UNITED NATIONS
ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COUNCIL
ECONOMXC COMMXSSXON FOR AFRXCA Eighth Session of Joint Conference
of African Planners, Statisticians and Demographers
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 21-26 March 1994
Evaluation of Fifteen Years of the
Distr. GENERAL E/ECA/PSD.8/16 2 February 1994 ENGLISH
Original: English
Statistical Training Programme for Africa (STP A)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Paragraph Number
I. XNTRODUCTXON... • 1-6
II. OBJECTIVES OF THE STPA 7-13
III. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS OF THE STPA 14-23 IV. XMPLEMENTATION OF THE STPA . . . 24-53
V. EVALUATXON OF STPA ACHIEVEMENTS 54-80
VI. COHCLUSXONS AND RECOMMENDATXONS • 81-86
Evaluation of Fifteen Years of the
Statistical Training Programme for Africa (STPA)
Table of contents
Para. No.
I. INTRODUCTION . . . II. OBJECTIVES OF THE STPA
III. INSTITUTIONAL ARRAHGEKENTS OF THB STPA (a)
(b) (c) ( d)
(e)
Regional component of the STPA STPA centres . • . • . • • • • Associate STPA Centres • • • • National statistical services •
Collaborative Arrangements with Multilateral and Bilateral Agencies
IV. IMPLEKENTATION OF THE STPA . . .
V.
(a) Provision of Fellowships for Training of Trainers at STPA centres • . • . • .
(b) Provision of Short-term Visiting Lecturers (c) Advisory Services and other Missions • • • (d) Conduct of In-service Training/Middle-level
Statistical Training at National Level (e) Preparation of Guide Syllabuses . • . • • (f) Organization of Meetings . . • . • • . • (g) Promotion of Research at STPA Centres • • (h) Dissemination of Information on Training
Activities • • . • • . . EVALUATION OF STPA ACH:IEVEKENTS
(a) Introduction • . • • . • • •
(b) Survey on the Evaluation of Fifteen Years of the STPA .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
(c) Overall Staffing of National Statistical Services in 1978/79 and 1992/93 in the African Region • . • . . • . • • • • (d) Enrolment and Output at STPA Centres (e) Fellowships for Training Trainers • (f) Use of Guide Syllabuses • • . • . • .
1-6 7-13 14-23 14-16 17-18 19-20 21 22-23 24-53
28-29 30-32 33-35 36-37 38-40 41-46 47-48 49-53 54-80 54-56 57
58-60 61-64 65-66 67-69
E/ECA/PSD.8/16
VI.
Table of contents (Continued)
Para. No.
(g) Increasing the Physical Infrastructures
at STPA Centres • • • • . • • • . . . • . . . . (h) Establishment/Improvement of In-service/Middle
Level Training at National Level • • • • • (i) supply of Teaching Material to STPA Centres (j) Organisation of Short-term Courses and
Seminars for Practising statisticians • (k) Views Expressed by STPA Centres and
Individual statisticians Regarding the Implementation of STPA
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS . .
Appendix I List of STPA Centres
Appendix II List of Associate STPA Centres
•
70-71 72-73 74-75 76-77
78-80
81-86
Appendix III Meetings organised within the Framework of STPA
Appendix IV Staffing Status of National Statistical services
Appendix V Enrolment, Output and participation of Women at STPA Centres
Appendix VI Enrolment, Output and participation of Women
at STPA Centres: Summary Table
1. It should be recalled that for the majori1:y of African countries, problems of shortage of staff and high turnover of qualified staff were experienced soon after they attained political independence. These problems were extensively disc:ussed for the first, time at the second session of the Conference of African statisticians in June/July 1961. As a result the conference initiated an intensive training programme to overcome the above problems. Initially emphasis was placed on middle level training with more gradual development of professional facil.tties.
2. In spite of the efforts made over the years, the staff position in many African statistical services remained unsatisfactory. The ninth session of the Conference of African statisticians which met in I..ome, , Togo in October 1975, once more expressed its concern about the prc)blems of meeting the statistical training needs for Africa and urged the establishment of a long- term programme for the training of statisticians and .:tn examination of related financial problems in order to ensure con't:inuity. This session recommended that a working group to consider African statistical training needs be convened with the purpos'~ of discussing statistical training needs in Africa. The working qroup met in Munich, Germany in August 1977 and gave special attention to the improvement of existing training centres and their effec:tive utilisation, the practical-orientation of their teaching programmes, reduction of the loss of qualified staff at national statistical agencies and financial resources required including the coordination of the statistical training activities :tn and outside the African region.
3. At the tenth conference of African statisticians in October 1977, the situation with respect to staffing of national statistical agencies was further. examined. It was noted that the staffing situation of the statistical services of the countries of the region was still not satisfactory. The conference there!fore adopted a comprehensive programme entitled "statistical Training Programme for Africa (STPA) which was formally instituted by resolution 9 ECO (XVIII) of the EC1\, Executive Committee at its eighteenth session held in Khartoum (Republic of the Sudan) in 1978.
4. The regional component of the programme was supported through a re9ional project financed by the united Nations Development Programme (UNDP) which was launched at ECA .in July /~.ugust 19"/8.
5. The main ideas which led to the establishment; of the STPA were: the continued loss of qualified staff from national statistical offices to parastatals, private sectors and. even to developed countries; under utilisation of existing training centres in the region due to lack of fellowships, conditions, of admission and courses offered; and most of the training courses particularly those offered by universities tended to be too academic.
E/ECA/PSD.8/16 Page 2
6. The present evaluation ()f 15 years of the Statist,ical Tra ining Programme for Africa (STPA) was requested at the seventh Elession of the Joint Conference of African PlanneI:s, statisticians and Demographers, held in Addis 1.baba 2-7 March 1992. There is need to compare result achieved during the fifteen years of the existence of the programme against the initial objectives and to look into the future. This evaluation covers the following' topics:
Objectives of the STPA; Institut:ional arrangements of the STPA;
Implementation of the STPA; Evaluation of the STPA achievem'~,nts;
and Conclusions and recommendations.
