Addressing Comprehensive Educational Challenges in São Tomé and Príncipe

Written by Liam Mariotti

São Tomé and Príncipe is a small island nation off the western coast of Central Africa, with a population of 220 000 people and a surface area of 964 square kilometers. Its issues stem mainly from the lack of economic and social capital within the country, a common feature across the African continent, compounded by the geographic isolation and remoteness of the island. The country grapples with numerous educational challenges that hinder its socio-economic progress.  This article delves into the key issues facing the education system in São Tomé and Príncipe and tries to identify some feasible solutions that can improve the conditions of education and the opportunities it can provide to young Santomeans. 

Education system 

   The first topic that will be discussed is the education system. São Tomé and Príncipe’s education system comprises pre-primary, primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. Education is compulsory for children between the ages of 6 and 14, but despite this mandate, many children still face barriers to accessing formal schooling.

  • Pre-Primary Education: Pre-primary education is available for children ages 3 to 6, although attendance rates are relatively low due to limited infrastructure and resources. Pre-primary education aims to provide a foundation for learning and development, preparing children for primary school.
  • Primary Education: Primary education in São Tomé and Príncipe typically spans six years, starting at age 6. The curriculum includes subjects such as Portuguese language, mathematics, science, social studies, and physical education. However, challenges such as overcrowded classrooms, insufficient teaching materials, and a shortage of trained teachers impact the quality of primary education.
  • Secondary Education: Secondary education consists of two cycles: a lower secondary cycle (grades 7 to 9) and an upper secondary cycle (grades 10 to 12). While completion rates for primary education have improved in recent years, enrollment in secondary education remains low, particularly in rural areas. The curriculum at the secondary level focuses on academic subjects as well as technical and vocational education to prepare students for further studies or entry into the workforce.
  •  Tertiary Education: Tertiary education in São Tomé and Príncipe is limited, with a few institutions offering higher education programs. The University of São Tomé and Príncipe, established in 2008, is the country’s primary institution of higher learning. Tertiary education opportunities are limited, and many students pursue higher education abroad due to the lack of diverse academic programs and research opportunities domestically.

General issues

The primary challenge to education in São Tomé and Príncipe is the limited access to it, particularly in rural areas. The country’s remote geographical location, coupled with insufficient infrastructure and transportation networks, makes it difficult for many children to attend school regularly. Additionally, poverty often forces families to prioritize immediate economic needs over education, further exacerbating the problem.

While access to education is crucial, ensuring quality is equally important. São Tomé and Príncipe struggles with inadequate resources, poorly trained teachers, and outdated curricula, leading to subpar educational outcomes. Moreover, the language barrier, as the official language of instruction is Portuguese, presents a significant challenge for students, many of whom speak local dialects at home. Gender disparities persist in São Tomé and Príncipe, with girls facing greater barriers to education compared to boys. Societal norms, early marriage, and traditional gender roles often restrict girls’ access to schooling, perpetuating a cycle of poverty and inequality. Furthermore, São Tomé and Príncipe’s economy faces numerous challenges, including limited fiscal resources and dependence on foreign aid. Budgetary constraints often result in underinvestment in education, hindering efforts to improve infrastructure, recruit qualified teachers, and provide essential learning materials.  Retaining qualified teachers in São Tomé and Príncipe is also a significant challenge due to various  factors such as low salaries, inadequate professional development opportunities, and difficult working conditions. Many teachers leave the profession or seek opportunities abroad, leading to a shortage of experienced educators and impacting the quality of education.

The country faces challenges in ensuring inclusive education for children with disabilities, marginalized communities, and those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Limited resources, lack of specialized support services, and social stigma contribute to the exclusion of these groups from educational opportunities. Effective governance and policy implementation are critical for addressing educational challenges and driving reform in São Tomé and Príncipe. However, governance issues such as corruption, bureaucratic inefficiencies, and political instability can hinder the effective implementation of education policies and initiatives. São Tomé and Príncipe’s education system should not only focus on providing formal schooling but also prioritize lifelong learning and skills development opportunities for individuals of all ages, equipping students with relevant skills and competencies is essential for their personal development and future success in a rapidly changing world.

Thus, to sum up, Sao Tomé’s education system is plagued by a lack of economic resources, which translate into lack of opportunity, for both students and educators, and an incapacity to govern effectively. The lack of social capital also is a major issue as it is very difficult to find skilled individuals who can educate others. The next section will focus on potential solutions to these issues.

Possible solutions

Strengthening governance structures, enhancing transparency and accountability mechanisms, and promoting participatory decision-making processes can improve the effectiveness of education governance in São Tomé and Príncipe. Additionally, fostering collaboration between government agencies, civil society organizations, and other stakeholders can facilitate coordinated efforts to address educational challenges.

