Education, Labour Mobility and Social Integration in Africa and the Quandary of Exclusion

By xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

A Paper submitted to:African Economic Conference 2013: Regional Integration in Africa held in Johannesburg

South Africa, October 28-30

Theme: Social integration, gender issues and labour migration

20/8/2013

Despite the initial halfhearted support for African integration efforts, recent days have witnessed rejuvenated interest in the scheme for many reasons ranging from strengthening of regional blocks in Europe, Asia and America and thereby setting the global trend, to the worry of small markets that can lead to marginalization by wealthy economies. This study argues that African integration will depend on a harmonized education system that prepares the workforce for the integrated labour market. It was guided by the theory of neofunctionalism approach to integration. It argues that as African states see the benefits of educational integration, they would be willing to give it broader mandate. It adopted systematic review which summed up the literature on two research questions formulated. The study reveals that education can lead to social integration through interalia, internationalization of education systems and learning institutions, promotion of collaboration in scientific research, harmonized education curriculum and free movement of educated manpower. However, it faces major exclusion quandary for women in educational access and employment, owing to myriad reasons such as low employment options for girls, high education costs, retrogressive culture and the impact of HIV/AIDS. These ought to be addressed to catalyze the integration process.

Key words: African integration, exclusion, harmonized education

Introduction

There have been several attempts to establish continental integration strategies in Africa. Notable is the African Economic Treaty of Abuja in 1994 that sought to strengthen existing RI schemes and to encourage the formation of new ones. The overall aim was to establish an African integration unit (Ngeno, et al, 2003). Of concern however has been the poor record of sustainability of regional integration schemes in the continent. This has been attributable to, among other factors, lack of strong and sustainable political commitment and good will (Lyakurwa, et al, 1997) and restrictions on human capital mobility.

Scholarly works in global politics (Ray and Kaarbo, 2003; Jekins, 2000; and Alemayehu and Kibret, 2000) have argued that the renewed interest in RI plans could be because of the formation and strengthening of various regional blocks outside Africa (Europe, Asia and America) and thereby setting the global trend. They further argue that African countries are first becoming worried about their small national markets and the fear of being marginalized is first creeping in given the competitive world dominated by powerful trading blocks. Most importantly, African economies have grown tremendously and beg for a bigger market for their products that include human capital and there are signs that inward looking economies will undoubtedly suffer stagnation. Consequently, liberalization efforts have created a conducive environment for outward looking economic policies and RI is seen as an alternative to unilateral trade liberalization.

Granted, RI efforts will very much depend on education systems that prepare the workforce for the integrated labour market. A common approach to the challenges and problems of education in the continent is crucial and this calls for concerted efforts toward an equitable education

system that will ensure fairness in labour training and output through harmonized curricula. Access to african education facilities will be enhanced if the entrants pass through a harmonized education background. In order to ensure that the historical differences are narrowed, stakeholders in the member states should help to reduce the differences in education systems. This will help to build a system that would bring convergence rather than divergence in human capital development and mobility within continent.

Objectives of the studyThe specific objectives of this study were to:

i) Analyze the impact of education on labour mobility and social integration in Africa.ii) Assess gender based inequalities in educational access and employment and analyze

its effect on social integration in the region. Research Questions The study derived two research questions from the objectives as follows:

i) What is the impact of education on labour mobility and social integration in Africa?ii) What gender based inequalities exist in educational access and employment and how

do they effect social integration in the region?

Significance of the study

This study is significant in several ways.

(i) To education providers in the region, the study is significant as it could aid in identifying the specific role that education can play in African integration effort through harmonized education systems that could enhance labour mobility that could lead to social integration which hitherto has not been given sufficient prominence in RI effort.

(ii) To African governments keen on integration, the study identifies the quandary of exclusion in educational access and employment which governments may seek to bridge as a way of nurturing regional integration effort.

(iii) To scholars and politicians, regional integration has been approached mainly through politics, trade and the media. Hitherto the role of education has been relegated and suchstuides (which I must admit are very few) rekindles interest and focus on such an important area in social integration.

