Teacher involvement/training
Support and monitoring
Book accessibility and availability
Costs and cost-effectiveness
Role of NGOs
Sustainability
Implications
Diana Rosenberg
The case studies highlight various issues which contribute to the effectiveness (or otherwise) of ways of providing access to supplementary education materials to the school population in Africa.
Of primary importance, whatever the modality, is that teachers themselves have had some sort of training in teaching with books and are heavily to committed to the need for the provision of supplementary reading materials. Too often in Africa the professional training of teachers has not stressed the importance of reading or equipped them to involve pupils in the learning process. The prevailing scholastic method depends on 'chalk and talk' and gives little encouragement to the development of free personal enquiry. The role of the teacher in a book-based approach cannot be over-estimated. Ideally they should be actively involved in the selection of materials, Unless teachers themselves are used to having and using books, they are unlikely to pass these skills on to their pupils. And then, however good the materials and the system that provides them might be, they are not used.
In Mali it was noted that, at the secondary level, neither teachers nor pupils had been trained in information skills. The training courses provided to those running the libraries were short and limited to organizational techniques.
In South Africa, the most successful READ schools were those with enthusiastic, motivated and committed teachers; those interviewed were unanimous that the teachers' role and attitude to the classroom library were crucial for maximizing access. Each teacher's creativity and ability to manipulate materials to suit each subject was critical to their use. Where classroom libraries were not used, this was often because teachers had reservations about departing from the traditional, more prescriptive methods of teaching and were reluctant to make use of books.
It was concluded in Mozambique that teachers' own fear of books meant that they did little to encourage their use. They were also frightened that books which were used would be lost and therefore loans were restricted. In both projects, training of teachers in the use of book box libraries was considered insufficient. In the MINED project, trainers did not pass on what they had learnt or circulate the guide on the use of book box libraries; indirect training did not work. An intermediate evaluation of the CODE project felt that objectives had not been reached because of the poor ability of primary school teachers to teach the early stages of reading. Success in introducing supplementary reading materials was linked to training primary school teachers in how to develop a better reading environment in their schools and communities. A new project component was therefore introduced aimed at improving the teaching of reading. As a result teachers began to be trained in the use of book box libraries to develop the oral tradition and the ability to tell stories in Portuguese and in methods of teaching reading and writing.
Although the TAC programme acknowledged the importance of training teachers, who would be able to develop their pupils' reading abilities and to encourage independent learning and acquisition of good information skills, the TAC tutors were provided with no additional training and the researcher found that on the whole they lacked an information consciousness, resulting in the locking away of materials and the failure to assess the information needs of users.
The READ programme gives as much emphasis on training as it does on the provision of materials; and this contributes greatly to the effectiveness of the classroom library modality. Courses are provided at leadership, primary and high school levels, with as many follow-up sessions and workshops at the district level as are required. They concentrate on moving teachers from rote learning to the child-centred approach and on the development of professional skills, like those of language. The approach is resource-based and there are also courses in materials development, encouraging teachers to write new materials together with their pupils.
In none of the case studies were teachers much involved in the selection of materials, which is a way of increasing involvement and participation. Those interviewed in South Africa would have liked more direct consultation, rather than through the leader-teachers. They felt their experiences would be valuable to the process. In Kenya, the subject panels charged with the task of selection had long fallen into disuse and anyway there was no budget. Secondary schools in Mali also relied on donations, so selection was not applicable.
Also crucial to effectiveness is the support received at Ministry, school and modality level.
Education is a government responsibility and, whatever the modality of information provision, it must have both the endorsement and the active support of government, especially that of the Ministry of Education or its equivalent. The major failure of the school library services in Ghana and Tanzania was that they failed to convince educational planners and administrators that school libraries were a necessity and not a luxury. In Ghana, official interest was said throughout to be cool and casual rather than active and sustained. The fact that the services emanated from the public library system was a weakness, despite the professional competency it promised. Momentum had to come from the Ministry of Education and therefore any SLS also had to be located there. In Kenya, there has never been any official policy towards school libraries, which has resulted in piecemeal development.
