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SCHOOLING AND DIFFERENCE IN AFRICA:
DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGES IN A CONTEMPOltMt¥
CONTEXT

In post-colonial Africa, schooling continues to present difficult chal-

lenges. In the discussion of these challenges, however, the issue of diver-
sity has received relatively little attention. Schooling and Difference in Africa
aims to understand how differences such as ethnicity, class, gender, lan-
guage, religion, and disability play out in African school systems, and
more specifically in Ghana.
In this study, George J. SefaDei, Alireza Asgharzadeh, Sharon Eblaghie
Bahador, and Riyad Ahmed Shahjahan analyse educational inclusion in
the context of African schooling. The aspects of diversity explored in this
study include minority/majority relations, race, ethnicity, gender, lan-
guage, class, religion, and physical (dis) ability. The authors build their
analysis around a series of interviews, which offer a perspective that
policy-makers and administrators rarely seek out. By studying the chal-
lenges of inclusive education in Ghana and, further, by making compar-
isons with the Canadian context, this volume seeks to shed light on the
ongoing struggle to create empowering school systems in Africa and
elsewhere.

GEORGE SEFA DEI is a professor and chair in the Department of Sociol-

ogy and Equity Studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
of the University of Toronto.
ALIREZA ASGHARZADEH is an assistant professor in the Department of
Sociology at York University.
SHARON EBLAGHIE BAHADOR is a PhD candidate in the Department
of Sociology and Equity Studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education of the University of Toronto.
RIYAD AHMED SHAHJAHAN is a PhD candidate in the Department of
Theory and Policy Studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in
Education of the University of Toronto.
This page intentionally left blank
George J. Sefa Dei,
Alireza Asgharzadeh,
Sharon Eblaghie Bahador, and
Riyad Ahmed Shahjahan

Schooling and
Difference in Africa
Democratic Challenges in a
Contemporary Context

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO PRESS

Toronto Buffalo London
www.utppublishing.com
© University of Toronto Press Incorporated 2006
Toronto Buffalo London
Printed in Canada

ISBN-13: 978-0-8020-9019-5 (cloth)

ISBN-10: 0-8020-9019-2 (cloth)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8020-4894-3 (pa r)
ISBN-10: 0-8020-4894-3 ( per)

Printed on acid-free paper

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Schooling and difference in Africa : democratic challenges in

a contemporary context / George J. Sefa Dei... [et al.].
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-8020-9019-5 (bound)
ISBN-10: 0-8020-9019-2 (bound)
ISBN-13: 978-0-8020-4894-3 (pbk.)
ISBN-10: 0-8020-4894-3 (pbk.)
1. Discrimination in education - Ghana. 2. Minorities - Education
Ghana. I. Dei, George J. Sefa (George Jerry Sefa), 1954—
LC191.8.G4S36 2006 306.43 C2006-902655-6

University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its

publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario
Arts Council.

University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial support for its

publishing activities of the Government of Canada through the Book
Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP).
To all those genuinely promoting unity in diversity, embracing difference,
and working towards inclusion in educational settings
This page intentionally left blank
Contents

Preface ix
Acknowledgments xvii

1 Threads of Inclusive Schooling 3

2 Understanding Difference: Method and Practice 40
3 Acknowledging Difference, Responding to Diversity 68
4 Majority and Minority Relations: A Question of Power 95
5 Complicating Schooling: The Question of Ethnicity 121
6 Gendered Subjects: Extending Beyond a Critique of Culture 149
7 The Economics of Schooling: Class and Poverty 182
8 Resisting Normalcy: Disability and Inclusive Schooling 208
9 Language as a Site of Exclusion 226
10 Evoking the Sacred: Religion and Spirituality in Schools 253
11 Concluding with a Comparative Lens: Lessons and Possibilities 287

