Africa Programmes: How
LCD has a great deal of experience in rural educational development in
Africa. Flowing from this experience, LCD has developed unique set of
interventions to assist schools and District Departments of Education in their
development and performance improvement initiatives.
Click on the links below to find out how LCD works:
School Interventions
School Development Planning and Incentive Grants
 LCD knows that the
key to successful school improvement depends on a combination of effective
leadership and high quality teaching. LCD works closely with schools to help
produce School Development Plans (SDPs). SDPs look at all aspects of school life
and prioritise the improvements needed to help the school progress. SDPs also
include a breakdown of the resources needed to carry out activities within a
given timeframe.
LCD trains School Management Teams (SMTs) and School Governing Bodies (SGBs)
on how to develop their plans. In addition, LCD provides schools with an annual
School Incentive Grant to enable them to put their plans into practice. Schools
are supported and monitored to ensure that their plans are put into action. The
plans are also shared with district staff who are then in a position to
accommodate school priorities into their annual work plans.
School Governance Training
While it is vital that community members are part of School Governing Bodies
(SGBs), it is equally important that they are trained in their roles and
responsibilities. For some people, it will be the first time they have had to
deal with school management issues.
To promote good governance practices, LCD has developed a simulation game
that focuses on how resources can be allocated to ensure they have the widest
effect as possible. The game is designed to involve of all members of School
Management Teams (SMTs) and School Governing Bodies (SGBs). The game acts as an
introduction to the importance of good resource management and the impacts this
has on the school performance, including children's learning.
By playing the game, all participants are introduced to the basic approaches
that support school governance. The game has also been specifically designed to
take into account SGB members with different levels of literacy.
School Financial Management
 The success of a
school can hinge on how well their financial resources are managed. Sound
financial management practices ensure school resources are used effectively in
order to achieve the school's mission and meet the priorities outlined in the
School Development Plan (SDP).
LCD trains members of School Management Teams (SMTs) and School Governing
Bodies (SGBs) in financial management. The aim of this exercise is to ensure
that the committees have the necessary skills to deal with school finances
confidently and effectively. The training also highlights the need for clear
accountability and transparency in all financial matters.
The training focuses on school financial requirements from government policy,
such as: the development of school budgets in an inclusive manner, managing and
recording all financial transactions and adopting sound financial reporting
processes. LCD also supports schools to develop school finance policies and to
set up school finance committees to oversee all financial activities.
HIV/AIDS Action Planning
HIV/AIDS has had a devastating effect on rural communities in Africa. In
addition, HIV & AIDS has also had a negative impact on the education sector. In
order to address the HIV & AIDS pandemic in Africa, LCD has developed a unique
programme that places schools at the forefront in the fight against HIV and
AIDS.
District officials, School Management Teams (SMTs) and School Governing
Bodies (SGBs) are trained to develop HIV/AIDS Policies and Action Plans for
their schools and districts. The documents focus on how the school and the wider
community are going to actively prevent the spread of HIV, support those pupils
and teachers that are either infected or affected by the disease while
continuing to maintain the delivery of high quality education.
LCD visits schools following the training to support and monitor the quality
of the Action Plans that have been developed. The training and resources
provided have encouraged schools and district staff to produce a practical and
realistic response to HIV/AIDS at the institutional level.
Headteacher training
 LCD experience
has shown that schools which lack good leadership have lower attendance by
pupils and teachers as well as poor pupil performance. Furthermore, community
involvement and overall staff morale also appears to be negatively effected by
poor or ineffective leadership.
By working with headteachers LCD aims to improve the quality of school
leadership and management, to produce significant and measurable school
improvement and to improve pupil performance levels.
Headteachers are trained in leadership, curriculum management, time, resource
and personnel management, financial management and School Development
Planning. LCD also provides in-service training to headteachers in key school
management and governance focus areas. The INSET programme is complemented by
consistent follow-up support visits to headteachers at their schools.
Community based fundraising training
Community involvement in school life has been shown to directly relate to
increased enrolment, improved attendance of pupils and ultimately enhanced
school performance.
LCD works with schools to ensure that community members are actively involved
in school life through either serving on School Governing Bodies (SGBs) or
participating in wider school governance activities. By encouraging the
community to raise funds for school development, the SGBs are placed in a
position where they (as the elected representatives of the community) have a
real and tangible stake in how school resources are allocated and managed.
Community-based fundraising is characterised by two key processes. Firstly,
schools are encouraged to involve the entire school community in the development
of the School Development Plan (SDP). This ensures that everyone commonly agrees
on the needs of the school. Secondly, given LCD's commitment to a co-funding
approach to promote school improvement, an identified sum of money has to be
raised by the community before LCD issues an annual grant to the school for its
school development priorities. This co-funding arrangement merely reinforces the
critical nature of partnership and places an obligation on schools to fulfil
their responsibilities before additional resources are released into their
care.
Ultimately, parents become more aware of school issues and begin to see the
value of actively participating in their child's education. By promoting
increased parental involvement in school decision making, parents become
empowered and their increased confidence in school matters is a signal to them
that they can make a difference.
District Interventions
School Performance Review
Monitoring and evaluating school performance is vital to ensure that schools
and districts know where resources should be placed in order to improve the
quality of education. Unfortunately, in many countries the systems for data
collection are quite poor with little clarity as to who is responsible for
collecting, storing, analysing and reporting on such data.