II. OBJECTXVES OF THE STPA
7. The main objective of the STPA is to ensure that the African region has a permanent supply of qualified statistical staff for national statistical services and other organizations in the p;.lblic sector as well as for the private sector. In this connection transfers to other posts of the public or private sectors within the same country do not constitute a loss for the c'Duntry.
8. To enable STPA attain i1:s objectiVes, i t .ras originally conceived as a ten year programme aiming at ensuring Africa's self sufficiency by: increasing th/~ number of trainedstatist:iciansi and improving and maintaining the quality of the serving statistical staff.
9. In terms of increasing t,he number of trained statist:icians it was thought that between the period 1978'-87 and probably on a permcment basis, STPA Centres should increase their output by half.
The most important increases were to arise from the increase in professional training courses in English-speaking countries, increase in the facilities, for the training of stat:istician- economist (ISE) for tbe French-speaking c'Duntries and implementation of a special project for portuguese-speaking African countries.
10. It was pr'oposed that STPA should serve as a framelA'ork for the coordination of t,he establishment, improvement and, if ne.ed be, the expansion of training facilities in Africa. It was decided t'hat STPA should offer training in the areas listed belOW.
11. Professional tra:l.ninq: Basic university training leading to the first degree in statistics (B.A, B.Se, B.stat., B.S) or equivalent qualifications in Engl.i,sh-speaking countries. In the French-speaking countries, university trainin':J woul.d lead to the following degrees: "Ingenieur deB travaux statistiques p:':rS)", Ing€mieur d' application de la statistique (IAS)" or equivalent qualifications.
12. pcat-qraduate .tudie. and apeCliali.ed training'. To enable the African region be less dependent on foreign institutions and personnel, three areas of training were considered including:
studies leading to the "statisticien-6conomiste" degree, masters or doctorate in statistics or equivalent qualifications; special training in the areas of national accounting, agricultural statistics, sample surveys, demographic statistics, manpower and employment statistics and electronic data processing; and short- term training courses and seminars organi~ed by training centres in the region or offered by external institutions for working statisticians.
13. Middle level training'. The training should lead to either
"diplOme d' adjoint technique de la statistique", or diploma in statistics or "diplOme d I agent technique de la statistique" or certificate in statistics. This training was proposed to be done at the country level, as and when professional statisticians increase and should be integrated into the programme of the national statistical services.
III. INSTITUTIONAL AlUlANGEMBHTS OF HE STPA (al Regional component of the STPA
14. After the adoption of the overall STPA, the Conference of African statisticians supported the view that ECA should play the role of coordination and leadership in order to facilitate the implementation of the programme. It was therefore decided to establish a proj ect which should enable the establishment of a regional mechanism providing operational support to the improvement and the expansion of the programme.
15. In accordance with the specific requirements identified by the tenth session of the Conference of African statisticians, the main objective of the project were to continue and expand the operational activities already undertaken in respect of:
- Support to all statistical training institutions of a regional or sub-regional nature through the provision of fellowships for training of trainers, provision of short-term consultants and cooperative development of teaching programmes particularly by strengthening cooperation among the various training centres;
- Organi~ation and servicing of meetings of directors of training centres from both inside and outside the region. These meetings were to
be
convened once every two years to discuss programme organization, development of curriCUla, the need for specialized courses, etc.;E/ECA/PSO.8/16 Page 4
- Provision of assistance to level training programmes.
formulation of projects and course materials;
countries in establishing middle Such assistance would include obtaining lecturers or providing Provision of assistance in the quest for financial resources, especially in respect of student fellowships, teaching staff, training of trainers and expansion of facilities, etc.;
- Appropriate dissemination of information on statistical training activities including annual surveys of activities of centres participating in the STPA which cover information on number of students, curricula review, financing and any associated problems;
Provision of any other coordinating services which help in implementing the STPA.
16. The financing of the project was requested from UNDP by the Economic and Social Council in its resolution 2054 (LXII). UNDP financed the STPA regional component in three phases during the period July 1978 to March 1993 as follows: Phase I (July 1978 - December 1981), the total amount allocated was US$1,305,672. Phase II (January 1982 June 1987), the total amount spent was US$1,674,713; From July 1987 to March 1993, the main activities under the STPA project were integrated together with those in the fields of National Accounts and Household Surveys, in UNDP financed project entitled "Statistical Development Programme for Africa (SOPA)". The global amount spent under that SOPA project was US$3,628,898. It is however difficult to estimate from that global allocation the separate amount spent for the STPA activities.
(b) STPA Centres
17. The STPA had as its foundation a group of existing training centres which have been developed over the years. Twelve of these training centres were selected at the beginning to participate in the STPA programme. The two essential criteria which were considered for their selection were the inter-regional (or regional) character of the services offered, and the practical orientation of their teaching programmes in order to meet the needs of national statistical services. Four additional centres were subsequently admitted, bringing the number of training centres participating in STPA to a total of 16, the sixteenth being the newly established professional level centre in Lisbon, Portugal, to be used by the portuguese-speaking African countries. The sixteen STPA Centres are provided in Appendix I.
18. The ultimate role of these STPA Centres is to contribute to the success of the STPA programme in ensuring Africa's self sufficiency by increasing the number of trained statisticians and improving and maintaining the quality of the serving statistical staff. To this end, i t was felt that assistance should be given to these centres so as to: improve their efficiency and output; re- orient their teaching programmes with a view to making them more practical while at the same time maintaining a good training level;
and ensure that they become self-sufficient.
(c) Associate STPA Centres
19. Since the centres participating in the STPA programme were to devote a major portion of their activities to basic training at all levels, it was understandable that they could not alone meet the pressing and growing needs of the countries in the region in respect of refresher courses and specialized training. Efforts were therefore made to identify what are known as STPA associate centres in order to supplement the activities of the STPA Centres by admitting more African statisticians in their refresher courses and specialized statistical training programmes.