National school curricula also need to be resource-based, if educational materials provided are to be used effectively. In South Africa where the proposed new curriculum is outcomes-based, there is a new attitude towards the provision of learning resources. Where once the entire education system was characterized by a lack of understanding of the relevance of learning resources, now educators need to be familiar with such resources and how they can be used and learners need to acquire the skills to source, access and manipulate information. Those interviewed during the research reported that the Department of Education officials were totally supportive of classroom libraries and READ programmes. In fact the DoE wants READ's work to expand and an official report recommended that it service all nine provinces of South Africa.
One way of giving official recognition to library and book provision would be to certify courses taken by teachers. This was raised in South Africa. Those interviewed suggested that certification could be awarded after a number of training sessions, a certification that would be recognized by education authorities and rewarded. It would become a part of career progression. This would be an incentive for all teachers to become involved and would result in more teachers being motivated to give READ programmes the seriousness and attention they deserve.
At the school level, principals and heads need to be committed to the provision modality. Without this, teachers are not encouraged to use the materials, attend workshops, etc. In Mozambique, it was found that, without this support, school timetables did not have provision for library periods. In Kenya, school transport was not made available for teachers to visit TACs nor school subscriptions paid. In Mali the numbers of staff needed to run the library were not provided. A centralized school library service was of no use at all, if the schools themselves did not first establish libraries.
The case study from South Africa provides the most convincing evidence in this respect. Lack of support from school principals was identified as one of the biggest problems. Not only were teachers not encouraged to attend training workshops, but sometimes their classes had to be cancelled and they had to meet their own costs (which could be considerable for those in rural schools.) In addition, it caused a lack of continuity both between classes and between schools. One teacher's diligence could be nullified by the next class. What was needed here was a whole-school monitoring policy, to ensure the effective use of class libraries throughout the school. And such a policy could only emanate from the principal. READ has acknowledged this problem and has begun courses in school governance.
Teachers also need on-going support from the modality itself. They have to feel that their work is being given due recognition, their needs are being addressed and their day to day problems solved. This is the sort of support that a school library service gives, when it is run efficiently. Those interviewed in South Africa congratulated READ in this respect. A back-up of a network of leader-teachers and library advisers is available in each district. Teachers emphasized that this support was only 'a telephone call away'. The team spirit nurtured by READ also means that support is readily available from colleagues. The good interpersonal relations between READ library advisers and teachers was stressed, as well as the flexibility of the programme. Changes were made on request (for instance in the number of books per library) and workshops arranged whenever needed. Mutual respect and appreciation was the order of the day. Evaluation was in-built in the programme.
This type of on-going support was not always available in the other modalities. In Mali, school librarians worked very much in isolation and library users, both teachers and pupils, were critical of their abilities in managing information. It was the view of the researcher that TAC tutors in Kenya would need extensive training if they were to be able to create that atmosphere of cordiality and customer care needed to motivate teachers to use centres. They would have to be able to evaluate their collections and their relevance to the needs of the school population. For two of the book box systems established in Mozambique, the aim was to circulate the boxes and thus increase the numbers and variety of materials available. But the 'mobile' libraries project concluded that there was not much understanding about receiving and despatching boxes, whilst that organized by 'Action Nord Sud' decided that the human resources available (coupled with the lack of transport) would necessitate that the libraries became static in the future.
If books are to be integrated with learning, then it stands to reason that close proximity and constant access to books is likely to have the best results. If books are at hand then pupils will be able to read whenever they have a free moment and teachers will be able to pick up a book to illustrate a point. Books will 'saturate' the learning process. On the spot accessibility promotes greater use of resources, independent learning and the reading habit. In this respect the classroom library provides the best accessibility. It is open for both teacher and pupil use at every hour of the school day. Since it is located in the classroom it is near at hand and children can make use of books for many lessons during the school week. Queries raised and problems posed may be dealt with by teacher and pupil acting together at the time the need arises. Books are not hidden away in a locked cupboard or in a separate room, but can be there in the classroom on desks, tables and display racks.
And this is what happens on the whole in the READ classroom libraries. Apart from one school, which only allowed pupils to access the classroom library once a week, there were no restrictions. Teachers had concluded that free access was rewarding to the child. Home loans were allowed, except for Grades 1 and 2. Those interviewed thought that learners were satisfied with the amount of time they were allowed with books. They found it easy to be flexible and respond to individual needs in terms of time. Books could be exchanged or kept longer according to need.