To enhance access to education, the government and relevant stakeholders must invest in improving infrastructure, including building schools and enhancing transportation networks, especially in rural areas. Furthermore, targeted initiatives such as school feeding programs and scholarship opportunities can help alleviate the financial burden on families and encourage greater enrollment. Addressing the quality of education requires comprehensive reforms, including teacher training programs to enhance pedagogical skills and proficiency in Portuguese. Additionally, curriculum modernization aligned with the country’s socio-economic needs and cultural context is essential. Investing in educational technology and digital resources can also enhance learning outcomes and prepare students for the demands of the modern workforce.

Empowering girls through targeted interventions, such as awareness campaigns promoting the importance of girls’ education and providing support to families, can help break down these barriers. Implementing policies that promote gender equality in schools, including the recruitment of female teachers and the provision of menstrual hygiene facilities, is crucial. Moreover, addressing underlying socio-cultural norms through community engagement and advocacy efforts can foster a more inclusive and equitable educational environment.

While the government plays a central role in addressing economic challenges, partnerships with international organizations, NGOs, and the private sector are vital for mobilizing additional resources and expertise. Sustainable funding mechanisms, coupled with transparent governance and accountability mechanisms, can ensure that education remains a priority in national development agendas.

Implementing strategies to improve teacher retention and motivation, such as increasing salaries, providing ongoing professional development, and creating supportive working environments, can help attract and retain talented educators. Additionally, recognizing and rewarding teachers for their contributions to education can boost morale and job satisfaction.

Promoting inclusive education policies and practices that accommodate the diverse needs of all learners is essential. This includes providing access to inclusive classrooms, adapting teaching methodologies to meet individual learning styles, and offering support services such as assistive technologies and special education programs. Expanding access to non-formal and vocational education programs, promoting entrepreneurship and technical skills training, and fostering a culture of lifelong learning can empower individuals to pursue diverse educational pathways and adapt to evolving socio-economic demands.

Conclusion

In conclusion, addressing the comprehensive educational challenges in São Tomé and Príncipe requires a multifaceted approach that encompasses various aspects of access, quality, equity, governance, and lifelong learning. While the country faces significant hurdles in providing universal and high-quality education, there are viable solutions that can pave the way for sustainable development and positive societal transformation.

Investments in infrastructure, teacher training, and curriculum reform are essential to improve access to education and enhance learning outcomes. Additionally, efforts to promote gender equality, inclusive education, and community engagement can foster a more equitable and supportive educational environment for all learners.

Furthermore, addressing governance issues, including corruption and bureaucratic inefficiencies, is critical to ensuring effective policy implementation and resource allocation in the education sector. Strengthening partnerships between government agencies, civil society organizations, and international partners can facilitate coordinated efforts to address educational challenges and drive meaningful change.

By prioritizing education as a fundamental pillar of national development and investing in the well-being and potential of its youth, São Tomé and Príncipe can unlock opportunities for socio-economic progress and sustainable growth. Through collective action and sustained commitment from stakeholders at all levels, the transformative power of education can be harnessed to build a brighter future for generations to come.

In closing, addressing the comprehensive educational challenges in São Tomé and Príncipe is not only a moral imperative but also a strategic investment in the country’s future prosperity and well-being. By working together to overcome these challenges, São Tomé and Príncipe can realize its full potential and create a more inclusive, equitable, and prosperous society for all.

References

Cover Image: Children in São Tomé e Príncipe via Wikimedia Commons

Educational challenges in Sri Lanka

Written by Sara Ahmed

Students report high pressure when attending school – Photo by Groundviews.

Introduction

Education lays the foundation for political, social and economic development of any country. The literacy rate of Sri Lankans in 2020 was 92.38%. However, Sri Lanka still faces many other challenges in the educational field. The downside of the free educational system of Sri Lanka and the lack of responsiveness of the educational system to the labour market requirements will be discussed below.

The downside of the free educational system in Sri Lanka

Since 1994, the Sri Lankan government, initiated a free education system for the public without any discrimination. The State provides free education at primary, secondary and university levels that is compulsory for children between five and 16 years of age. This had pushed the country forward into a leading position in the South Asian region in terms of literacy rate, gender parity, school enrolment rate and human quality index. However, it has been criticized for not being progressively improved and developed to cope with the changing world.

The Sri Lankan culture is highly education oriented rather than consumption and entertainment oriented. As a result, a significant proportion of the household income is spent by the parents on their children’s education. It has been a long dream of most of the parents to send their children to a state university. However, according to the reports of the Department of Census and Statistics there are about 300,000 students that annually sit for the Advanced Level Examination and approximately only a 60% percent of them are qualified for the university entrance. Nevertheless, out of these qualified students just about 15% are selected to the state universities of Sri Lanka leaving the rest of the people (85%) losing their dream to enter state university education.