20. The criteria which have been taken into consideration during the identification of these associate centres are the following:
organization on a regUlar basis of short refresher and/or specialized training courses for serving statisticians; adaptation of course programmes to the problems of developing countries;
participation in these courses of a Significant number of candidates from Africa; and establishment of links with the STPA Centres. A total of eight centres were selected as satisfying these criteria throughout the 15 years implementation of the regional component of the programme. The list of associate centres is provided in Appendix II.
(d) National Statistical Services
21. The National statistical Services (N55) had a challenging role to play during the implementation of the Statistical Training Programme for Africa. In the first instance, NS5 should have a strong cooperative link with the statistical training institutions.
The different forms of this cooperation could be as follows: the N55 had the responsibility of assisting training institutions in the organization of competitive entrance examinations mainly in the French-speaking African countries; one of the most important cooperative role of the N55 concerned the seeking of scholarships for statistical training of their staff who were admitted at STPA Centres; N55 were requested to organize in-service statistical training courses or middle-level training courses in order to improve the skills of their low level staff and to participate in the increase of middle level statistical personnel in the country.
E/ECA/PSD.8/16 Page 6
The NSS was responsible for the career development programmes for serving statistical staff and the establishment of appropriate incentives and attractive working conditions in order to avoid or at least to minimize the brain drain problem at all levels.
(e) Collaborative arrangements with multilateral and bilateral agencies
22. Before launching the STPA, UNDP financed a project entitled
"Working Group to Review Statistical Training Needs in Africa"
RAF/74/103 which enabled the organization of conSUltancy missions to appropriate multilateral and bilateral agencies concerned with the statistical training activities in the Africa region. The objective of those missions was mainly to inform these agencies about the establishment of the overall statistical Training Programme for Africa and to request their participation in the programme.
23. Agencies that had indicated their interest in the programme included the European Economic community (EEC), the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the united States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA), Germany, united Kingdom, France and some other bilateral agencies.
IV. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE STPA
24. In order to implement STPA, a work programme was prepared at the outset to ensure that all elements were adequately addressed.
The initial work programme covered the following elements:
dissemination of information on training activities; maintenance of equivalence of curricula and qualification; review and re- orientation of the study programmes to ensure a more practical training and supplement the general training courses through the provision of specialised training; development of additional projects and expansion of existing projects for professional training, including post-graduate and specialised training.
25. The work programme also included: assistance to countries desiring to draw up middle level in-service training programmes;
organization of short-term courses and seminars for working statisticians; training of trainers; teaching of statistics in secondary schools; periodic critical analysis and evaluation of STPA; effective coordination of the activities of STPA by ECA, especiallY through the biennial meeting of the Directors of training centres in and outside the region and the Joint Conference of African Planners, Statisticians and Demographers.
26. After ten years of operation of STPA and taking into account new developments and internal evaluations undertaken on the programme, the fifth meeting of Directors of STPA Centres held in Addis Ababa from 26-30 October 1987 adopted a new work programme for the global STPA programme for the period 1987-1991.
27. This work programme was similar to the one prepared for the period 1978-1987 and covered the following broad areas:
strengthening of centres participating in STPA and the role of associate centres in the programme; strengthening teaching programmes at STPA Centres and dissemination of information on statistical training activities; provision of special assistance to portuguese-speaking African countries; and coordination of activities undertaken within the framework of STPA. The achievement in the implementation of the STPA work programme during 15 years of the STPA are described below.
(a) Provision of Fellowships for Training of Trainers at STPA centres
28. The training of trainers at STPA Centres had two main objectives: to ensure that centres had qualified staff to teach statistics or related fields; and to enable trainers to conduct research in their fields of specialisation. In addition to fellowships provided by bilateral and multilateral donors, thirty nine fellowships were awarded by the regional component of STPA.
29. In STPA Phase I, twelve fellowships were offered, six fellowships in the fields of electronic data processing, statistical methods, sampling, applied statistics and experimental design while the remaining six fellowships were awarded to French- speaking lecturers at various centres to attend a ten-week refresher course in computer science in Paris. Under STPA Phase II, fourteen fellowships were provided covering the fields of statistics, economic science, computer science, sample surveys, operations research, statistical methods and applied statistics.
Under the SDPA phase, thirteen fellowships were offered covering the following fields: statistics, economics, statistical computing, development planning techniques, operations research, social statistics and participation in research activities. The duration of the fellowships varied from 1 month to 36 months depending on the training course chosen.
(b) Provision of Short-term Visiting Lecturers
30. The provision of short-term visiting lecturers at STPA Centres had two main objectives: to provide teaching in specialised fields and to fill the teaching gap of a trainer who had been awarded an STPA fellowship.
E/ECA/PSD.8/16 Page 8
31. A total of sixty five C65} short-term visiting lecturers assignments were undertaken during 15 years of STPA. The duration of the assignments ranged from 2 weeks to 52 weeks. Under STPA Phase I, sixteen teaching assignments were executed to seven STPA centres, three English-speaking and four French-speaking. Under STPA Phase II
Itwenty two teaching assignments were executed
Ififteen to French-speaking centres and seven to English-speaking centres. Under SOPA phase twenty seven teaching assignments were undertaken 10 to English-speaking centres and 17 to French-speaking centres.
32. It should
bementioned that due to expertise in applied statistics areas available in the ECA statistics Division, professional staff were at times requested to undertake teaching missions to STPA Centres and later from 1987 to national in-service training centres or middle level training centres at national
level.
Cc} Adyisory services and Other Missions
33. These were undertaken to three types of institutions: STPA centres, national statistical offices involved in in-service statistical training or intending to launch in-service statistical training and middle level training centres at national level.
Other missions undertaken outside Africa were mainly to participate in meetings, mobilize funds from donors, etc.