Materials and methods of reviewThe study adopted systematic review to analyse literature. The purpose of a systematic review is to sum up the best available research on a specific question. This is done by synthesizing the results of several studies. A systematic review must have a clear inclusion or exclusion criteria, an inclusive search strategy, a systematic analysis of included studies, and a meta analysis where applicable. According to the Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (2010) systematic reviews are scientific investigations in themselves, with pre-planned methods and an assembly of original studies as their subjects. They synthesize the results of multiple primary investigations by using strategies that limit bias and random error (Moher, et al, 2007; Shojania, et al, 2007). These strategies include a comprehensive search of all potentially relevant articles and the use of

explicit, reproducible criteria in the selection of articles for review. Primary research designs and study characteristics are appraised, data are synthesized, and results are interpreted (ibid). The following steps were followed in the systematic review of this study.

(i) Defining the appropriate objectives for the study. Two objectives were established for the study. They were derived from the sub theme ‘Social integration, gender issues and labor migration.’ However, the subtheme was viewed and conceptualized in relation to the overall objective of the African Economic Conference 2013 on regional integration and the other subthemes of the conference.

(ii) Searching the literature. In searching literature, the published and unpublished information were sought in order to answer the research questions derived from the objectives. Two research questions were derived from the selected sub-theme. Furthermore, institutional or technical reports, working papers, conference proceedings, not normally subject to editorial control or peer review were also sought using various methods such as search engines, database or websites. However, greater premium was placed on research reports such as journals, theses reports and government reports given the nature of the study.

(iii) Assessing the studies for inclusion and exclusion criteria. Once all possible literature was identified, it was subjected to thorough scrutiny. Each study was subjected to criteria of sorts for eligibility against inclusion. Only studies documenting impact of education on labour mobility and social integration in Africa and gender based inequalities in educational access and employment were eligible for inclusion. However, text papers retrieved from the internet, including textbooks in archives and libraries detailing information on global integration such as European integration and American education integration provided a firm and solid basis for comparison with the African case. This was over and above the theoretical underpin of the study. Thus the selected studies and reported findings were extracted in a data extraction form where a list of included studies was created to support the creation of the list of references (Davies and Crombie, 2001).

(iv) Quality control. A quality appraisal strategy that is relevant to the review questions and the types of studies under review was found necessary given the nature of the study. Assessment of the included studies, including the overall report and eligibility for prize award was left to the distinguished selection panel put in place by the conference organizers of the African Integration Conference 2013. However, it is noted that the selection panel and the peer review process will also act as the benchmark for quality of the final paper.

(v) Placing the findings in context. Data collected was both qualitative & quantitative in nature. The literature was subjected to different but specific methods of synthesis. The findings of the study were as a matter of necessity discussed in order to put them in proper context.

Work flow plan and LimitationsTo ensure quality output, it was found necessary to formulate a detailed work flow plan for each objective that included tasks, data collection, analysis and output. It should be noted that because of limitation of funds, a full survey was not conducted in the African integration member states through visitations and detailed data collection and analysis procedures. This implies that the study had to rely mainly on secondary sources of data. However, modest primary data for this study was negotiated through email contacts, online interviews and correspondence.

Theoretical framework

This study was guided by the theory of Neofunctionalism approach to RI as propounded by Jean Monet. Monet argued that RI should not be simply limited to technical areas as argued by functionalists (Ray & Karbo, 2002). It ought to select initial activities wisely and strategically to spur economic growth over time. Neofunctionalism assumes a decline in importance of nationalism and the nation-state and views the executive power and interest groups within states to be pursuing a welfarist objective which is best satisfied by integration of states (Haas, 2004).

Thus using neofunctionalism theory of education, this study argues that apart from economic integration, education presents the most powerful tool to integrate people (Odebero, 2011). According to this perspective, embracing educational integration will lead to positive spillover effects in the African Community member states such that integration between states in education sector will create strong incentives for integration in other sectors in order to fully capture the benefits of integration in education. As a proponent of full integration in education the study holds that as the process of integration gathers pace in educational sector, interest groups and associations within the pluralistic societies of the individual nation states within in Africa will transfer their allegiance away from national institutions towards the supranational East African Community institutions. This is because they will, in theory, come to realise that these newly formed institutions are a better conduit through which to pursue their material interests than the pre-existing national institutions. Moreover, as integration hastens, the study further holds that through technocratic automaticity, the supranational institutions set up to oversee the integration process will take the lead in sponsoring further integration as they become more powerful and more autonomous of the member states. This will result in interdependence of the member states. States that are interdependent with one another are most likely to integrate rather than become antagonistic. Interdependence will entail entrapment such that options of leaving will be overbearing, and the freedom to leave restricted because it would be costly politically, economically, socially and emotionally. This interdependence will spur faster economic growth and development.

