Current activities in statistical and demographic training

UNITED NATIONS

ECONOMIC

SOCIAL COUNCIL AND

Distr.

LIMITED

E/CN.14/CAS.b/U

27 September I967 Original: English

ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR AFRICA

Fifth Conference of African Statisticians Addis Ababa, 30 October - 10 November I967

CURRENT ACTIVITIES IN STATISTICAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC TRAINING

M67-12O1

e/cn. 14/cAS; 5/14-

■1' ' -"'" -

Current activities in statistical and demographic training

- Information on the African statistical training programme has-been"'- presented to the Conference in the documents entitled Report of Expert Group

on Education and Training of Statisticians in Africa,- E/CN.I4/CAS;5/2, arid:

The African Regional Statistical Training Programme, 1961 - 66,

E/CN.14/CAS."5/3.:-'-'The present "paper'is intended"simply to provide up-to-date

news insofar as jit .is .available,, and-to;add a few details on demo graph re-" -\

^training which', were not included in tEe1- other document's;'.' '■ \

":i";i ! ~A' '" ' I" '" '] i *'Statistical^'training! '' !•"" I

l'96676~7-;cou'rjs-es ■■ r. :': ' ' ' ~ ! i S \ ' _.,;-.^

..^'.w-lj-.,.-, '■- - ■. ■ ■ - --*—1 -—.----• — r ■ --— v i----. - | 2. j THe numbers of trainee's who attended and the numbers successful in J;he

"1^9667(67 "micldle and intermediate ;level statistical' courses are shown;in. ■ "'1 .1

"j..',.„.; ■ ... . \- ■■ --i- ■- ! ■-(—■--; -- ' .■--,-'. -;.-- j- ■» --—•{■ --|- ■- '";■■-'-.■-■.■ j

I'Tablel l.i -Information1 f.ona nationality-classification in respect of the'".^"";

\'-'\'-.,'• ,-'; i 1 : i ,;;^ ; ! ^ ! _J .._....!. ..U" ••-!.-■■:--■ ■ -■ .■.:■:*-"-:

Sbhboi'qf Statistics,*; Abidjan^ is not yet available. \ The^ pygrally succe.ss^.-.r !

Irate, bf 845^ is_ about the,, same as .inJprevious-jyears,—and-it should be., ^o'ted-.* j

^vthat thej- figure- doe's' not* take "ac«duhT*cff"ia"£ew trainees who,} for 'various._% J

.reasons,-, did :not undergo.the rfin;al-eXaminations. -:- --1-- -r~ -,-■--- --- y \~:-i]

J-. . l ..'.-. - -■ •-- %■--!-- , - i'1"—1 , '"'i ""' i '; "", "J -■■ ■ !

"3- ■ .Similar information^ in .-respect;, of the "ingenieur-des-travaux--- --■ ;. •."[

statistiques" courses'jat1 the"jlnsti"tut"e""bf Statistics jand Applied Economizes.^...!

;Rabat; and the School !of ..Statistics,.-Abidjan,ris given-in;-Table~2; It wiTl"1 be noted|that. it"has "not "yet';been possible to; establish a* United Nations ^__j

•regional ;project for. the professional -training-of :English|-speaking■African,"/

statisticians.1 :~~ \ J" 1 ~ "j \ \ ' \ ! [ .1 , j. _ ^ _ ' .._^ - " '-.r.'ir . -1967/68 courses -j — j--4- ■>■'-■ J--«-; h -111.-* i'". "'"-; '\ " ""'[ \z'S'^ \ --,.- ■; V "i ■■•{ -';"i" vi\*t "'■■ -;-j:*"i-"s"*! ^;"| * .r" "i ,|, .„'..,-■....;.|

-4v*""" The1" 1967"/68 Isessi'on at' the 'Dai>res^SaTaam statistical .centre began-.dn .'-j July with: a total of, 25 -traineesJat-the -midd/le'—and1 intermediate levels, "all

: . .: • ;. ... ^... ; ; _-i_- uj. ^-.-. ij -=■--'--; ■■ — r " ■

1'of{ whom" are""holder.s'"of, UN "fellowships, ' ; .1 j . ] __t ; ...-._■_ ' —

5;-; For; the";centre's at "Achi'mo.ta;, "Addis jlbaba and; Yapunde..,. forty-jthre.e-j■■";>'..1

candidates, .haye.been rec-ommended- for :UN fellowships,- and-fdhahcial,provisional

has .been*made "from'1 savingsiih *;the- regional programme _sind_.frpm' country,...r.-.''."-