34. The objectives of these missions could be classified into the following broad categories: advise on the establishment and/or improvement of in-service training or middle level statistical training at national level; advise STPA Centres on various issues such as curricula, fund mobilization; fellowships for trainees and trainers, etc. during Advisory Board/Council meetings; assisting countries in the preparation of project documents which they could submit to donors for financing statistical training projects;
participation in joint studies with other organizations such as the 1982 joint EEC/ACP/ECA study on statistical training needs in Africa; participation in meetings in which statistical training matters were discussed; and conducting workshops for trainers involved in in-service statistical training/middle level training at national level of the countries.
35. Missions were undertaken at the request of NSS, STPA Centres, other training institutions or were programmed by ECA to ensure participation at meetings organised by ECA or other organisations.
DUring the period of the STPA the number of missions undertaken
during Phase I and Phase II were 28, and 72 respectively and under
SDPA phase the number of missions undertaken within the framework
of STPA were 56.
(d) Conduct of In-servic~ Training/Middle-leyel statistical Training at National Level
36. During Phase II of the STPA, efforts were made to establish and/or strengthen these programmes at national level. Indeed some countries in Africa had established these programmes some as far back as 1960. At the beginning of STPA, five English-speaking African countries: Ethiopia, Ghana, Mauritius, Nigeria and Zambia were organizing in-service statistical training programmes generally on a part-time basis. In the course of time some of these programmes were stopped either because the country had trained a sufficient number of their staff or did not haVE! the neces,sary resources to cont irme .
37. Over 30 technical advisory missions to more than 20 coun1~ries
were therefore undertaken to assess the status of the programmes at national level, discuss nleasures for the improvement of the programmes and to determine the type of assistance which was required for the programmes. As a result of these el:forts, by the late 1980s, programmes existed in the following English-specildng countries: Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania (Zanzibar), Zambia and Zimbabwe. In the French-speaking countries the programme existed in the following countries: Burundi, Central African Republic, congel, Ni.;rer, Mali and Rwanda. Indeed in addition teo improving the working conditions of the middle level staff, t,hese programmes led to qualifi.cation such as the certificate in statistics or "agent technique" and diploma in statistics or "Adjoint Technique".
(e) Preparation of Guide Syllabuses
38. Six guide syllabuses we,re prepared during the period 1982- 1986. The objective of Guide syllabuses is to assist in the maintenance Of curricula and qualifications and also in the review and re-orientation of course proqranlmes at teaching centres. The guide syllabuses were prepared at professional, middle and in- service training levels and in three language groups: English, French and Portuguese. This was necessary because of the differences in the education slystems existing in the three lang'.lage groups.
39. The guide syllabuses were: Guide syllabus for middle-lavel personnel in statistics (198:2) (English); "Programme'-type pou", la formation statistique de niveau moyen" (1982); Guide syllabus for in-service statistical training (1983) (English and translated :into French); Guide syllabus for .in-sG,rvice statistical training (1984)
(Portuguese); Gui.de syllabus for professional level statistical training (1986) (English); and "programme-type pour la formal:ion statistique de niveau superieur" (1986).
E/ECA/PSD.8/16 Page 10
40. As part of the revised 1987-91 STPA work programme, two '3uide syllabuses namely Guide syllabuses for middle level personnel in statistics (English and French versions) were reviEled in 19B7 to take into account the changing circumstances and new areas: of teaching in the field of statistics. It was considered that revisions should be undertaken every five years to ensure that the guide syllabuses did not become outdated. The other guide syllabuses did not undergo revisions due to uncertain circumstances which surrounded the financing of the regional conlponent of the STPA.
(fl Qrganization of Meetir~
41. Several meetings have been organized during the fifteen years of s'rPA. Some of the meetings were more on policy issuef~ for providing the general direction of the programnu~ while other meeti.ngs were more on technic!al issues relating to specific aspects of the STPA. The STPA meetings which have been organized by ECA or jointly with other agencies are listed in Appendix III.
42. From the list of meetings, 4"1 percent of meetings wer,'! the biennial meetings of Directors of STPA centres. In additi,m to inviting Directors of STPA Centres, representatives of two or "I:hree national statistical services covering the English, French and sometimes Portuguese-speaking African countries were invited tee the meetings. In addition representatives of bilateral and multilateral donor agencies and Associate STPA CentrE!s were invited to the meetings.
43. Representatives of Portuguese-speaking African countries were invited to participate in meetings organized for the countries of the group. Three such meetings were organized, two jointly with the statistical office of the European Communities and one by ECA alone. These meetings addressed issues on statistical training which affected countries of the group. In addition, durim;! the biennial meetings of Directors of STPA Centres and the biennial Joint Conference of Afl'ican Planners, statisticians and Demographers, problems affecting the Portuguese-sp.3aking African countries in the field of statistical training were discussed.
44. Four sub-regional workshops, two for English-speaking African countries and two for French-speaking African C'ountrieswere organized. The organization, conduct and linkage of these programmes with STPA Centres ",rere discussed. In the, case of French-speaking African countries, issues on middle level training at national level were discussed. It should be noted thclt French- speaking African countries do not in general organize in-service training programmes since promotion in the civil service generally depends on passing an officially rel~ognized examination.
TherHfo.re, French-speaking African countries organize full-time
national programmes for training their middle-level statisticians as is the practice at STPA centres. Only one meeting to discuss statistical organisation and manpower was organized during the fifteen years of STPA.
45. It should be mentioned that general issues on statistical training in africa have been discussed at most of the sessions of the Joint Conference of African Planners, statisticians and Demographers. This in itself shows how important this subject has been in the field of statistical development in African countries.
46. The STPA regional component was expected to assist STPA Centres in the organisation and conduct of their workshops and seminars. Although efforts were made in this direction, due to financial constraints, i t was not possible to assist centres with funds for the organisation of their seminars and workshops.
Technical assistance was however provided where i t was requested.
(g) Promotion of Research at STPA Centres
47. The issue of research at STPA Centres was first discussed at the second meeting of Directors of STPA Centres in November 1981.