Impact of education on labour mobility and social integration in Africa

The first objective purposed to analyse the impact of education on labour mobility and social integration in Africa. According to the Wikipedia (2013), social integration is the blending and unifying of social groups. In sociology, integration is the moving of minority groups such as ethnic minorities, refugees and underprivileged sections of society into the mainstream of society. It further states that integration requires proficiency in acceptable common language of the society, accepted laws and adopted of common set of values of the society. Education still remains a powerful determinant of socialising and integrating people. School activities such as debating, choir, sporting activities, and in-class core-curriculum activities constitute a natural bond that should bond and bring people together. There are many cases where couples have testified that they were school/college mates, or either of the party was a teacher or even workmates thus giving meaning to the famous saying ‘a goat grazes where its tied.’ Most importantly, some people have ended up getting employed through schooling/college connections where college mates have assisted one another to get international jobs or upward mobility. However, recent studies have pointed to a relationship between socio-economic class and the level of integration in a school/college situation. The study observed that college students tended to bond more with colleagues of same status with differences in income class delaying students’ integration.

This is enough evidence that African social integration must look towards education to integrate its people. However, for education to contribute substantially to the social cohesion so much desired in the region, African leaders must live up to some level of creativity and ingenuity as follows.

Internationalisation of Education Systems and Learning Institutions

With the free movements of persons, African Regional Integration has brought into focus the nature of education that is offered by the member states. The question is whether the type of education offered by one member state would be consumable by citizens of another state. In a bid to address the concern, it is imperative for the member states to assess the quality of the education offered and gauge it with that which is offered by sister countries. The remedy here is internationalisation of education. Key elements of the system are; recognition of course structures, mutual recognition of degrees and providing the mobility of academic faculty and students. The benefits of internationalisation of education systems cannot be over-emphasised. Through internationalisation, students and staff will move easily, researchers will collaborate and standards for academic quality will be set. Further, cooperation and development assistance, curriculum development, international and intercultural understanding and promotion and profiling of an institution are all benefits of internationalisation. Other gains include diversified faculty and students, regional integration, international student recruitment and diversified income generation.

It is therefore important that the member states re-define their internationalisation goals. If internationalisation of the learning institutions is done effectively, the output indicators will be

myriad. It will be indicated by the diversity of staff and student body, international publications (through collaboration), collaborations with regional and international bodies, joint teaching opportunities, joint degrees, opportunities for staff/students exchanges and an overall international culture of the university (Mwapachu, 2009).

Key to internationalisation is harmonization of education systems. Already, there are efforts to harmonize the education systems of the East Africa member states. For instance, the IUCEA is now properly constituted by a special law passed by the East African Legislative Assembly in 2008. Under the Act, the Council is mandated to spearhead the harmonization of higher education amongst the member Universities with collaboration of national regulatory agencies dealing with higher education. Focus of this harmonization is the promotion of comparability of qualifications, setting standards of higher education through quality assurance and promotion of mobility of lecturers and students. The overall aim is to establish an East African Higher Education and Research space that fosters mobility and employability of human resources. It is a timely thrust in the context of the establishment of the EAC Common Market, which will allow free movement of labour in the region (Mwapachu, 2009).

The process of regional cooperation and integration in higher education is now being implemented in different parts of the world at different paces and with various types. For instance, the effort of European countries to promote higher education policy harmonization and integration is the most comprehensive and systematic one. At the core of this endeavour is the Bologna Process, a voluntary-based undertaking with clear objectives and timeline for implementation initiated by the first twenty nine signatory European countries. The Bologna Process aims to create the “European Higher Education Area” (EHEA) by 2010 along side with the Lisbon Strategy which focuses on the link between education, jobs market and economic growth in Europe (Supachai and Nopraenue, 2008). By harmonizing or increasing compatibility, comparability and flexibility of the education systems in the region, the Bologna Process will help accommodate and accelerate free flows of student/staff mobility, education services, and research collaboration. This process will also contribute to the establishment of the so-called “Europe of Knowledge” capable of giving its citizens the necessary competences to face with challenges of the new millennium, together with an awareness of shared values and belonging to a common social and cultural space (Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), 2008 - Revised Draft). The Bologna Process also aims to enhance the global competitiveness of European higher education institutions.

