali akuliye - pregnant woman

AIDS Visuals from TASO: AIDS: Kabondo - AIDS

Nutrition Matrix: nutritious foods: muchele - rice

Crop Matrix: pests: bihuka bye byokulia - pests mwani - coffee

Chapati of Institutions: village organisations - (languages)

Daily Routine Chart: gender roles: kuluwakaka - exhausted; kukolamunumunu - overwork

School Matrix: education: kwegha: education

Wealth Ranking: local criteria of poverty: lbucheke - weak

Income/Expenditure Tree: practical numeracy: kupughasa - selling labour

Development Projects Matrix: group formation: ebanja - credit; mpinduka - change

Credit sources and uses: nature of credit: ?

Review of key words

Ranking of themes/planning for post-literacy.

Lwamba and a fourth language, Rutoro, being used in local schools (a hangover from a period when the Toro kingdom dominated the area). This approach to literacy, which requires only visual ‘symbol cards’ (incidentally a set of ‘sylla- ble cards’ are also being developed), can enable the teaching of any of the local languages (or more than one language at a time) using the same curriculum. Once linguistics has been demystified (with quick syllabic surveys of each language), a different sequence of key words for each language has been developed whilst

THE CHANGING ROLES OF NGOs 231

still using the same sequences of units (based on different PRA techniques). The sequence of 30 units developed in Bundibugyo is outlined in Table 1 (and to illustrate the multi-lingual potential, the first twelve units include the key words for each of the three most common languages).

In Budibugyo 120 (colour-coded) symbol cards are being developed which should be sufficient to cover most of the items up in the construction of maps, charts etc. in all 30 units. In El Salvador, a very different sequence of 35 units have been developed along with 150 symbol cards for use in an area of the country that suffered considerably during 12 years of civil war. Here the pilot project is with COMUS (Comunidades Unidas de Usulutan - a grassroots NGO) who are being supported by CIAZO (Comite Intergremial de Alfabetizacion de la Zona Oriental), a national NGO specialising in literacy. In Bangladesh the pilot is in Bhola Island in the extreme south of the country, with ‘shomitis’ - women’s savings and credit groups, operating in a very conservative Islamic area - who are keen to develop literacy (and particularly numeracy) skills in order to become self-managing groups. The very differing contexts of the three pilots is deliberately designed to test the generalisability of using PRA in adult literacy work. As each project adapts the basic approach a range of innovations should emerge.

Further information on the project (including the sample training manuals for Bundibugyo and El Salvador) is available from ACTION- AID. ACTIONAID has received funding for this ‘action research proposal’ from the Over- seas Development Administration (ODA) over the next two years (to September 1995) - which will cover the costs of training, sup- porting, monitoring and evaluating the three projects. Control groups are being established in all three countries and a range of indicators are being developed which will go beyond simple tests of literacy to evaluate the wider impact of literacy on empowering learners.

In the context of this paper, the importance of this example is to illustrate an emerging role that NGOs have in the field of research. Here, the NGO is not only promoting an innovative approach to an old problem, but it is also engaging in systematic documentation and research of the experience in order to

evaluate its potential and help with any future replication.

This type of ‘action-research’ is an ideal role for NGOs. The research can be based on concrete experiences in micro-projects and by developing, within the NGO, a research capacity, scaling up of the experience is facili- tated. The research is practically oriented and will not seek to produce an academic document which will sit on a shelf, but rather, a practical document which can feed straight back into future field work.

This approach is increasingly important for NGOs as NGO resources will always be lim- ited. If NGOs can use their experience and potential for innovation to influence policy makers who control resources considerably in excess of the NGO then they will have used their resources wisely. To do this effectively depends on NGOs researching and document- ing their work well (including the failures) so that projects can be replicated, learned from

In focusing on the role of NGOs in the education sector, this paper has not sought to explore NGO roles in other sectors such as health and agriculture nor has it explored ways in which education interacts with such other work (for example in health education/training programmes etc.). Moreover, the paper has not sought to address, in any detail, the role of NGOs in community and social mobilisation - which is another key area where NGO activities can impact on education.

and used for advocacy.

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Each of the above case studies speaks its own conclusion, but in summary it is worth pulling out some broad notes as follows:

1. When NGOs are involved in service delivery in the education sector then joint planning and coordination with the State should be sought by both the NGO and the Ministry. However, in doing so, NGOs do risk compromising their non-governmental status and falling into contradictions. It is particularly worth nothing that partner- ships with the State in service delivery of education may compromise or under- mine an NGO’s other roles, for example in advocacy.

232 DAVID ARCHER

In the past, NGOs could justify being involved in service delivery in remote areas (acting as a form of advance guard and seeking to hand over their schools etc. to the Ministry of Education at some future point). In the 1970s and even 1980s many NGOs effectively construed ‘sustainability’ in this way (as the eventual handing over of responsibility to the State). With Struc- tural Adjustment Programmes and talk of privatising education, this approach can no longer work in the 1990s. Sustainability needs to be re-defined and recognised as a far more complex concept. Service delivery in the education sector on any scale can now rarely be a comfortable role for NGOs and should only be pursued in very selective cases (e.g. where a progressive government policy can be reinforced).

It is essential for NGOs to avoid becoming agents of privatisation even where the with- drawal of the State appears to leave primary education provision as grossly inadequate. The World Bank has made a commitment to primary education. NGOs should not seek to patch up where the formal education system is failing but should document the failure and put pressure on the World Bank and govern- ments to adjust their policies accordingly.

2. There are clearly some cases where part- nerships with a government are impossible to develop or undesirable (for example, with undemocratic governments or those with bad human rights records). However, even in these cases I would argue for improved co- ordination between different NGOs (NGO

networks/umbrella groups of NGOs working in education - which must go beyond being just talking shops) and also between NGOs and other sectors of civil society (even including the organised opposition - so that a coherent alternative vision can be developed which has realistic prospects of being taken up nationally at some point in the future.

3. Fundamentally NGOs must be innova- tors in the field of education, but it is not enough to innovate if experiences are not well documented and systematised so as to facilitate scaling up by others who control much more substantial resources. Innovations should seek to be low cost if they are to be truly replicable. Research and documentation of these innovations must be systematic but also ‘user-friendly’ leading to practical publications and feeding into policy and lobbying work to influence other key players. Making this organic link between the experience in grassroots micro- projects and macro-level lobbying work is perhaps the greatest challenge faced by NGOs today.

NOTE

‘A Local Rajasthani saying: ‘Give a child some education (up to 5 grade) and they are no good around the house; give a child more education (up to 8 grade) and they are no good to the village; give a child even more than that and they are no good to society at all!’