At this meeting research was defined to cover a broad range of activities including post-graduate students research papers, research project undertaken by the centre, individual or collective research by lecturers, etc.
48. In order to assess the status of research at STPA Centres, a postal survey was conducted in 1987 to obtain information on research activities undertaken by the centres between 1982 and 1986. The results which were presented at the fifth meeting of Directors of STPA Centres in October 1987 indicated that 83 percent (10 out of 12) of the centres which responded had carried out research. These research activities were extremely varied and covered areas such as demographic and social statistics, economic statistics, data processing, industrial statistics, agricultural statistics, sampling techniques and statistical theory. It was mentioned that shortage of teaching staff and shortage of funds for purchase of equipment hampered the promotion of research activities at STPA Centres. It was suggested that donors should consider provision of funds to STPA Centres for research purposes and that STPA Centres themselves should identify research projects which would be of interest to the private sector to enable them finance such projects.
(h) Dissemination of Information on Training Activities
49. Within the framework of STPA, the main channels for dissemination of information on statistical activities are provided below.
E/ECA/PSD.8/16 Page 12
50. STPA News: Published twice in a year (mainly in January and July) • All STPA activities for the period under coverage are described in this publication. During the 15 years of STPA, 24 issues have been released in English and French. Although not all STPA and Associate Centres provided training news, attempts were made to obtain as much information as possible to ensure a comprehensive and up-to-date publication of relevance to the African region.
51. Directory of STPA Centres: Following the decision of the first meeting of Directors of STPA Centres in 1979, this publication was released once every two years until 1983. The first publication provided detailed information on the centres including their activities.
52. pirectory of STPA and Associate STPA Centres: The third meeting of Directors of STPA Centres in November 1983 requested the inclusion of associate centres in the Directory of STPA Centres pUblication while maintaining the frequency of the pUblication to once every two years. The 1985 and subsequent pUblications were therefore called "Directory of statistical Training Centres and Associate Centres Participating in the statistical Training Programme for Africa". So far four issues of this Directory have been released and distributed covering the years 1985, 1987, 1989 and 1992.
53. pirectory of NOn-STPA Centres: This Directory contains detailed information about each Non-STPA centre including its activities similar to the Directory of STPA and Associate STPA Centres. It was felt that these centres make a significant contribution to the training of statistical staff. The first pUblication was released in 1985 and every two years thereafter in 1987, 1989 and 1992. Although not many centres were included in the first edition (seven centres only), in the 1992 publication, 20 centres (six French-speaking and 14 English-speaking) were included.
V. EVALUATION OF STPA ACHIEVEMENTS (a) Introduction
54. Periodic evaluations of STPA as a whole have been carried out by ECA since the establishment of the programme in order to identify as many of its weaknesses and strengths as possible and to programme its future action. The results of these evaluations were presented at the meetings of Directors of STPA Centres and sessions of the Joint Conference of African Planners, statisticians and Demographers: E/ECA/STPA/DM.3/2, Some Selected Issues in the Development of STPAj E/ECA/STPA/DM.4/1, Evaluation of STPA and Future Work Programmej E/ECA/PSD.4/19, Towards self-reliance in the
Development of Statistical Manpower; and E/ECA/PSD.5/16, Evaluation of the statistical Training Programme for Africa.
55. In addition to the above evaluations, UNDP conducted periodic Tripartite Reviews (TPR) of the Regional component of STPA. These reviews informed UNDP of the achievements made and problems experienced and assisted the programming of future activities in line with UNDP programme orientations. During the 15 years of STPA two TPRs were carried out one in october 1985 and the other in June 1990.
56. An in-depth project evaluation of the SDPA project was undertaken by a team of three UNDP conSUltants in June 1990. In addition to briefing meetings at ECA and analysis of the project activities, the in-depth evaluation included visits to selected STPA Centres and national statistical services to ascertain the impact of STPA and other component of the SDPA project.
(b) Survey on the Evaluation of Fifteen Years of the STPA.
57. The above postal survey was conducted by ECA between September and December 1993. Four questionnaires were designed covering centres participating in STPA, centres not participation in STPA, national statistical services and individual statisticians. As at 1 January 1994, the response rate for STPA Centres was 50 per cent, for centres not participating in STPA (5%), for national statistical services (11.8%) and for individual statisticians (only 40 questionnaires received). During the period of the survey a reminder sent to all non-respondents increased the responses only slightly. In view of the low rate of response, only general statements will be made about certain aspects of the STPA achievements and failures.
(c) Overall staffing of National Statistical Services in 1978/79 and 1992{93 in the African Region
58. The staffing status of National statistical services could not be fully assessed due to the poor response rate. The table in Appendix IV shows the staffing situation of six countries which responded to the survey.
59. with respect to professional staff, the survey results showed increases of staff which exceeded 100 percent in some countries such as Mauritius (150%), Lesotho (110%) and Botswana (400%).
Middle level staff increased only slightly when compared to professional level staff, Mauritius (20%), Lesotho (22%) and Botswana (88%). Clerks and enumerators increased more than the middle level staff in some countries, Mauritius (44%), Guinea Bissau (52%) while in other countries such as Lesotho this category of staff decreased by 23% and in Botswana the increase of clerks
E/ECA/PSD.8/16 Page 14
and enumerators was 57% which is less than the increase of middle level staff in that country during the 15 years of the STPA.
60. The increase in staff at national statistical services could be partly attributed to the increase in output at STPA and non-STPA centres. In many African countries expansion of their operational activities led to the increase in the establishment. The filling of established posts depends to a large extent on the output of training institution particularly at the professional and middle levels.
(d) Enrolment and output at STPA Centres
61. At the beginning of the STPA in 1978/79 the annual output (successful trainees) by course offered at eleven (11) centres was obtained. The centres were: University of Botswana and Swaziland and National University of Lesotho; EASTC; ISAE; Mathematics Department, University of Ghana and ISSER; Department of statistics, University of Ibadan; IAMSEA; ISPEA (now ISSEA); ESA (now ENSEA); INSEA; ITPEA (now INPS); and CESD. with the exception of University of Botswana and Swaziland and National University of Lesotho which later became separate universities, the rest of the centres remained the same apart from changes in the names of the institutions in some cases.