Besides the Bologna Process which encompasses the majority of 40 out of 45 European countries, there are several other higher education collaboration initiatives within the European Union consisting of 27 nations. These schemes originally focused on the mobility of students

and, more recently, paid greater attention to the Europeanization‟ of courses and their content (de Prado Yepes, 2006). The first comprehensive action focusing on promoting inter-university linkages for student and staff mobility is the European Community Action Scheme for the Mobility of University Students (Erasmus) which was established in 1987. Socrates is another broader program which continued and extended the Erasmus action in higher education. Socrates has also promoted a thorough comparative analysis of education systems and policies, the exchange of information, experience and good practices among EU to help formulate and implement educational policies across the region (de Prado Yepes, 2006). Besides these programs, there are several other initiatives which focus on different issues in educational cooperation in EU such as Lingua (language learning) and Minerva (open and distance learning and the use of info communications technologies).

Latin America and the Caribbean countries have also promoted the inter-regional integration in higher education with the European Union. In June 1999, a decision was reached that a common space of higher education should be created for Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean nations by 2015 (Supachai and Nopraenue, 2008). The steering committee now consists of five countries namely Spain, France, Brazil, Mexico and St. Kitts. These countries have met periodically during the past years and have decided upon these key areas of cooperation between the EU and Latin America and the Caribbean: Dissemination of academic collaboration and experience; comparability of study programs; mobility of students and staff; join degrees; identification of financing sources and mechanisms; and, quality Assurance

In Africa, regional initiatives have also been taken to promote integration in education. In 1997, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) Member States agreed to promote regional cooperation and integration in the education sector and, in that regard formulated the SADC Protocol on Education and Training (AU, 2007; and Bashir, 2007)

The SADC Protocol on Education and Training which was signed in 1997 provides the policy framework for regional cooperation and integration of the entire education sector in the region. In an effort to promote internationalization of higher education in the region, regional member countries and signatories to the Protocol agreed that five percent of all available study places should be reserved to admit students of SADC member countries (Article 7). In 2002, more than five percent of all students enrolled in South African universities and polytechnics were SADC students. Some higher education institutions in Namibia and South Africa have been exceeding the five percent quota in their annual intake (Hahn, 2005).

Expanding Access and Investments in Education in Africa

The increased propensity for higher education, the need for internationally recognized qualifications and demand for highly skilled labour in both developed and developing countries as well as the inclination by several countries towards promotion of foreign collaborations to improve the quality of domestic higher education are among the factors which have propelled rapid demand for foreign higher education services (Bashir, 2007). As a result of this increased demand, international trade in higher education services has grown rapidly in recent years and the supply of these services have taken a variety of forms.

Due to tremendous increase of student’s mobility in the region, the common market could provide an avenue for member states to invest more in their education systems to expand access as regional students could come calling more than is the case currently (Godia, 2010). Universities for example, are expected to have a wider reach. The Uganda 7-4-2-3 education system could be a remedy to an average of 60, 000 students per year who miss out on the kenyan’s university’s Admissions list besides private universities and middle level colleges in Kenyan’s 8-4-4 education system (Mutai, 2010). According to Kenya’s Foreign Affairs Minister, there are already more than 40,000 Kenyan students enrolled in Ugandan universities and other educational institutions (Kimani, 2010).

Learning Institutions even as far as Northern Uganda host Kenyans students as Makerere University, Kampala International University and Mkono University holds bulk of Kenyan students. High Schools including Mbale High School, Bugema Adventist School, St. Laurence High School have over a decade trained big number of Kenyan students who have done their A-levels and successfully proceeded to universities either in Uganda or other countries. “There are more than 3,500 Kenyan students at Makerere University at the moment,” notes Nicholas Langat, a Telecommunication Engineering finalist at the University. Consequently, Ugandan’s education system is bagging up to Kshs. 2 billion per annum from Kenyan students learning in Uganda (Mutai, 2010). Tanzania has also recorded a significant number of students in its universities and higher education institutions from Kenya.