Free education does play a key role today but insufficient government spending on education has led to a marked decline in educational standards in the country. Consequently, there is an emerging demand and social pressure for establishing private universities in certain fields of studies. The concept of private universities has been severely criticized and opposed by the majority of state university students’ movements and some of the social pressure groups. A solution for this could be to increase the annual university entrance intake while allocating additional resources to universities to accommodate them.        Due to lack of resources, certain examinations have become so competitive in Sri Lanka. For instance, the first government examination of a student; the Grade five scholarship has become more competitive than other examinations. That is because those who obtain better higher marks are eligible to have a good school and also good funds. Thus, parents force students to work hard for this exam. However, this pressure to take an examination since childhood has a bad impact on the mental stability of the students.

Another downside of the free educational system is the fact that the Sri Lankan government does not always have the resources to update the curriculums, teaching methods, courses, and career paths and the gap between free and quality education becomes bigger and bigger. Proper planning, better resource allocations, and more funds would certainly benefit the education system.

Disparities in access to quality education

Although Sri Lanka has managed to achieve high levels of literacy, it has been unable to provide students with high quality educational services. Sri Lanka ranks poorly in terms of science and math education and internet access in schools. Sri Lanka’s efforts have been primarily concentrated on basic education (particularly secondary), with much less focus on higher levels of education, such as universities. In order to participate successfully in the knowledge economy, the country will have to increase quality inputs such as IT access, constructive and effective teaching, better math and science education, whilst constantly consolidating existing high levels of literacy.          

Children’s access to ICT is low.  Few students and even fewer teachers are IT literate. Even in the elite public schools, access to computer facilities, defined by the student to computer ratio is well over 1:100. Computers alone are not enough to provide students with the comprehensive skills needed to use computers. This training should be supplied by capable teachers who are skilled in not only teaching students how to use them, but also using computers, themselves, in daily lessons and incorporating them into teaching methods.

Another issue is the lack of responsiveness of the educational system to the labour market requirements. While concentrating on exams, the products of this education system are fulfilled with knowledge, but less on practical activities. This is a major problem in the educational system of Sri Lanka. Many people have the theoretical knowledge, but they can’t perform well in their professions because they don’t have much practice on those things. This creates issues in the labour market and leads to a gap between theoretical and practical knowledge.

Covid-19 response

Sri Lanka was very prone to a fast spread of the virus mainly due to its tourism sector. One of the main challenges of the Covid measures in the educational sector in Sri Lanka was the fact that the distance learning modalities could not be uniformly applied across the nation as children have varying levels of access to laptops, mobile phones, TV, radio and the broader infrastructure that supports these systems. Students in remote areas for example, have no to very little access to internet and mobile phones/laptops. Hence, school closures have led to inequity in access to and participation in learning. For teachers in Sri Lanka, there were similar struggles in delivering the curriculum through distance learning modalities.

The teachers interviewed for the case study of UNESCO claimed to not have received any training on information and communications technology (ICT) or distance learning and had often had to teach themselves or find other creative solutions to keep teaching to its students. The UNESCO research shows that a major lack in the educational sector, which also existed before COVID, was the lack of monitoring systems which is needed to ensure and effective system of education. UNESCO, in its report, also recommended Sri Lanka to implement an effective monitoring system in the education field.

Conclusion

Access to education in Sri Lanka is free and has resulted to high literacy rates of the country. However, the education system is extremely competitive and poor physical and mental health of the school students due to heavy workload, competition, and pressure from the parents for getting better results is an issue that has not been cared and concerned for by the policy makers. It is therefore recommended for Sri Lanka to consider the impact of the workload on the students’ physical and mental health and divert the focus from classroom learning to activity-based learning to create better responsiveness from the education system to the labour market requirements. The whole world is changing, and Sri Lanka should always try to move parallelly with everything including facilities, systems, and technologies.

 

References

  • Iqbal Ahmad et al, ‘Critical analysis of the problems of education in Pakistan: possible solutions’, IJERE (3:2) June 2014
  • Kingsley Karunaratne Alawattegama, ‘Free Education Policy and it’s Emerging Challenges in Sri Lanka’, University of Sri Jayewardenepurra, https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1250461.pdf
  • Macrotrends, ‘Sri lanka Literacy rate 1981-2023’ <https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/LKA/sri-lanka/literacy-rate> last accessed on 22 April 2023
  • Rameez et al, Impact of Covid-19 on Higher Education Sectors in Sri Lanka: A Study based on South Eastern University of Sri Lanka, Journal of Educatiional and Social Researcg (volume 10, No 6, November 2020).
  • Rev Minuwangoda Gnanawasa, ‘A Study of a few recognised educational issues faced by Sri Lanka at Present’ (APCAR 2017), https://apiar.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/6_APCAR_MAR_2017_BRR739_education-35-42.pdf
  • Social Protection Toolbox, ‘Sri Lanka’s Universal Education System’ https://www.socialprotection-toolbox.org/practice/sri-lankas-universal-education-system
  • Team Next Travel Sri Lanka, ‘All About Free Education in Sri Lanka’ (2021), https://nexttravelsrilanka.com/free-education-in-sri-lanka/
  • UNESCO, Sri Lanka: Case Study: ‘Situation Analysis on the Effects of and Responses to COVID-19 on the Education Sector in Asia’ (2021)