In the other modalities examined, access proved to be a source of complaint. The secondary school libraries of Mali were only open during class hours - when pupils were in class; the hours also tended to be irregular. At one school over 60% of those questioned complained about the times of opening. Home loans were generally restricted to teachers. In Mozambique, the teacher in charge of the book box also taught, so the books were locked away from those not in his/her class most of the time. Transfers of teachers to other schools also caused problems, because the person who knew what to do was no longer at the school. Data on the usage of the CODE libraries shows this to be low: visits to the library per pupil over a year ranged from 0.33 to 1.4, with home loans over a year ranging from 0.9 to 1.3 per pupil. It could be the result of poor accessibility. This problem is likely to occur in the libraries being set up in Mali at the basic level. Access to TAC collections was even more problematic. The books were not available in the school but necessitated a journey by the teacher sometimes of 10 km or more. And the hours the TAC was open were very irregular and usually not more than two days per week. Information on what materials were available was not circulated. Even if a teacher found the TAC open, loaning material was not allowed. Only 20% of teachers interviewed had visited their TAC to source educational materials.
Also important is that the numbers of books available are sufficient for the numbers of teachers and pupils served and that the books are relevant to what is taught and up to date.
It is frequently argued that only the school library, because of its potential size, can meet these criteria, especially when it is run by a professionally trained librarian and backed by a school library service, which can provide supplementary material for special projects. And one of the secondary school libraries in Mali did provide the best ratio of books per pupil, nearly 5. However teachers and pupils were still dissatisfied and 80% claimed that readers' information needs could only be met by increasing and improving the collection; in particular journal subscriptions were required.
The numbers of books provided through the book box libraries (around 0.1 per pupil in the MINED project and 1.5 in that of CODE) were definitely insufficient. Interested pupils and quick readers had to wait. The same is likely to be true for basic level school libraries in Mali, which will offer 0.85 books per pupil. The books in all these projects have been selected by experts, so relevance is high. The MINED project offered three different book boxes, by level and according to whether a school was urban or rural. But in Mozambique there were still some complaints that not all the books provided were appropriate. The most sought after were the imported 4-colour publications with good illustrations; the texts of those produced locally were often long and difficult. The TAC collections were sufficient neither in numbers nor relevance. A frequent comment of teachers interviewed was that the materials were not sufficient and were irrelevant to their needs. Not all subjects of the primary school curriculum were covered.
Only those using the classroom libraries were satisfied. Each classroom library has a minimum of 60 books (around 1.7 per pupil) but the number can be increased and those interviewed usually managed libraries of around 120 books. Fast readers are catered for by borrowing from a library serving the next higher class in the school. Each library is carefully selected and graded, so that it meets the demands of the curriculum. READ also develops and publishes its own books - story books, picture story packs to encourage making up stories and theme packs over the curriculum - to ensure that libraries meet specific South African needs. The responsiveness of the selection policy to expressed needs, is evidenced by the way READ now includes fiction with mixed settings, rather than restricting stories to those with black African backgrounds.
Classroom libraries and book box libraries have been said to be restrictive and to act as a barrier to pupils moving on to the use of larger collections and to exploring other sources of information. The findings of the South African case study negates this argument. Whilst the teachers agreed that the classroom library was not sufficient for teaching all library skills to both pupils and teachers, it provides a stepping stone to larger collections. Some of the teachers take their pupils to public libraries in town and block borrow materials to enrich their classroom collections. In one school, some of the classroom libraries had been collapsed to form a central school library, which ran alongside the individual classroom libraries.
It has already been indicated that data on costs was not easy to find. Some comparisons are possible:
· in Mali, the libraries being provided to basic level schools cost in the region of US$3,000 each, i.e. about US$10 per pupil. This figure includes the purchase cost of the books (just over 50%); the rest is spent in training librarians and creating, equipping and operating the management structure in the Ministry. It does not include the cost of the library premises or the staff. The first library to open cost in the region of US$2,000 to build and equip; costs per pupil could therefore be in the region of US$17;· the cost of one READ classroom library has been estimated at US$313.50 and the cost per school at US$4,702.50. This works out around US$9 per pupil. This figure does not include any administrative or training costs. In other modalities examined these usually work out at around 50% of the total cost. Therefore in South Africa, the cost per pupil is likely to be in the region of US$18.