62. The total enrolment, total output and output of women at all STPA Centres, except the new Lisbon, Portugal STPA Centre, are provided in Appendix V. The average annual output, covering the 15 years of STPA for each teaching programme, was obtained in order to compare i t with the annual output at the beginning of the programme. The table in Appendix VI shows the results of this comparison.
63. Out of twenty nine (29) teaching programmes offered at 10 STPA Centres, 16 teaching programmes (55%) had increased their annual output. The lowest increase was 6.5% and the highest was 257.1%.
Half of the increases were at least 30% and the rest less than 30%.
Seven teaching programmes (24%) decreased their annual output. The lowest percentage decrease was -52.7% and the highest -3.3%. The reasons for the decrease in output were varied; insufficient fellowships; introduction of new teaching programmes which attracted students; reduction in enrolment due to reduction in financial resources and facilities; etc.
64. The number of women graduating from STPA Centres varied from centre to centre and by training course. The percent of women graduating from the courses ranged from lowest 2.4% to highest 57.1%. Out of twenty three teaching programmes which had the participation of women, 6 (26%) programmes had more than 10 percent women and 17 (74%) had less than 10 percent women participation.
This indeed is a rather low participation by women in the field of statistical training, despite all attempts made to encourage STPA Centres to admit as many women trainees as possible. This was done through missions, meetings of Directors of STPA Centres etc., as can be seen only marginal success has been achieved.
(e) Fellowships for Trainiml Trainers
65. Thirty-nine (39) fellowships for training of trainers were awarded by ECA under the regional component of STPA. In addition a number of trainers at STPA Centres received fellowship from a number of multilateral and bilateral donors. Some of the donors are united Nations population Fund (tniFPA); Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA); European Economic Conununity (I:EC);
Overseas Development Administration (ODA); Commonwealth Fund for Technical cooperation (CFTC)i Pathfinder; Rockefeller Foundation;
French Government; German Government; Austral ian Gc,vermnent; and trainers own government. In some cases the trainers fimHlced training from their own funds.
66. The evaluation of 15 years; of STPA survey showed that on average about 17 percent of the trainers, who benefitted from training awards, did not return to their training centres or resigned shortly after training. This implies that the retention rate of trainers who benefitted from training awards was 83 per cent. Indeed some of these trainers drifted to other African countries and as such they could be considered as no loss to Africa. Some continued to work as trainers in other tra:"ning institutions while others performed statistical functions or related fields.
(f) Use of Guide Syllabuse~
67. The use of guide syllabuses which were prepared was discllssed at the fourth meeting of Oire,ctors of STPA Centres held in NoV(~rnber
1985. The meeting requested ECA to undertake a critical reviel~ of the guide syllabuses in ordeT to assess their usefulness to the training centres and natiomll statistical services. It was also considered necessary to find out whether more efforts we,re needed to promote the use of the guide syllabuses.
68. As a result of this request, ECA undertook an evaluation of the use of guide syllabuses by STPA Centres, non-STPA Centres, and individuals. The results of this evaluation were considered at: the fifth meeting of Directors of s~rpA Centres. It was concluded 1:hat up to 80 per cent of the contents of the guide syllabusefl had been used in some centres (a) to compare aspects of the teaching centres syllabus with the guide syllabus and to ensure that the teaching centres syllabus was in line wii:h the general direction and scope;
(b) to review the syllabusE,s of the teaching centres!. 11: was also
E/ECA/PSD.8/16 Page 16
stated that the guide syllabuses were easier for adoption by new centres than the old centres.
69. The survey on the evaluation of 15 years of STPA showed t:hat only 38 percent of the centres fllily utilised the guide syllabuses, 50 percent of the centres partially used the guide syllabuse,; and 12 percent of the centres did not make use of the guide syllabul3es.
These result confirm those obtained in the 1985 survey.
(g) Increasing the Physica), In'~tructures at STPA Centrel!i
70. It should be recalled that sOIl',e of the STPA Centres required additional premises such as classrooms, laboratories and librar.ies.
Two centres in the Engli!lh-speaking countries made sped.fic requests for donors assistance in the construction of premises, EASTC, Dar-es-Salaam and ISAE, Kampala. In the case of EAs'rc, the government of Tanzania provided funds for the construction of the premises. Also the ISAE requE,st. appeared not to have rec,~:ived
donor support.
71. In the French-speaking countries, two STPA Centres reced ved assistance from donors for t:he construction of prenlises and provision of furniture. At Lr.MSEA, Kigali, the EEC provided funds for the construction of boarding and teaching classrooms including twel ve houses for teaching Eltaff. The premises were such that they could accommodate up ·to 120 students. At ENSEA, Abidjan, the EEC in collaboration with the GovE,rnmel'lt of COte d' Ivoire provided funds for the construction of teaching premises.
(h) ~stablishmentl ImprovElm@nt <2.f.. In':servicSl1Mid<Ue ~t~y.el Tra iillng at National Leve!
72. Assistance was intensified in this area under the SDPA Phase.
This assistance included mi,;sions to countries to advise on the setting-up or improvement of such training programmes, teaching applied statistics courses, evaluat:ion of some of the teaching programmes/centres, organisation of seminars/workshops for trainers involved in these programmes t.O discuss pertinent issues concerning the development of these programmtas and preparation of pro:tect documents which a government could use to seek external technical and financial assistance for the implementation or improvement of these training programmes.
