Widening Access to Education as Social Justice Essays in Honor of Michael Omolewa Edited by Akpovire Oduaran and Harbans S.Bhola WIDENING ACCESS TO EDUCATION AS SOCIAL JUSTICE Widening Access to Education as Social Justice Essays in Honor of Michael Omolewa Edited by AKPOVIRE ODUARAN and H.S. BHOLA Editorial consultants Gbolagade Adekanmbi, University of Botswana Rashid Aderinoye, University of Ibadan Roger Boshier, University of British Columbia Brian Burtch, Simon Fraser University Robert Dibie, Western Kentucky University Thomas Fasokun, Obafemi Awolowo University Sabo Indabawa, Bayero University Peter Jarvis, University of Surrey Leng Leng, National University of Singapore Christina Mercken, XINA Tekst and Support Lydia Nyati-Ramahobo, University of Botswana M.A.L. Omole, University of Ibadan Godwin Onokerhoraye, University of Benin Mike Osborne, University of Stirling Judith Osuala, University of Nigeria Adama Ouane, UNESCO Institute for Education Julia Preece, University of Glasgow John Storan, University of East London Edward Turray, University of Sierra Leone A C.I.P.Catalogue record for this book is available from the Library ofCongress ISBN-10 1-4020-4323-6 (PB) ISBN-13 978-1-4020-4323-9 (PB) ISBN-10 1-4020-4324-4 (e-book) ISBN-13 978-1-4020-4324-6 (e-book) Published by Springer P.O.Box 17,3300 AA Dordrecht.The Netherlands www.springer.com Printed on acid-free paper. All rights reserved. © 2006 Springer No part ofthis work may be reproduced,stored in a retrieval system,or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, microfilming, recording or otherwise, without written permission from the Publisher,with the exception ofany material supplied specif- ically for the purpose ofbeing entered and executed on a computer system,for exclusive use by the purchaser ofthe work. Printed in the Netherlands FOREWORD Overcoming oppression and exclusion through measures of equity, resolving conflict without violence, and establishing the conditions for mutual recognition of our individuality and cultural diversity are funda- mental ambitions of justice everywhere. The ultimate goal is the promotion of human dignity and freedom, social harmony, and respect for the environment. To the extent that genuine empowerment, reconciliation, and tolerance rely on knowledge for making informed decisions and taking appropri- ate action, justice is an affair of education. Only through insight into the nature and causes of discrimination, strife, and prejudice can wrongs be overcome and the moral and legal structures necessary for fairness and right conduct be successfully developed. In this perspective, education is a primary means for achieving social justice and harmonious living. Indeed, one of the moving forces of the current decade, building on the great dem- ocratic and civil rights struggles of the preceding century, is the power of education to construct peace in the minds of men, women, and children. Education does this not merely through the learning of universally shared values and the basic principles of justice but also through everyday practice in classrooms, schools, colleges, and, indeed, all learning environments. The values of justice and fairness are not abstract but are concrete and immediate. Even with modest levels of resources at our disposal, much can be done. The conviction guiding the present volume—Widening Access to Education as Social Justice: Essays in Honor of Michael Omolewa—is that increasing the availability of educational opportunities and ensuring the ability to take advantage of them is a fundamental component of any equi- table community. Like the demand for justice itself, the demand for educa- tion is not a good that can be denied too long once it has entered people’s minds. It is an old adage that bestowing knowledge, like lighting one lamp from another, does not deplete its source but augments it. Lighting the lamp of education is a common duty of free human society. Access to education preserves and promotes the cultural heritage of humankind by sustaining and developing cultural diversity and human cre- ativity, for instance, by incorporating indigenous forms of knowledge, employing mother-tongue instruction, and taking account of local needs in education systems, whether formal, nonformal, or informal in character. Likewise, globalization, if it is to have a human face, must reflect the many facets of cultural diversity so that mutual respect and solidarity may be nurtured. vi Foreword It has long been UNESCO’s role to promote and facilitate dialogue among Member States with a view to constructing an agenda of global peace and justice based on democratic ideals and sustained by consensus. UNESCO’s commitment to social justice is reflected in its subscription to the principles, goals, and targets of the Millennium Declaration. Effective access to basic education of good quality is central to combating poverty, hunger, and disease and working for gender equity, maternal health, and environmental sustainability. Education for All (EFA), in which UNESCO is playing a leading role, is grounded upon a vision of global equity in which the learning needs of all children, youth, and adults, male and female, are met. Education