This should be something of concern to Kenyan education authorities. Reasonable questions must be interrogated to establish the reasons behind this flight. Some people have argued that the main reasons behind the flight are the costs associated with favourable exchange rates that act in favour of Kenyan currency. Kenyan authorities have also argued that the country has benefited in a way training some students from member states in technical areas associated with military training. Enrolment in Kenya’s public and private universities currently stands at about 177,735 students (Commission for Higher Education, 2010). This includes 110,328 students enrolled in

public universities and 67,407 of them in private universities. Having over 40,000 Kenyan students enrolled in Uganda alone means that Uganda is providing access to 23 % of higher education opportunities to Kenyan graduates with far reaching ramification to the economy in Kenya and Uganda. More questions should go beyond the issue of the costs and focus on the relevance of the 8-4-4 system of education currently in use in Kenya. There are chances that it may constitute a disadvantage to the country when it comes to students’ exchange. Free movement of persons requires that education systems are compatible but with the obtaining situation, Kenya may continue to lose out on education investors to Tanzania and Uganda. When a commission of inquiry into the education system in Kenya was appointed (Republic of Kenya, 1999), it decided to re-introduce the 7-4-2-3 system of education. This was after an extensive inquiry into the perceptions of Kenyans on the best education system for the country and with the signing of the EA Common Market Treaty, it may just be time for the country to reconsider the recommendations of the TIQET report.

In West Africa, attempts have been made to attach regional programs to national institutions. A case in point is the regional graduate-training program in agricultural economics run by the Ivorian Centre for Social and Economic Research (CIRES), which is attached to the University of Abidjan (IDRC, 1997). The countries have also managed to set regional standards. Such initiatives include the West African Examinations Council and the African and Malagasy Council of Higher Learning. An interesting program whose success will be worth watching is the Inter University Graduate Training Program in Economics for Francophone Africa (PTCI), which builds upon national training programs, but offers regional support for improved facilities and higher standards under the umbrella of the Conference of Economics Research and Training Institutions in Francophone Africa (CIEREA). Other interuniversity collaboration programs of various sorts are also being developed under the Association of African Universities based in Accra.

Promotion of collaboration in Scientific Research

Scientific cooperation between countries within particular regions, which either has undergone extensive integration or are, embarking on an integration path, plays a role in the broader economic and/or political integration process and how that integration affects extra-regional cooperation in science (EARISC, 2009; ECA, 2006). African continent has the best opportunity for knowledge creation and dissemination through such bodies as the East Africa, Regional Integration, and Scientific Cooperation, the Inter University Council of Eastern Africa (IUCEA), the Organisation for Social Science in eastern and Southern Africa (OSSREA), and even CODESRIA. Regional scientific cooperation, which features shared responsibilities and resources for mutual benefit, can play a role in this process and has the potential to not only build positive ties between the various science stakeholders within the region but also may help develop broader norms of partnership between countries in the socio-political-economic context.

Further, research collaboration will contribute to experience sharing, addressing local problems (Farirai, 2009). The EAC member states have not invested sufficiently in scientific research to address local problems. Many research bodies that have excelled in the region have been foreign funded with foreign undertones and intensions, with the result that African local problems have not been addressed scientifically.

Human Capital Movement

The essence of a regional integration is free flow of factors of production, especially capital and labour within member states (ECA, 2006; EAC, 2005). However, one of the biggest challenges in Africa continues to be a lack of human capital, especially in countries like Burundi, Rwanda Southern Sudan, Somali, Mozambique and Tanzania (EARISC, 2009). This can be explained invariably by political instability, brain drain, poor public perception of science subjects, and a lack of sufficient training institutions in industry linkages. As this situation obtain, the coming into effect of regional integration presents the best opportunity for member states with oversupply of trained human resource to sort out their unemployment problems at a time when their neighbors experience acute shortages. A case in point is the oversupply of teachers in Kenya. While previous agreements with other countries to have Kenyan teachers work in the region have helped ease the pressure, it is expected that the common market will remove the imbalances. Currently, there are over 50,000 trained but jobless teachers most of who could be absorbed in the regional market in countries like Rwanda, Somali, Southern Sudan and Burundi (Godia, 2010). It is anticipated that member states will be freed to hire teachers from outside their national borders to plug the skills gap.

Besides, many more opportunities are expected to come along as the integration process continues. For instance, among the workers in the industry, the common market can only mean increased job opportunities. It will open the borders for easy movement of professionals in Africa. As the banks seek to expand and increase their presence in the region, it will further create job opportunities and support sustainable growth which will in turn help the population in the region to improve their standards of living. Labour mobility can only be significant and beneficial if it is backed up by labour laws that encourage movement of labour among the member states. Working permits and immigration rules need to encourage rather than discourage movements. Along with these factors, income repatriation and worker protection rules should apply equally regionally. South Africa should be uploaded in regional integratuion as it has been in the forefront in allowing free movement of labour and educational exchange. Though with a few isolated cases of xenophobia. If more African countries can follow the South African example, then regional integration will not be a pipe dream.