73. By the early 1990' s, a number of countries ir.. the English- speaking countries had full or part-time in-service statist:ical train ing programmes. The countries included I Botswancl, Ghana, Lesotho, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia a.nd Zimbabwe. In ·::>thel:' English- speaking countries ad-hoc;; training courses 'were organised to meet specific needs such as the conduct of a popUlation census or household survey. In the French-speaking countries middle level
training centres were established in the following countries:
Benin, Burundi, central African Republic, Congo, Mali, Niger, Rwanda and Zaire. Unfortunately due to the deteriorating economic situation of the countries, some of these programmes are no more operational.
(i) Supply of Teaching Material to STPA Centres
74. Within the framework of the regional component of STPA, ECA supplied the following equipment to some of the STPA Centres.
College Statistigue (Dakar. Senegal): Photocopy machine and supporting table; Field equipment (Compasses, measuring chains, measuring poles and sighting poles). ISAE (Kampala. Uganda): Two IBM micro computers, Math coprocessor, Mono display, Memory expansion board 360k, Mono display/parallel printer adapter, UPS, Software (PC DOS 3.1). IAHSEA (kigali. Rwanda): Electronic stencil machine. All the above equipment were supplied at the request of the centres and following an assessment by ECA of the needs of all STPA centres. The supply of equipment was also limited by the availability of budgetary funds.
75. Within the framework of EEC assistance to STPA project, EEC was approached by ECA to provide equipment such as micro computers, books and audio visual aids to STPA Centres. Unfortunately i t was difficult to evaluate the success of this request since the EEC preferred to deal with the countries directly than channelling the assistance through ECA. Other bilateral and multilateral donor agencies supplied to STPA Centres required materials such as calculators, books. Mention should be made of the British Council which supplied books to some STPA Centres.
(j) organisation of Short-term Courses and Seminars for Practising statisticians
76. Nearly all STPA Centres planned the organisation of short-term courses and seminars. They however faced a number of problems, funding for the participation of the statisticians, particulary those from other countries, was number one problem. As a result very few short-term courses and seminars were conducted by STPA Centres during the 15 years of STPA.
77. Associate STPA Centres were however very active in organising short-term courses and seminars. The participation of African countries at these training sessions was reduced due to inadequate number of fellowships. The following associate centres had contributed to the organisation of short-term courses and seminars for practising statisticians: Bureau of the Census (ISPC), University of Kent (ASRU), University of Sussex (IDS) and Munich Centre. It is hoped that the contribution of the associate STPA
E/ECA/PSD.8/16 Page 18
Centres in this field will be maintained and increased further in the future.
(k) Views Expressed by STPA Centres and Individual Statisticians Regarding the Implementation of STPA
78. In the evaluation survey, STPA Centres were requested to express their views on the difficulties they encountered during the implementation of the STPA. They were also requested to indicate the performance of STPA and areas to be emphasized in the future.
Among the difficulties encountered by STPA Centres, inadequacy of equipment ranked first (63%) followed by scarcity of financial resources (50%), lack of sufficient resources to recruit sufficient number of qualified staff (50%), lack of sufficient resources for training of trainers (50%) and inadequate premises (38%). Indeed three aspects of the difficulties have the same rank showing that they ought to be treated equal.
79. Regarding the performance of the STPA, 50 percent of the respondents to the survey indicated that the STPA performed very well, 38 percent indicated that the performance was fair while 12 percent did not respond to the question. Regarding areas to be emphasised in the future of STPA, responses to the survey indicated the following rankings: Training of trainers (88%), Organisation of workshops (75%), Training at professional level (63%), Internship (50%), Provision of teaching consultancies (38%) and Training at middle level (13%).
80. Regarding the views of individual statisticians, more than 90%
of the respondents indicated that the teaching programmes needed to be reoriented in order to adapt them to the needs of the users.
Regarding new developments to be incorporated into the STPA work programme, mention was made of the following areas of specialization; Business management, Trade statistics, computing applications, Data analysis; Cartography; Research in applied statistics; and Biological statistics (Biostatistics). These results provide guidance on areas to be emphasized in future.
VI. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
81. It shoUld be stated that the financing of the SDPA project by UNDP was terminated in March 1993. This being the case no activities have been programmed or undertaken within the framework of the regional component of STPA since that date.
82. The achievements of STPA with respect to the three language groups, English, French and Portuguese were different. The achievements in the English and French speaking African countries were of reasonable magnitude. These are in the areas of the intake and output of STPA Centres, staffing of the national statistical
services, introduction and/or improvement of in-service training/middle level training programmes at national level, etc.
Achievements of STPA in the Portuguese-speaking African countries were far from satisfactory. Attempts which were made to establish in-service training/middle level training centres in these countries did not succeed. The establishment of an STPA centre in Lisbon, Portugal for the training of professional statisticians in the portuguese-speaking African countries is indeed an achievement we can count on. More efforts are required to implement other training programmes for the countries of this group particularly at the middle level.
83. It should also be stated that at the end of 15 years of STPA the programme objectives had not been fully achieved. The factors which led to this state of affairs include the following:
inadequate financial resources in the regional component of STPA for the implementation of certain aspects of the programme; lack of or inadequate financial and human resources at STPA Centres and other training institutions in the countries; the deteriorating economic situation in African countries in the 1980s which led in some countries to the lack of recruitment of trained statisticians and retrenchment of some staff; and lack of proper management of some STPA Centres resulted in worsening financial crisis at the centres. All the above indicate that there is more to be done in this area in the future.
84. It should be recalled that a new framework for the overall statistical development in the region has been adopted under the umbrella of the "Addis Ababa Plan of Action for Statistical Development in Africa in the 1990s" and that a Strategy was prepared for its implementation together with the setting up of a Coordinating Committee on African Statistical Development (CASD).
One of the sub-committees of CASD is concerned with statistical training and any further development of the STPA has to be seen within this new framework.
85. The following recommendations on the future of STPA are therefore relevant:
(a) The evaluation of the 15 years implementation of STPA has clearly revealed that STPA objectives have not been fully realised. It is therefore recommended that the STPA should be revitalised to enable achievement of its full objectives.