 LCD has
developed a unique and participatory approach that identifies how well children
are learning at all levels of the system. Data is collected by both schools and
district officials in the areas of leadership and management, governance,
teaching quality and community involvement. Once the data has been collected and
analysed, reports are compiled and district staff share them with the individual
school. This ensures that schools and districts are better able to plan for the
year ahead.
In addition, the district is able to analyse data from all the schools they
support and really understand how they can improve their monitoring and support
activities. This in turn will bring about the changes needed to improve in the
quality of education being offered to all children. The combined results from
the School Performance Review and a district plan for the way forward is shared
with all stakeholders at an annual district conference. The conferences make the
work of the district and the progress it has made in promoting school success
both accountable and transparent to all stakeholders.
District Integrated Planning
 Since 1996, LCD
has been working with District Education Offices, focusing on the quality of
service they are required to deliver to all their schools (whole district
delivery). LCD works with district staff to ensure that district plans are
closely related to national and regional education policy priorities as well as
to the needs of schools.
The districts are assisted in producing an integrated (whole district)
operational plan alongside a district delivery statement. These documents are
used by the district education department to convey a clear message of how the
district intends to meet school needs and improve their support to schools.
Districts that have adopted the District Integrated Planning (DIP)
methodology and have adapted it to suit their own needs appear to be in a much
better position to focus their support on needs that have been identified by
individual schools through their School Development Plans (SDPs).
Circuit Planning and Incentive Grants
Circuit Supervisors (CS - Ghana) or Education Development Officers (EDOs in
the EC) are the link between the district and the school. They provide vital
on-site school management and governance support. Unfortunately, unless district
education offices are able to provide effective monitoring and support to
schools the opportunities for school improvement are likely to be limited.
LCD trains Circuit Supervisors in prioritising their needs and developing
Circuit Development Plans (CDPs). District officials are also trained in
developing valuable workshop facilitation skills. In order to improve the
monitoring and support function of districts in Ghana and Uganda, LCD provides
small grants to Circuit Supervisors to ensure that they have the necessary
resources to regularly visit schools. As a result, schools are visited more
frequently with headteachers receiving additional support to effectively manage
their schools.
Frequently Asked Questions
Surely attempting to support so many
schools, results in you 'spreading yourself too thin'. Would it not
make more of an impact to concentrate on fewer schools to give them
more? Why the focus on partnership with
departments of education - wouldn't it be easier to just get on with it by
yourself? Why do you support teachers who are
already in schools, rather than focus on teacher training colleges, which
would surely have a more sustainable impact?
Surely attempting to support so many schools, results in
you 'spreading yourself too thin'. Would it not make more of an
impact to concentrate on fewer schools to give them more?
 Link believes strongly in systemic change - that is to
say - effecting changes which can be as far reaching as possible, so
that more people can benefit. We therefore develop, trial and
evaluate models of educational development which have the potential to
be upscaled to the regional, national or even international
level. As we work in partnership with departments of education,
our projects must run in line with their districts, therefore being
available to every school in those districts. Only in this way
can these projects provide realistic models for what can be achieved
on a larger scale.
Also, Link believes strongly in empowering schools to drive their own
development; we do not want to foster any kind of dependency.
Rather than provide funding, resources or support that will grind to a
halt the day our project ends, we aim to provide schools with the
skills and the motivation to secure the support they need
themselves.
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Amogelang School in Soshanguve used their Link
grant to buy reference books for the library.
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If this means a school takes five years to raise the money it needs
to build a library, this will be preferable to Link simply buying a
library for the school.
The school will not only be left with skills and experience in
fundraising and school development, but the whole school community
will also probably have a greater sense of ownership of the
library. The school is therefore more likely to be able maintain
the library into the future.
Link does realise the value of model schools - 'centres of
excellence' - which can act as examples and inspirations to other
schools. It is for this reason that Link has sent up its
Special Projects programme, whereby UK groups, such as schools,
can undertake substantial fundraising to help a particular African
school achieve a prioritised development goal, such as a new science
laboratory. In keeping with Link's policies, it is the African
school which drives the Special Project - by planning the development
and securing some of the funds or resources needed.
Why the focus on partnership with departments of
education - wouldn't it be easier to just get on with it by
yourself?
Yes, it is true, development projects often progress slowly, or in
fits and starts, for many reasons. But working slowly and
carefully, and working with the government, have several crucial long
term benefits. It means that changes are more likely to be
accepted and backed by the various groups and individuals
involved. It means that projects can evolve in response to
changing situations and needs, tailoring themselves to remain relevant
and effective. And it means that problems in the existing
education system can be exposed and addressed. For example, it
would be misguided to improve the management skills of 100 school
principals if the state system itself did not have the skills or
capacity to provide effective training and support for its
principals. The issue needs to be addressed at both the
government and school level, and, crucially, the working relationship
between the two needs to be a focus of the project.
Why do you support teachers who are already in schools, rather than
focus on teacher training colleges, which would surely have a more
sustainable impact?
It is a recognised fact that no matter how good a teacher's
pre-service training was, he or she will still require extra training
and support during his or her career - for example if a new national
curriculum is introduced.
South Africa is particular case. Under apartheid black teachers
were purposefully under trained, so that they would deliver a low
standard of education to black children, equipping them for nothing
more than unskilled jobs. These teachers are still teaching
today, and the majority will continue teaching for years to
come. It is these teachers in particular who need extra training
and support. Also, the South African government launched a new
national curriculum in 1997 which is highly complex and differs
dramatically to the previous one. Many South African teachers
feel as though they are drowning in change.
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