In addition, ECOWAS has recorded significant progress in the area of free movement. Six countries, namely, Benin, Cote d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal and Togo are already using the ECOWAS common passport, which was introduced in 2000 (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, 2010). The passport allows ECOWAS members to travel to any country of the region without a visa, in lieu of the national passports. COMESA also approved two protocols, one on the free movement of persons, labour, services, right of establishment and right of residence, which was adopted in 2001 during the 6th COMESA Summit of Cairo, Egypt, and the gradual relaxation and eventual elimination of visas, adopted in 1984 (ibid).

3.6.3 Harmonised education curriculaAfrican integration may renew the drive for a harmonised education curriculum among the member countries. South Africa has one of the highest numbers of foreign students studying in their universities. Interestingly, these students come from many countries across Africa such as Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Sudan, etc. Just how the universities manage to equate their qualifications for admission is something that other countries may need to borrow a leaf. The East Africa cooperation occasioned many interactions amongst the people of East Africa, but with the break-up of the old East African Community in 1977, this interaction was curtailed. The break up also weakened the instruments of harmonization of the basic education and training programs, and therefore facilitating diversity in approach and implementation by each partner state. Tanzania and Uganda still retain the 7-4-2-3 system whilst Kenya adopted an 8-4-4 system of education. Broadly, African integration may call for wider consultation that may lead to a harmonised education system. This goal is debatable however since each state has its own needs specific to its people. If the goal of a harmonised curricular is adopted, a lot of allowance should be encouraged to enable partner states to infuse in the curriculum needs specific to its citizens.

3.6.4 Free Movement of Educated ManpowerAccording to the Africa Good News Journal (2010) African Protocol will eliminate the vast amounts of restrictions and regulations often required to do business in the region. In addition to the elimination of trade barriers and border taxes, citizens of African nations will be able to freely relocate within the community, bringing education and expertise where they are needed most. The labor market demands have changed over the years allowing a free movement of human resources across countries within the region and outside it. To facilitate the Regional Integration process and especially the free movement of human resources, Partner States have identified the harmonization of the education curricula, standards, assessment and evaluation of education programs as a priority issue. With these aspects of education harmonization in place, it will be easy for teachers, administrators and education quality assurance and standards officers to work in any country within the region without restrictions. Also, countries which have shortfall of human capital such as Rwanda, Somali, Southern Sudan and Burundi could benefit from the movement, while those with over-supply of human capital such as Nigeria, Ghana, Cameroon, Angola, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania could export their human resource.

Impact of education on employment optionsLabour quality influences the mobility and likelihood of getting gainful employment and even earning levels. Many aspects of labour quality have a link to the general levels of education and training qualifications for the labour force. Highly educated workers therefore tend to select and fit in high paying jobs with relatively pleasant working conditions, employment security and clearly defined work discipline regulations (Odebero, 2011).

Since independence East Africa member states adopted strategies in their education sectors that would ensure an education system that accelerates economic growth, alleviate poverty and build social capital. The economic implication of fulfilling such a goal for provision of quality basic education, serves as a minimum threshold for poverty reduction and a foundation for further education. A wide range of scholars perceive quality education as a mechanism for attainment of local poverty alleviation and international development goals such as MDGs (UNESCO, 2000). Others view quality education as related to what is taught and learnt, and whether it fits the present and future needs of learners in question. Alemayehu, et al (2001) found that poverty status is highly correlated with the levels of education. They observe that extreme poverty falls as levels of education increase.

Table 1: Poverty Headcount Indices by education levels in Kenya (1997 – 2000)

Education 1997 Actual Poverty Rates 2000 (Predicted Poverty Rates)Rural Urban Rural Urban

None 64.00 66.0 72.02 69.05Primary 53.60 63.90 60.32 66.86Secondary 33.40 38.80 37.59 40.60Higher 6.80 14.30 7.65 14.96Technical 38.90 42.40 43.78 44.36Source: Headcount Indices are from GOK (2000b) as cited in Mwabu et. Al (2002)