This revitalisation should take into account the Addis ababa Plan of Action for statistical Development in the 1990s, the strategy for the implementation of the Addis Ababa Plan of Action and the actions of the CASD and its sub-committee on training.
E/ECA/PSD.8/16 Page 20
(b) In view of the fact that the financing of the STPA regional component was terminated in March 1993, i t is recommended that ECA should seek donor financing for its continuation to enable achievement of the full STPA objectives.
(c) In order to determine the training needs of statistical training institutions and other organizations in African countries i t is recommended that a comprehensive survey should be conducted in all African countries.
(d) The following areas should among others be emphasized in the future training activities of STPA: training of trainers, provision of fellowships to trainees, development and improvement of in-service training middle level training at national level (especially in the Portuguese-speaking countries), provision of training facilities and organization of short-term courses and seminars.
(e) As part of the coordination of the future STPA activities, follow-up actions ought to be instituted to ascertain the failure of success at every step.
86. The Joint Conference of African Planners, statisticians and Demographers is therefore requested to:
(i)
( i t )
(iii)
Review the results of the achievements of STPA during its 15 years implementation.
consider the recommendations made as a result of the evaluation of the 15 years of STPA.
Guide the secretariat on the next step to be taken in order to revitalise STPA.
Frengh-speaking Centres:
1. Institut national de statistique et d'economie appliquee (INSEA), Rabat, Morocc.:;,.
2. Institut national de la planification et de 1a st,atistique (INPS), Algiers, Algeria.
3. Centre europe en de formation des statisticiens - economistes des pays en developpemEmt (CESD), Malakoff, France.
4. Institut sous-regional de IItatistique et d'economie appliquee (ISSEA), Yaounde, Cameroon.
5. Institut de Formation
at
de Recherche demographiques (IFORD), Yaounde, Cameroon.6. Institut africain et mauri-cien de sta.t.istique at d'eco:nomie appliquee (IAMSEA), Kig:ali, Rwanda.
7. COII&ge stat istique de Dakar (CS), Ecole Nationa Ie d' eco::1omie appliquee, Dakar, senegal.
8. Ecole National Superieure de Statistique ,at d ' Economie Appliquee (ENSEA), (Abidjan, COte d' Ivoire) •
Engli.sh-speaking Centres
1.. Institute of statistics and Applied Economics (ISAE) " Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.
2. Department of statistics, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.
3. Eastern Africa statist.ical Training Centre (EASTC), Dar'-es- Salaam, United Republic: of Tanzania.
4. Department of Statisti.cs, Universi.ty College of Bots'wana, Gaborone, Botswana.
5. Department of statistics, National university of I,esotho, Maseru, Lesotho.
6. Department of statisti<!s, University of Ghana, Legon, Gl1ana.
7. Regional Institute for PopuJ.ation Studies (RIPS), Lf!gon, Ghana.
Portuguese-speaking Centre
1. European Centre of statisti.cs for developing Lisbon), Higher Institute of Statistics Management, Lisbon, Portugal.
C01.lntxies (CESD - and Information
~ of Associate STPA Centres
E/ECA/PSD.8/16 Appendix II
1. The Munich Centre for Advanced Training in Applied statistics for Developing Countries, Munchen, Germany~
2. The Institute of Development studies (IDS), university of Sussex, Brighton, U.K.
:3 • The Applied Statistics Research Unit (ASRU), uni versi ty of Kent, Canterbury, U.K.
4. The International Stati.stical Programs Center (ISPC:), Bureau of the Census, Washingt:on, U. S. A.
5. The Institute of social studies (ISS), The Hague, the Netherlands.
6. The Department of statistics, University of newcastle upon Tyne, U.K.
7. The Department of probabil.ity and Statistics, University of Sheffield, U.K.
8. The Indian Agricultural statistics Research Institute (ICAR), New Delhi, India.
ECA
ECA
ECA ECA
ECA
ECA
Jointly ElJIlOSTAT and BCA ECA
Jointly lllJllOSTAT and RCA ECA
ECA
ECA
ECA
ECA
ECA
Meeting. OMnirpd within the Fmmcwork of S'IEA
O,tober, 1979
October, 1980
November. 1982 OetoberfNovembcr, 1981
November, 1983
November, 1985
May. 19&7
October, 1987
November, 1988
October, 1988
July, 1991
November, 1991
De.l;ember. 1991
Addi. Abab.e, Ethiopia
Btuaaeu, Belgium
Addi. Ababa, Ethiopia
Luxembourg, Btu .. el8
H8rare~ Zimbabwe
Abidj.n~ C15te d'Ivolrc
Addi. Ababa, Ethiopla
Add., Ababa, Ethiopia,
Finrt meeting of Directors of Centrcil Partioipating in SUA.
Meeting of RcpreaetUtivea of Porwgueae-spcaking African counlrie •.
Wotting ,roup on .... tistical otganizationand manpower.
Second meetinj: of Directors of Centre I Particlp.~ing in STPA.
Third meeting of DirectoR of Centres Participating in STPA.
Fourth meeting of Directors of Centrel Participating in SUA.
Meeting of Portuguese-speaking African countries.
Fifth Meeting of Directors of Centre. Psfticipating in SUA.
Mcerin, of PortugueN tpg:king AfricaD oountrie •.
Sub-NgiotulfWorkahop for tr .. .inc,.. involved in irrtervice
_col
traininBp_
~~ coumica).Sub--regionaJ Workahq) for traW:rI involved in middle-level training at nalionallevel (French-cpcaking countrie,).
Sixth meetina: of Diredon of Cenltea Participating in STPA.
Sub-regional Workllhop for traiMn: involved in m"'1lervice MatiJticaJ trainins programmeB. (E.nsUm..8peaking countries),
Sub-regional WorJuhop for mine". involved in middle- level trJinina: at national ~vel
(Frcneh~Bpeaking countries).
Seventh meetina: of Di:reeton patlicipatil1l in the
$tatilllkat Trainil1l Pro,rarnme (or Africa.
