Sudan Research Group*:
Third Workshop on Education and Capacity Building
in Post-Conflict Sudan, London, August 2006

 

Background:

1. As is well known Sudan has emerged out of a long conflict on the 9th of January 2005, the date of the signature of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan Peoples Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A). The CPA gave rise to the Interim National Constitution of the Republic of Sudan (NICRS) which will govern the interim period of six years and may become, after appropriate amendments, the permanent constitution of the country.

2. In post-conflict Sudan the overarching objective of development is seen as "the eradication of poverty, the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals, guaranteeing the equitable distribution of wealth, redressing imbalances of income and achieving a decent standard of life for all citizens",  as per article 10 of NICRS. In article (13) the INCRS provides guiding principles and directives pertaining to education, science art and culture such that the "State shall promote education at all levels all over the Sudan and shall ensure free and compulsory education at the primary level and in illiteracy eradication programs". Guiding principles and directives "are not by themselves enforceable in a court of law". Under the Bill of Rights, article 44, the INCRS reaffirms that education "is a right for every citizen and the State shall provide access to education without discrimination as to religion, race, ethnicity, gender or disability. Primary education is compulsory and the State shall provide it free".

3. In chapter seven, devoted to the national civil service, the INCRS was also explicit about building capacity to manage the post-conflict development process. For this purpose a National Civil Service Commission is to be established to formulate "policies for training and recruitment into the national civil service, targeting between twenty to thirty percent of the positions for people of Southern Sudan who qualify" as per article 138.      

4. The above noted overall development orientation of the INCRS, as well as its commitment to education, reflect a recognition of the major trends in development thought over the past twenty five years. Such developments confirmed the crucial role of education in the long-run prosperity of nations. At the aggregate level, a possible way of assessing the contribution of education to the long-run development of nations is by looking at the achievements of nations with respect to the frontier of science and technology. A consideration of such achievements over 1500 years gave rise to a definition of an ideal growth- and-development society as one that would:

(i) know how to operate, manage, and build instruments of production and to create, adapt, and master new techniques on the technological frontier;

(ii)be able to impart knowledge and know-how to the young, whether by formal education or apprenticeship training; and,  

(iii)choose people for jobs by competence and relative merit, promote and demote on the basis of performance[1].

4.   It was in the context of such a society that the autonomy of intellectual inquiry can be nurtured, the creation of a scientific method of proof can be sustained and the routinization of research and its diffusion can be achieved. Indeed, historical investigation shows that these were the most critical sources of success of European supremacy.  

5. Technological innovations, leading to increased production, are invariably informed by advances in scientific inquiry. According to a recent survey of opinion among active scientists Kaku (1998) shows that economic activity in the 21st century will be shaped by science and technology. Three interrelated scientific revolutions are identified as having informed the technological advances of the 20th century: these are the quantum revolution, the computing revolution and the bio-molecular revolution. The recently celebrated success of the gnome project is but one example of what to come in the 21st century. Such advances are expected to dramatically change the nature of societies and economies of the new century[2].

6. Given the changing world circumstances, and the remaining challenges of effecting meaningful development transformations in developing countries, the above development goals for the educational system can best be served by a number of country specific strategies. Common to these strategies, it is generally believed, would be the following elements[3]:

(a) the need for a comprehensive, long-term development framework; 

(b) the need to focus on results;

(c) the desirability of increasing the participation of the private sector in the provision of educational services;

(d) the need for improved internal efficiency: where by internal efficiency is meant the cost of producing a unit of educational output inclusive of its quality; and,

(e) the need to build a regular modality for the exchange of information on the state and performance of the educational system. 

7. Needless to note, however, that countries emerging out of conflict need to address issues pertaining to educational reforms in a non-routine fashion. Among other things the educational system in such countries needs to take into account the priority of replenishing the capacity of nations to manage the complex development process together with resolving latent conflicts. Such a need has been recognized recently by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF (2004))[4].  As is well known since 1991, the date of the establishment of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), there was a perception that Africa suffered from a capacity deficit that needed to be corrected in the context of the development process [5].

8. "Capacity building, being a means to an end in a long development process, should be integrated as fully as possible in national development policies, plans and strategies. In this regard, the development objective in post-conflict reconstruction process must be clearly defined, institutional and human resource development needs mapped out, and the capacity building strategy clearly articulated" (ACBF (2004: v)).

9. In this respect it is imperative to note that the Joint Assessment Mission for Sudan (JAM) produced a report on 25 February 2005 entitled "Capacity Building and Institutional Development: Final Review Report" in which it addressed the issue of priorities for capacity building in the country. Capacity building is addressed for two levels of government: government of Sudan (inclusive of the national government and governments of the Northern States) and South Sudan.  

 

B. Objective:

10. The major objective of this workshop is to provide a forum for an informed debate about the needs for reforms in the educational system of the country that can be implemented during the interim period of post-conflict Sudan. The workshop will bring researchers working in the field as well as policy makers to address various questions pertaining to education and capacity building in the country.

 

C. Topics:

11. Under the major objective the topics that are likely to covered include:

(i) educational achievements of the country since independence;

(ii) rates of returns to investment in human capital;

(iii) the need for reform in the educational system (iv) the relationship of the educational system to a capacity-building system of training and up-grading of skills;

(iv) the costs of implementing a wide-ranging educational reform; and,

(v) the role of donors in capacity building for post-conflict development. 

 

D. Paper submission

 Interested researchers, and policy makers, are invited to submit completed manuscripts related to the overall objective, and the topics, of the workshop by 29 May 2006 to the workshop organisers. Authors should submit a paper in English of up to 25 A4 pages, carefully checked for correct grammar and spelling. The papers written will focus on one the above topics. All papers should include a summary at beginning of the paper and should be action-oriented and contain future strategies/recommendations related to the topic discussed.

 

Papers should be submitted to: submission@sudanrg.org.

The workshop organisers will review all papers and the contact author (the author that submit the paper) of each paper will be notified of the result, by e-mail. Audio-visual equipment will be available for paper presentations.