Stellah Keihangwe Tumwebaze1
Public Private partnership in Adult Basic Education
What is it?
Public Private Partnership is a working arrangement that is planned to bring various
resources and abilities from the Government of Uganda, civil society and private sector to
achieve specific results in adult education and literacy that none of the parties working
alone would get.
It is also understood as a range of relationships between the public and private agencies.
The minimum element to some degree of formal systematic participation in a
traditionally and previously dominated by the public services.
Clarity of terms
Public: This refers to either central or local government (sub county, district or central)
Private: Not belonging to either central or local government (NGOs, CBOS, FBOS,
Cultural groups and associations)
Partnership: A formal relationship between partners who have agreed to systematically
work together and mutually support each other towards spelt out common goals.
Adult Basic Education: In this paper ABE is defined as foundation or essential
education aimed at meeting or expanding the basic learning needs of adults
Note that this paper only presents the practical partnership between civil society and
government. The business sector has not yet joined the variety of partners.
It is also important to note that by the Government of Uganda, I am referring to national
ministries and their institutions, plus local governments and their institutions. Civil
society includes the national and international NGOs, Religions, institutions, trade
unions, kingdoms, independent research organisations, the media and many other
1
National Coordinator, Literacy Network for Uganda
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people’s organisations. Again, this paper will narrowly focus on the partnering of
government and NGOs. This is because the other elements of civil society have not yet
been won over in the partnership.
Why partnerships?
Improving education requires the collaboration of a range of actors-government,
business, civil society, independent experts, communities and families. A sound education
system benefits business by providing a well educated work force, political stability and
economic growth. Businesses can benefit by partnering with government to influence the
use of public resources and policy; leverage government resources, education expertise,
and legitimacy; gain access to national and community leaders; enhance corporate
visibility; and deliver on social responsibility commitments (George I, 2006, pg 6).
The Uganda’s poverty reduction strategic paper strongly supports different forms of
partnership in service delay, adult education inclusive: (PEAP, Pg175) It further states
that, civil society groups suggested that some of the delivery of adult literacy
programmes should be sub-contracted to NGOs and against this background, our
government (Uganda) agreed to consider this proposal.
Where governments have entered into serious partnership with NGOs and other private
agencies, the results have been impressive. One example is Brazil’s “literacy solidarity”.
NGOs are often noted for their innovations, aggressive approach, quality outputs and
implementation structure that allows them to be at the grassroots level where the majority
non-literate live (Litado 2003, pg5).
There is a case for promoting public private partnership in Uganda. Other than NGOs
playing a significant role in the delivery of ABE services in Uganda, CSOs have proved
to be fast and innovative in addressing challenges in the implementation of adult literacy
programmes (LitNet 2006, pgix)
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A strong partnership between civil society and government should be hinged on clear
roles and responsibilities. The different roles in ABE partnerships have been researched
and documented as shown below
Source: LitNet Research, 2006.
The study clarified on different roles to be played by different players in the delivery of
the adult literacy programme in Uganda. This has further facilitated the establishment of
partnerships in the districts.
Adult education in Uganda has benefited from partnerships and collaboration into various
agencies in bilateral and international arrangements (Okech pg 5). Some of the aspects of
adult education that have been achieved under partnerships include;
i.
Professional development of adult education providers and their institutions
ii.
Curriculum and materials development
iii.
Policy development
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iv.
Research and publication
v.
Organising and celebrating international literacy day
How these have been achieved
Professional development
Co-operation in this category has covered training activities within the country, funding
for the organisation and managerial development of adult education institutions and
organisations and provision of personnel for technical assistance to develop and support
the institutions. Key players in this area has been the German Adult Education
Association as international NGO supporting government institutions, the Icelandic
Development Agency has contributed a lot in funding the capacity building of NGO staff
and Government in adult education areas.
Curriculum and materials development
The Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development has in the past worked closely
with NGOs in the development of the Adult Literacy Curriculum. NGOs are perceived to
be closer to the grassroots and therefore aware of their actual learning needs. The
involvement of government and NGOs has led to the development of literacy key
documents such as;
National adult literacy training manuals
Curriculum
Adult literacy learning materials
Research studies on adult literacy
National Literacy Strategic Investment Plan
National Literacy Management information system
In Uganda, NGOs have been recommended for their creativity in developing literacy
materials (Okech, 2001, pg 45).
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Examples of materials
Examples of materials that have been produced in partnership with government, national NGOs
and International development partners.
Policy Development.
The Uganda Draft policy on non formal adult learning was initiated by the civil society
and later taken up by the government. This shows the true partnership in the delivery of
adult basic education in Uganda.