In the year 2000, households without education had the highest poverty rates of 72.02% and 69.05% respectively on rural and urban areas. This is a clear indication of the inverse relationship between education and poverty levels. Any disparities in access to education, both in qualitative and quantitative terms becomes the basis for observed differences in employment options available to the different groups involved. Thus some studies conducted within the EA member sates explain the problem of inequality in education as a potential impact on labour placement. A study of the Tanzanian education system, (Francis et al, n.d) raises questions as to whether there are differences in demand and discriminatory practices both in households, communities and education systems in schools. They observed that every child and family in Tanzania was suffering from an acute shortage of the supply of educational services both

quantitatively and in terms of diversity of choice, robustness, efficiency, and effectiveness. A sample in the age bands 7-14, 15-20, and 21-25 representing the three levels of schooling in primary, secondary and tertiary showed that the proportion of children who were in school was 63%, 39% and 5% respectively. This suggests that placement in the labour market will follow similar trends. At this point it becomes imperative to be aware of latent factors that underlie this state of affairs. Simons (1980) identified factors which inhibits children of the poor from proceeding to higher levels of education and effectively turns education into a sieve that certifies them.

The determinants of status attainment and access to scarce resources have been changing over time in Africa. At some stage educational attainment was the critical consideration. However, there are emerging patterns where inscriptive factors such as birth lineage and gender are becoming important discriminants. Government of Kenya’s directive requiring at least 30% of employees to be women though laudable in addressing gender based employment disparities; it tilts the playing field against a large pool of males with similar educational attainment but with better qualitative skills to offer to organisations. Blanket policy pronouncement that simply declares certain number of employment positions to be reserved for women may require serous equity-efficiency tradeoffs (Odebero, 2011). Consequently, there is an emerging school of thought who argues that inequality is necessary in any society as a necessary component of individual performance in organisations. This school of thought aver that efficiency in output should not be curtailed by policy pronouncements rather by competitiveness that does not put obstacles in the part of any social group or gender. They conclude that some positions in society are more important to the healthy functioning of society than others. Such positions may require special talent or training rather than simple directives.

Assess gender based inequalities in educational access and employment and analyze its effect on social integration in the region.

The second objective purposed to asses gender based inequalities in educational access and employment and analyze its effect on social integration in the region.

Studies have shown that some children in Africa do not attend school, and on average, more boys compared to the girls attend school in the sub-Saharan Africa. However, the differences vary from country to another (UNICEF 2003) adopted from Huebler & Loaiza 2003; Mingat, 2003). There are other authors who have assessed regional and gender disparities and declining gross enrolment ratios (Abagi, 1997; Government of Kenya, 1995; Ministry of Education and Human Resources Development, 1995) focusing on Kenya. Such studies indicated that the slow rate of economic growth that the country has experienced explains the limited resources available for education (UNDP, 2001).

On the subject of gender and education in Africa, in the 1960s, when most African states began to gain their political independence, there was considerable gender disparity in education. Girl’s

enrolment figures were very low throughout the continent. In May 1961, the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and UNESCO’s educational plans for Africa were announced in a conference held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. A target was set to achieve 100% universal primary education in Africa by the year 1980. The implementation in the 1970s of the free and compulsory Universal Primary Education (UPE) scheme in several countries for example, Kenya, Nigeria, Liberia, Zambia and Tanzania, which were signatories of that declaration, was in line with this UN Plan. Ever since, UNICEF and UNESCO among many other bodies have sponsored affirmative moves, research and conferences within Africa on the education of girls. One such conference was the pan-African one held at Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, in March/April of 1993. At this conference (three decades after the UN declaration of the 1960s) it was observed that Africa was still lagging behind other regions of the world in female access to education. It was also noted that gender disparity existed in education generally and that there was need to identify and eliminate all policies that hindered girls’ full participation in education. To explain the fact that more boys than girls participated in education, a host of constraints were identified. 'African tradition' was named as top on the list and it was described as one that attaches higher value to a man than a woman, whose place is believed to be the kitchen. Unfortunately, this believe was generally observed in most parts of Africa and remains alive todate (Motari, 2009; Yungungu and Kyalo, 2007).