is a good in itself but also a means for achiev- ing other goods. By making the availability of educational opportunities and the ability to take advantage of them central to the concerns of social justice, the pres- ent volume aptly pays tribute to the work of Michael Omolewa, President of the 32nd UNESCO General Conference and Permanent Delegate of Nigeria to UNESCO. Professor Omolewa has had a distinguished career as a scholar, civil servant, and diplomat, working academically in the field of adult education for his native Nigeria and the African region, as well as on the international stage. His work attests to the fact that lifelong learning in all modes of education contributes substantially to empowerment, reconcil- iation, and tolerance and in this way fosters social justice. Literacy in par- ticular, as he has repeatedly shown us, should not be construed merely as a tool for reading and writing, but represents a skill for both economic and social advancement. It is a means for unfolding one’s personality and improving one’s livelihood. It is the responsibility of a truly just society to open up as many routes of access to education as possible. As Michael Omolewa knows, education is an enduring asset that grows in value the more it is used. Koïchiro Matsuura Director-General, UNESCO PREFACE Education as a human right was enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948, a document that can rightfully be characterized as the Magna Carta of our times. In today’s world of knowledge-driven societies, the need to expand access to education goes beyond mere ideal- ism. Education has become a necessary practical tool for ensuring eco- nomic well-being, political participation, and social justice for all nations and peoples. Expanding access to education has become an important com- ponent of social justice. Over the years many nations have come to acknowledge that widening access to education is an irreducible minimum for individual, community, and national development. To date, UNESCO remains the most visible and internationally acknowledged global agency in this regard. It continues to play a leading role through advocacy programs that bring together member states to affirm the goal of widening access to education. In recent times, UNESCO has become more ardent in getting member states to endorse policies and actions aimed at widening such access. The 1990 World Conference on Education for All in Jomtien, Thailand, sensitized Ministers of Education to global shortcomings in widening access and succeeded in revitalizing all the national representatives in attendance. The conference itself concluded by asking every member state to embrace the initiative of EFA and to commit resources for implementing it on a national scale. The emphasis placed on the principles of “Education for All” is a reminder that when nations restrict access to education, they are equally reinforcing social injustice, the common corollaries of which include inequality, marginalization, pauperization in most cases, and several other unintended outcomes. While problems of access to education still persist in developed countries and have been considerably aggravated by immigra- tion, the problem is truly immense in developing countries. In both devel- oped and developing countries, policy-makers and practitioners, researchers and scholars, have often shown great dedication in reflecting and acting on these issues. However, for reasons that are easy to surmise, voices from the South have not often been heard at the international level. Nevertheless, by a happy historical chance, one Southern scholar, whose whole life has been one of intense advocacy of widening access to educa- tion, entered the limelight when he was elected President of the UNESCO General Conference on September 29, 2003, in Paris, France. That scholar is Professor Michael Abiola Omolewa, who has also been Nigeria’s Permanent Delegate to UNESCO since 1999. Upon his election, the Community and Adult Education Research Society of Nigeria (CARESON) viii Preface discussed the import of that international recognition and decided that Professor Omolewa should be honored with an international, research- based publication on widening access to education. CARESON committed resources to the achievement of that goal. When its resources were spent, however, it turned to several people and organizations for assistance. The necessary funding was provided by UNESCO and a friendly family, for which we are deeply grateful. Previously, there was not a single book that attempted to bring together truly global perspectives on the widening of access. This volume aims to fill that gap. It presents reflections on international initiatives for expand- ing access to education, as well as on the achievements, failures, contradic- tions, and challenges that have accompanied these efforts. The book is arranged in five parts. Part I joins biography with history by providing a sketch of the life and work of the man honored here and also offers discussions of foundational issues related to the widening of access to education. Part II presents overviews of potential ways of expanding access through institutional partnerships