A big advantage of the classroom library is that it does not require any special premises or equipment (the existing classroom is its home). In addition it does not require the post of a professional teacher-librarian. The existing class teacher acts in this role. For South Africa, this is important. Expenditure cutbacks have targeted school libraries and have caused the withdrawal of full-time qualified teacher-librarians. The latter are no longer included in teacher/pupil ratios and schools need to raise extra funds, if they are to be employed.
· the book box libraries of Mozambique cost between US$0.12 (at the initial level of the MINED project) and US$2.75 (in the CODE project) per pupil. This was for the whole service, including the cost of books, training and administration. The number of books per box was small and no sort of organization was necessary. The boxes could be used anywhere and needed no physical facilities at all. In the rural areas, this was especially important as many school operated under trees. The box could be used there during the day and returned to a teachers' home at night;
· costs of the TAC collections were not available. But these were likely to be low. Existing buildings were used as premises, looking after the collection was only a small portion of the job of a TAC tutor and materials were received on donation;
· the secondary school libraries in Mali were not costed. However it was pointed out that they could not become effective unless they were run by professional librarians, housed in purpose built or specially adapted premises and offered adequate annual budgets to purchase the books and journals required to meet user needs;
· school library services can only supplement the library that is established and maintained by the school. Those examined appeared to have become an expensive and not very effective additional layer of bureaucracy.
There is no direct relation between costs and cost-effectiveness; the most expensive are not necessarily the most effective, nor the cheapest the least effective. TACs may be a low cost alternative, but they have made little impact. Their materials are inadequate and dated; because of distance from users, poor transport and irregular opening hours, access is difficult. Most teachers interviewed claimed that if a TAC closed down, it would make no difference at all to the education process. The school library services in Ghana and Tanzania proved to be expensive. Although it is acknowledged that they raised awareness about the need for school libraries, these libraries still do not exist on the ground.
School libraries themselves seem not to be a viable option because of cost. The policy in South Africa is that every educational institution should have its own library. But as only 17% of schools at present have libraries, that means that 22,550 schools need to have libraries built, equipped and maintained. Mali has chosen the road of setting up a library in each of the basic schools. However there are almost 2,000 of these schools and only ten were included in the first phase, with 20 planned in the second. And it is likely that these libraries will suffer problems in the availability and accessibility of materials.
Book boxes are a very economic way of providing books. They are especially effective where schools have no infrastructure and no access to other sources of information. But without sufficient training of teachers in promoting the taste for and habit of reading, the educational benefits are not satisfactory. The number of books available and their accessibility to readers is also limited.
Of the modalities examined, the classroom library seems the most effective in relation to costs. Pupils show confidence in reading and improved materials selection, analytical and critical thinking skills. Language proficiency can be increased by up to two years.
One issue arising from the case studies is the increasingly important role NGOs are playing in book provision at the school level. This role is not merely restricted to initiating and financing projects;
NGOs are also involved in day to day management. In South Africa, READ not only manages the purchase and distribution of classroom libraries, but has an extensive programme of training courses, organizes festivals, etc. to promote reading and publishes books relevant to South African needs. In Mozambique, whilst CODE, a Canadian NGO, provided the finance for the 'portable' libraries project, Progresso, a local NGO, was contracted to act as co-ordinator and manager.
The advantages of using NGOs are considerable. They can raise funds from all kinds of sources, ones that are perhaps not easily tapped by government. For example, READ relies very much on the private sector in South Africa for funding. Kenya, where school provision is the sole responsibility of government, this source has not been tapped, although two-thirds of the GDP is accounted for by private enterprise. And funders often find them more directly accountable than large government ministries. READ has managed to maintain its same funders over many years. NGOs are also more flexible in the ways they can operate. They can support local initiatives, as in Mozambique, rather than concentrate on the whole country situation. Decision-making is speedy. They adjust their staffing levels and expertise to the jobs in hand. There is no danger of staffing levels being maintained when the work or the finance for the work has disappeared, as has happened in the school library services of Ghana and Tanzania.
However there is the danger that national Ministries or Departments of Education may be tempted to abrogate their responsibilities towards school level provision. Their support and overall control and co-ordination is still required.
The researcher in Mozambique has pointed out that whilst there is a school libraries section in the Ministry, this has no policy and is without financial and human resources to function properly. The lack of a strong co-ordinating agency means that there has been a poor exchange of information between the various 'library' projects operating in the country. Previous experiences are not therefore used as a basis to move forward.