E/CN. 14/CAS. 5/14'

Page 2

technical assistance programmes.'—This'is the-same as the 'number of UN ,??#'iol}^^elloushi:ps awarded forr:these'-centres in'the V%6/61 session. Th

next courses <will."start ait.JUte. g.e-pjain}5e-r:.raiid-..the. eariiei-.paft^f "October^

::vTable 1966/67'middle'''and'intermedi'aieJrievei statistical!

Addis Achimota Dar-es-Salaam

"Kenya . Liberia

Mali

Mauritania Nigeria Niger Rwanda

Somalia - Sudan

Swaziland'

Tanzaniz Togo Uganda.

UAR

Upper'Volta Zambia ■ ■

Total

25 18

N - Number of trainees Cent.-Afr. Re

Chad

Uon&o-Brazz.

Congo-Kinshasa

'2

163

1 136 S - Number successful

Table 1. (Cont'd)

^{Page 3}

Note: Details of the 1966/67 examination results at the Abidjjm^jJ^j^-V _^-—--—g-Q-ntre^aro noFl^t^vailable•. Of 17 trainees who attended the

__^ ^agenJlAechnique.Jll-C.our.ser.ll-werersuocesBfu-l-.—-A-new course at

?, ■'• ,,!., "adjoint- technique " level'*"waB*'introduce'dt:anct^_^_.trainees completed T [— the ;-First vear successfuliy. ! The 1 total! number, of trainees

: \

ifirst year successfully. , The 1 to(tal! number, of trainees

'successful at the Examinations of I the .-five ©entree I was

!

'K ° IG- '.' i'A -'

-=■!

< 1

1-

1 1

"'! i

:

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t 1

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II

', .J

T~i 1

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r-r-r .'.C - ir ..-i'UJ^ tr'.d- '*.

cf & 0 ef & H- 4 P. ^

15

o Hj cf tr 0 o o 4 CO 0

S

P- h-1 o jj 0 4 0 p pj s H- cf cf 0 P cf O cf tr 0 CO 0 o o a p

w o © CD 4 cf P a 0 CD 01 O ef P a 0 p- cf 0 H- 4 P- H- tjj M O B P CO Ul 5j 0 4 0 (D Qj g H- cf cf 0 P cf O

CO cf P ef H- 01 cf H- fj 0 CO O o en 0 ju cf cf tr 0 ( a" H- P

B"

^{O 0} a cf 4 0 P 4 0 a o ^cf C<J 0 cf P < P H- P j—i CD

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9 _{o cf} p O Ul CD

o CO CTs Co fV)

fV) Ul CO

o ro ro ro ro

fO

Total OJ _

Admittedi-to 2ndyeara Toundergorl further.exam Torepeat 1styear Ul ro ro ro Co

Failed Total Admitted-.to vear1- Toundergo furtherexam Torepeat 2nd Failed Total obtained-'' diploma- Toundergo.i furtherexam Total"-; Succeasful Undergoing furtherexam orrepeating- Failed

t.'.-v

« "3

p-

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cf: H- cf :cf 0■

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O "VJ1

E/CN.14/CAS.-5/l4;\

Page 5 - v.*.

6:. i- In .the. case: of.-tho RabaJj-.Institute,i-.fe-li'owship.'arrangements arc now- ' being channelled through- the. rlo.cal-;UN Resident Representative arid exact ■!.."■

..figures- are .not yet available;:: ■ However,, apart from 'the. new first year: intake and the successes achieved<.,by-<"existing .trainees who are being" re-examined", ■■

the position will! be as,'indi'.catedr in_, Table, 2. '• '*j;w «_■.: -.". ..7.. ■ --■■ ' .[-->

Yaounde centre °" * " '' ' *' ---»-'-'* ^ -. ....

7. A request has been submitted to the UN Special Fund for assistance in

respect' or" the Yaounde'statistical centre but, for reasons connected' with'

'the'scope and 'duration of the* proposal, the request is being reviewed;""' it" is

too'early 'as'yet t'6 report'on the'final outcome.

