Educational Policy in Africa

Abstract

This chapter considers how goals are made more concrete and specific by being turned into more detailed educational policy. The chapter begins by defining policy and the political process of policy. It then goes on to discuss the global sources of educational policy making in Africa, including bodies such as the World Bank/IMF, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECED) and the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the nature of their influence in relation to particular policies. It then discusses in some detail a case study of the interplay of global and local influences on policy making in Botswana. The next section of the chapter considers policy borrowing in Africa and discusses policy attraction, policy negotiation, policy imposition and policy hybridisation in turn, using examples from throughout Africa for each category.