and new technologies, while also capturing the dark shadows cast by poverty and the HIV/AIDS pandemic on the future of access to education. Part III presents specific case studies in national contexts, as well as cases related to particular geographical regions or sectors of education. Part IV addresses issues of present research, particularly the contexts in, and conditions under, which it is car- ried out. And Part V considers the future prospects of widening access to education. The experiences described in this book are challenging, insightful, and thought-provoking. The chapters are rich in lessons from which educational planners and policy-makers, politicians, scholars, students, and the general reader are certain to profit. This volume, taken as a whole, should provide a welcome companion to all who desire a global picture of widening access to education as social justice. Of equal importance to the contributions of CARESON and UNESCO in the production of this volume was the readiness of several eminent schol- ars to serve as editorial advisors and reviewers or authors. Many of these scholars rendered invaluable services ensuring the quality of writing and thought in the present volume. Most of the editorial advisors have had to read several drafts of the manuscripts. Some read more than four chapters, and we realize how difficult that was given the fact that many of them were quite busy already. We are deeply indebted to these scholars for the services they have rendered. While space will not permit us to detail the help ren- dered by each and everyone of them, we cannot go without drawing special attention to the contributions of Professors Burtch, Dibie, Fasokun, Onokerhoraye, Osborne, Osuala, Preece, and Storan, each of whom will- ingly took on extra assignments on very short notice. It is extremely Preface ix encouraging to know that there are so many eminent scholars in the North and the South who are ready to work together in the spirit of global unity and support for the development of scholarship in the area of widening access. The chapters have been written by eminent scholars carefully selected from all regions of the world. We are certain that readers will find much food for thought in these pages; we are confident that this book will long be a valuable compendium for all who are interested in the global initiative to promote social inclusionism and the widening of access to education. That the production of this book has been achieved within the specified schedule is also the work of several individuals whose involvement in the project has ensured the speedy completion of its various aspects. We are especially grateful for the help of the UNESCO Institute for Education in supporting the production of this work. We also wish to thank wholeheart- edly the Director-General of UNESCO, His Excellency, Mr. Koïchiro Matsuura, whose words of encouragement motivated us to pursue this proj- ect to its logical conclusion. That he agreed to write the Foreword to this book is itself testimony to his enthusiasm and commitment to the promo- tion of access to education and the eradication of illiteracy from this world. We are immensely grateful to him and all staff at UNESCO who wrote to encourage us in this initiative. Finally, we are very appreciative of the gen- erous cooperation of the authors, who completed their manuscripts in accordance with our specifications and by the deadline for submission without complaint. To all who have contributed their knowledge and talents to the comple- tion of this project we express our heartfelt thanks. Akpovire Oduaran and H.S. Bhola TABLE OF CONTENTS Foreword......................................................................................... v Koïchiro Matsuura Preface............................................................................................. vii Akpovire Oduaran and H.S. Bhola Contributors................................................................................... xv Part I Foundational issues 1. Michael Omolewa’s advocacy of widening access to education Gbolagade Adekanmbi, Rashid Aderinoye, and Abidoye Sarumi.............................................................................................. 3 2. Widening access by bringing education home Roger W. Boshier.............................................................................. 23 3. Access to education: a global perspective H.S. Bhola......................................................................................... 44 4. Conceptualizing the widening of access to education as social justice Akpovire Oduaran............................................................................. 69 5. Education, law, and social justice Brian Burtch..................................................................................... 83 6. Globalization and state socialism: end of illusions or new educational opportunities? W. John Morgan................................................................................ 95 Part II Overviews 7. Widening participation for social justice: poverty and access to education Julia Preece.................................................................................... 113