The government in South Africa is anxious that READ continue its programmes and expand them, into new districts and into high schools. But READ operates under financial constraints. It needs some financial support from the DoE to undertake new assignments. Teachers, who wanted to replenish their libraries in the middle of the school year, also thought that DoE could provide some financial support for this purpose. Financial support, rather than words, in the form of actual annual budgets was also required by TACs and secondary school libraries in Mali.
The introduction of curricula favouring book-based learning must also be the responsibility of government, as is recognition of courses related to the use of libraries, such as those run by READ.
All of the modalities examined are donor-dependent to a certain extent. None are self-sustaining or envisage self-sufficiency as an option. Only the MINED book box project in Mozambique was funded by the national budget and this took place in the early 80s. The school library services are still funded nationally, but that funding is mostly restricted to staff salaries and the books distributed are normally donations. The libraries purchased for the basic schools in Mali are paid for by the French government, those at the secondary level rely on donations to augment their collections. READ in South Africa raises all its funds, albeit mostly locally and from the private sector. The 'portable' library project in Mozambique was completely funded by CODE. TACs in Kenya have not received acquisitions budgets from the Ministry for the last five to six years; the material they have came on donation, most recently from DFID.
One way of moving towards sustainability is to look to the community for support. Those interviewed in Tanzania considered that the demand for school provision must come from below and then it might be possible to expect parental contributions towards the purchase of books or parental support in the organization of such events as charity walks. Parental involvement is a part of READ's philosophy, but the case study revealed that it was not working too well especially at the rural level. And no evidence was provided to indicate that this support had taken the form of income generation. Only in Mali, at the level of basic provision, had the community been involved in cost-sharing from the start. There the local population must provide appropriate premises, furniture and shelves. It seems that people have been keen to make this commitment. However to maintain the programme, further donor support is being sought.
Another way of ensuring sustainability, again suggested in Tanzania, was to actively promote cooperation with other libraries. No one form of information provision should try to be self-sufficient, but rather the total resources of the country should be made available to everyone according to need. This certainly seems to be happening to good effect in South Africa, where teachers introduce their pupils to the collections of the bigger public libraries in town.
Sometimes the existing infrastructure of a country must determine sustainability. In Mozambique, lack of transport and poor roads meant that circulating book box libraries were a non-starter. Transport and communication problems also impaired access to TACs by teachers in the surrounding areas.
Another factor affecting sustainability is the insufficient nature of locally published reading material. It was strongly felt (for example in Ghana and Kenya) that until there was a viable local publishing industry producing relevant material, in sufficient quantities and at realistic prices, then provision of supplementary materials to the school population would always be disadvantaged. However evidence from the case studies suggests that once modalities are in place, then publishing at the local level is encouraged, as the market is there. In Mali 18.4% of the books going to basic schools are published in Mali. In Mozambique, the CODE project by the fourth and fifth year had moved towards almost total acquisition of books produced locally. READ commissions and publishes locally a good proportion of its books.
From the evidence provided by the case studies, the conclusion reached is that classroom libraries as organized by READ provide the most effective modality. The chief features leading to that success are:
· adequate teacher involvement and training;
· on-going support;
· accessibility, sufficiency and relevance of books;
· moderate costs, with little demand on staff or premises.
However any modality offering the same characteristics could be equally effective. And it must be recognized that most African countries do not have the infrastructure, human resources and other facilities offered by South Africa.
More research is required, if this conclusion is to be anything but tentative. In the first place, this report does not include a case study of a modality which is becoming increasingly popular in Africa: that of the community resource centre, also known as the learning and education centre, etc. Here school pupils share resources and premises with other learners in the community, including adults. Its effectiveness needs to be analyzed. Other modalities also exist both in Africa and elsewhere.
In the second place, analysis of costs and cost effectiveness requires a more rigorous approach than is found in this report. Data on costs is difficult to find in existing reports and records, therefore more original and in-depth research is required. It would be interesting to compare the costs of well-run and effective services.
In the third place, there is a necessity to look at the same modalities as they operate in different countries and in different conditions. For example classroom libraries exist in many countries in Africa, but do not appear to have the positive impact of those operating in South Africa. Why is this? What underlying factors lead to their success? An examination of school level provision in one country, including all the various modalities and how they interlock, would also provide illuminating data.