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In 2002, Literacy Network for Uganda (LitNet) mobilised other civil society actors to
input in the National Literacy Strategic Investment Plan (NALSIP). The process was
initiated by the government and worked in partnership with NGOs to ensure that the
document is comprehensive.
Secondly, the Government of Uganda has worked with civil society in the development
and implementation of National Adult Literacy Management Information System. Civil
society played a key role in pre-testing the data collection tools and training in software.
Research in adult Basic Education.
One significant outcome of the partnership has been in research. Different adult education
actors have conducted studies and these have been a basis for the development of various
adult education programmes in Uganda. Examples include the adult needs assessment by
the Icelandic Development Agency in islands, Directory of Adult Education in Uganda by
Makerere University in partnership with UNESCO. All these and others have provided a
basis for the development of adult education programmes to cater for the diverse learning
needs of the learners.
LitNets recent study on partnerships has gone a long way to defining the roles of different
players in adult education delivery.
Will partnerships hinder or facilitate?
Since poverty is multidimensional, it includes lack of basic education and resultant
powerlessness and voiceless. If some of the expected impacts of ABE are to include self
confidence, self esteem, civil virtues, good governance and stronger civil society, then
civil society should or must be involved in delivery ABE. It is often claimed by NGOs
that they reach bigger areas and live within the community where the beneficiaries live.
Are we not missing the synergy of putting those with grassroots experience (CSOs)
together with those with a democratic mandate (government) and efficient groupings
(private sector)?
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Factors for effective partnerships
i.
Existence of CSOs with capacity and sizeable / significant share of service
delivery with a shared mission close to that of government is important for a
successful Public Private Partnerships.
ii.
A supportive policy framework and guidelines are pre-requisites to a
successful Public Private Partnership. These should be disseminated to
guide all the stakeholders and especially to the service providers. Details of
the specific partnerships should be highlighted in the implementation
guidelines contained in the Memorandum of Understanding (LitNet, pg 34).
For example, in Health where partnerships have been successful, a National
Health Policy has been instituted. This aims at strengthening collaboration
and partnership between the public and private sector. Similarly, the non
formal adult learning policy highlights how the government will work in
partnership with the private sector in the delivery of adult education.
However, it does not mention the mode and nature of different partnerships
it will consider.
iii.
Clearly defined areas of partnership facilitate Public Private Partnerships.
Different roles to be played by different actors in the delivery of adult
education have been defined both by LitNet research on partnerships and
non formal adult learning policy. Unless, the roles are clearly defined, the
partnerships are bound to fail as there will be overlaps and duplication of
activities.
iv.
The Public Private Partnership requires a lead agency but there should be
appropriate fora for effective representation of the private sector partners
both at central and the local government level. A network of civil society
organisations as the lead agency to coordinate civil society activities with
government is very important. Network monitors on government ensures
space for civil society participation in government initiated activities.
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Likewise, it is easier for government to reach NGOs through a network than
contacting each individually.
For effective partnership the CSOs should be willing to work hand in hand with the
government. There is a need to involve partners with good technical capacity and ability
to add value to the partnership. As much as commitment of partners is very important,
there should equally be enough CSOs on the ground with the capacity to deliver the
services (LitNet, pg 35).
Furthermore, it would be appropriate for donor funding to go through the partnership
basket and then Government identifies CSOs to implement the activities in a particular
area in consultation with the network. This would enhance collaboration and coordination
and increase information flows between the public and the private sector.
Conclusion
In Public Private Partnerships, civil society should be a loving, critical friend of
government. In the love, civil society should share in a transparent way its professional
expertise. Government should accept to open up on an equal basis, discuss and formulate
policies jointly with civil society. Funders should support both CSOs and government to
deliver adult education work in a systematic partnership. Various models of partnerships
should be tried out. When all these are done, then we shall be on the path to genuine
Public Private Partnership in Adult Basic Education.
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Bibliography.
George I et al (2006) The Untapped opportunities, USA
Kasaija S et al (2006) Public Private Partnership in Adult Basic Education-Research,
Kampala, Uganda
LITADO (2003) Literacy Advocacy, Kampala, Newsletter Article
Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development (2004) Poverty Eradication
Action Plan, Kampala, Uganda
Okech A et al (2001) Adult Literacy programme in Uganda, Kampala, Uganda.
Author Information
Stellah Keihangwe Tumwebaze has 9 years experience in Adult Literacy and Basic
Education work. Her specific experience is in designing training programmes for adult
literacy learners. She has worked closely with governments in developing literacy plans
and lobbying the government to incorporate them. Stellah has a Post graduate Diploma in
Project Planning and Management from the Uganda Management Institute and a
Bachelors Degree in sociology social Administration from Makerere University.
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