Population and housing census training t. ._ ._ _,

8. As noted in document E/CN. 14/CAS. 5/6,. it. is^ proposed to__give courses_ ,-

in techniques of population and housing censuses, as part of UN .assistance in the 1970 world census programmes. The question of financing census ^ ..

training for middle level personnel is under active negotiation and UN Special Fund assistance is 'being' sought'. ~ --"'- - -' : -- :- '-■-•'-'■- "^ '

Statistical Institute for the English language group '^._1 ~l,S~

9. .l.The need for professional training^facilitiessfor English speaking African statisticians is emphasised in:the Report 'of the Expert Group'which

has been presented to the Conference in document E/CN.14/CAS. 5/2. The paper dealing with the-statistical training programme, B/CN.I4/CAS. 5/3j indicates

that the matter Has been further investigated and-that Makerere University College, Uganda,--has been recommended as the most-suitable location for the project. The Uganda Government have submitted a request to the UN Special Fund for assistance in establishing the Institute.- -" ■

Demographic training

10. This section is concerned with the activities of the North African

Demographic Centre' in Cairo and future.requirements for demographic training.

E/CN.HCAS. 5/14-

Page 6

11 •'.■•".; A regional demographic training and research centre was established in

Cairo* in. March 1963 on the basis of an agreement between .the.-Government of.1

the.: United Arab Republic and the United Nations.- The centre was intended to serve .the. countries of- the North African sub-region, and the" Arabic speaking countries of Kest Asia, with extension as far as' practicable to other - .;

countries of Africa. The Population Council of New York have played a significant role in the financing of the project.

12., The courses of the.centre are at the professional level and include. .(

mathematics, statistics demography, sociology and methods of social, research,

economics in relation to population, anatomy, physiology and human genetics.

The normal duration is one year, except in the case of specially arranged

research activities. -.._-. . .■ •„.■;. . ..

13. The first course started' in October 1963 and the fourth is now in

progress'. The numbers of trainees by country and year are indicated in

Table 3.' "■' ■ x ' ■' ' ' "' ■' ":■-■.■.■■■.

■'..;. '..'■•.-..■ ■■ '■- :■ ■ ■ ..:-";. ■ !:< .: ■ ■ .■_.-■;

Trainees attending the North African Demographic Centre, Cairo L ..

Table 3- -.-..v.i :;,<■. ' .• :.•■ -t + ;--

Country , . . 1963-^64- 1964-65 1965-66 1966-67 Total ■'

- Algeria _' _ .. ' 2 ■ ■

■_. ■ Ghana ,: '■ " .... ... . - . : . Iraq: ; - -, ' - ' - ■

a •- . -. .. ■

-.; t... ■

3 , - .:- ' 2 . .v - '. . . .2;, ..,-. - ,

i,:.

-i--

10

—

2 1 2 1

1 6 1 ' .10

-■ -

-- .. -

2

■■ ■-, .■

2

10

4

■ .-9. -

; 3

■ , 2

■■ 4

■ . 6

■ " ,1

■ 7

3

23

6

43

Kuwait.L;-i , \ •• * ■ — ■

"Libya - ....,-,; .; 2

Morocco —■, .-_ -'

Sudan 2

Syria -

UAH- ■ .;.... >. ' . - 14

—. : Total' ■ ■■' 20- '"'25" ' 25 28 98

E/CN.14/CAS.5/14

Page 7

14. The staff are provided by the United Nations and the UAR. At present, there are four UN experts including the Director, and one from UAE. IN addition, ten part-time UAE lecturers have taught at the centre.

15» A number of research activities and field inquiries have been initiated by the oentre, and these have included population projections, estimation of vital rates through sample surveys, population models, and projects relating to urbanisation, migration, school-age population, etc. A seminar was held in April 1967 with the assistance of a grant provided by the Population Council, at which the former trainees of the centre presented the results of their further studies.

16. At the end of 1967> the agreement under which the Cairo centre is

operating will expire. Negotations concerning the continuation of the

project have been in progress for some time and it is hoped that the position will be clarified before the meeting of the Conference. However, there is the additional consideration that demography is expected to play an increas ingly important role in African development planning, which implies extension of the existing training facilities, particularly with respect to geographical

coverage.