The imbalance in boys and girls’ participation in schooling was therefore linked to the age-long belief in male superiority and female subordination. This situation was further explained and aggravated by patriarchal practices which gave girls no traditional rights to succession. Therefore, the same patriarchal practices encouraged preference to be given to the education of a boy rather than that of a girl. A report by the African Union on the Road to Gender Equality of 2004 mention lack of access to education as one source of poverty and gender inequalities in the continent. According to the report, in both rural and urban areas, women in Africa are poorer than men. Women's poverty is related to lack of access and control of economic resources such as land ownership and inheritance; lack of access to economic opportunities and education; and lack of credit and other support services. Even when a household does not fall within the absolute poverty line, women and female children may be relatively poorer than other household members as a result of inequality in the distribution of resources and income. Such forms of gender disparity coupled with a wide prevalence of gender-based violence and marital instability push large numbers of women and children into destitution. In addition to material deprivation, poor women experience the qualitative dimensions of poverty such as lack of free time (this is also related to ‘time poverty,’ whereby women spend hours fetching water and fulfilling intensive household chores) and poor self esteem.

Furthermore, in Africa, just like many developing states, girls are expected to contribute to childcare or home production at a much earlier age than boys. This becomes a reason as to why girls are unable to enroll for education. With the prevalence of HIV/AIDS scourge, some families have been left without parents who are breadwinners. This role in many families has

been transferred to young girls who opt out of school to engage in odd jobs to sustain their siblings. Moreover, many poor families regard the education of girls as a low priority; while the investment of boys’ education is considered as an investment in security of old age. The dowry system also helps to explain the difference in male female participation in education in the EA region. Poverty and reluctance to bear the costs of educating girls reinforce each other as determinants of access to opportunities, performance and outcomes (Okoth, Nguka and Odebero, 2012).

Schooling expenditure shows that the direct cost of schooling is much higher for the girls than the boys. The cost of uniform, writing materials, beddings, and incidentals among others was much higher for the girls than boys. The direct cost of schooling was much higher in private schools than public schools for both boys and girls. Because of difference in costs, in a situation where poverty riddled families were to make choices for educational investment, they were willing to educate boys rather than girls (Jagero and Ayodo, 2009).

Farther still, from the economic point of view, some studies have shown that the low employment possibilities for girls has contributed greatly to low demand for girls education and aver that an increase in girls employment could lead to increased demand for their educational opportunities, participation and outcome. In most African countries, employment opportunities for the women are still remarkably low. In Kenya for example, women form less than one third of the total workforce in public universities. With the promulgation of the new constitution in Kenya (Republic of Kenya, 2010), a on third gender rule was established to ensure equitable gender representation in employment and parliament. However, court ruling in 2013 made it hard for the rule to be operationlised. This means that low employment for women is still a stark reality in Africa and little gains in equality has been realized.

Some scholars have argued that the differences in education costs may not necessarily be economic in origin. They have a lot to do with the cultural orientation within the region, that do not allow girls to travel. Other factors include, early and forced marriages, female genital cut, unwillingness to allow girls to inherit property from their parents, etc (Motari, 2009). Evans 1995 cited in Ruto-Korir and Chelang’a (2006) summarised cultural and gender issues that threatened educational opportunities, participation and outcome for women as being cultural, where women across countries occupy subservient status as opposed to men. Also, qualification, such as luck of skills in maths/science subjects predisposed them to take traditional subjects whose qualifications pay less. Other issues include, attitudinal disposition ingrained in women, socialised perceived differences in male and female role and capabilities lowers the self concept of and motivation of women to achieve. There is also the issue of situational barriers such as family commitments, lack of partner support, financial constraints and rural life which continue to disadvantage women in their quest for higher education. The institutional barriers arise due to schedules at institutions. This can be linked to rigidity of schedules due to lack of adequate personnel.

Effect of women access to education on social integration

Education remains one of the strongest determinants of lifetime earnings through employment in the continent. It also remains the strongest determinant of labour mobility. Low access to education means that women will least seek cross border mobility in search of higher education and employment and this will substantially limit women social integration on the region. Coupled with cultural reasons that confine women to homes care, these barriers can only be broken through enhanced women access and participation in education. Yet if broken, it is important to note that ‘women have no home,’ they can promote social integration through marriage partnership.

Conclusion and Recommendation

The study has demonstrated that education can lead to social integration in many ways such as , internationalization of education systems and learning institutions, promotion of collaboration in scientific research, harmonized education curriculum and free movement of educated manpower. However, presently, education faces major exclusion challenges such as exclusion for women in educational access and employment, owing to myriad reasons such as low employment options for girls, high education costs, retrogressive culture and the impact of HIV/AIDS. These ought to be addressed to catalyze the integration process.

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