References 309
Index 329
This page intentionally left blank
Preface

It is an integral component of any fair and objective scholarly work that

researchers be aware of their own position and situation within the
research processes, in the field, among the subjects of their study, and of
how they come to analyse and interpret their findings. Researchers
should know and acknowledge who they are, where they come from, and
what brings them to a particular research project. Such an acknowledg-
ment has particularly more urgency for works such as this one that are
guided and informed by anti-colonial and anti-racist discursive frame-
works. As researchers adhering to anti-hegemonic principles, we should
be aware of both our location and situation in the research processes as
well as our situatedness among the researched (see also Haraway 1988).
Antonio Gramsci (1971, 324) astutely observed that the 'starting-point
of critical elaboration is the consciousness of what one really is, and is
"knowing thyself as a product of the historical process to date, which has
deposited in you an infinity of traces, without leaving an inventory.' It is
left to the individual researchers, then, to reconstruct such an 'inven-
tory' through reference to one's lived experiences, beliefs, and desires,
whose influence on intellectual/scientific endeavors are unquestion-
able, regardless of whether one acknowledges them or not. We research-
ers, historians, and writers are individuals with our own personal and
collective histories, identities, and lived experiences. As such, we ought
to be transparent and open about our own identity, our situationality
and positionality within the research process. Our activities in data gath-
ering, data analysis, in fact, our very acts of writing and producing texts,
are inherently hierarchical and heavily characterized by relations of
power and domination. This makes the observation that 'who we are is
important in what we do and how we do it' ever more relevant (see also
Chamberlayne et al. 2000; Church 1995).
x Preface

Similarly, how we are identified and positioned by others in the field is

equally important in what and how others let us know about themselves,
their situation, and the subject matter. We should, therefore, be pre-
pared to challenge the positivistic notion of objectivity which contends
that the author/writer/researcher tells only the Truth and has no race,
no gender, and no position of personal interest (see also Fine 1994; Har-
away 1988). As researchers we have to remember and be constantly
reminded that 'pure objectivity,' as defined by the positivist school, does
not exist in historical and social knowledges. In the production, valida-
tion, and dissemination of socio-historical knowledge we cannot separate
fact from value, interpretation and representation from 'reality,' or the
influence of our world views, our life experiences, values, beliefs, desires,
and aspirations from the subjects of our study and research. Having
acknowledged these objectives, as the authors of this book we would like
to proceed by saying a few words about ourselves, our desires, and aspi-
rations, and what really brings us to this particular project.

George J. Sef a Dei

Two related academi ng me to this col-

laborative work on the possibilities of African schooling and education.
First, the work that I have undertaken, along with graduate student
researchers, since the early 1990s on minority education and inclusive
schooling in Canadian and Ontario contexts has led me to conclude that
issues of difference and diversity can and must be critically investigated in
African educational discourse and practice. While Canadian perspectives
cannot be transported wholesale to Africa, I believe that there are impor-
tant theoretical and practical lessons, particularly with respect to major-
ity-minority relations, that can readily find an African application. In
other words, the experience offers significant points of divergence and
convergence that become relevant knowledge for critical engagement.
Second, during part of my 1997 study leave, I conducted an exploratory
study in Ghana to examine the views of students, teachers, parents, and
school administrators on the impact of on-going educational reform, spe-
cifically changes to the national educational system endorsed by the
international financial community. Findings of my three-month research
in Ghanaian schools and colleges pointed to struggles over minority con-
cerns and advocacy for inclusive education (see Dei 2004). Many Ghana-
ian educators essentially espoused the view that students go to school as
disembodied youth. Moreover, prevailing discourses on nationhood and
 Preface xi

citizenship work deny rather than affirm the strengths of difference and
diversity. I have assumed this is knowledge worth pursuing.
I have pondered the question, In what specific ways do these experi-
ences speak directly to my academic life and political pursuits? As a
minority scholar privileged to work in an institution of higher learning in
the North, I have often reflected on how much I continually learn from
my students with their incessant questioning of the processes of knowl-
edge production, interrogation, and dissemination both internally and
globally. My minority status in the Western academy and my lived expe-
riences in the Canadian school system have provided me with ample
opportunity to sharply reflect on how my schooling in my birthplace,
Ghana, was not just 'colonial and colonized,' but also systematically pro-
moted exclusionary ends by failing to pay due attention to difference and
diversity among the schooling population. Consequently, my schooling
failed to provide any specific answers for a significant question like 'What
does it mean to be a minority in a dominant system?'
Today, alongside others, I continue to struggle with the search for via-
ble answers to these challenges and questions. As we resist academic clo-
sure on these matters I am particularly emboldened by the fact that our
continued exploration of critical questions will not be in vain. I like to
work with a 'philosophy of hope' for the possibility of enhancing educa-
tion for all learners. Why? Because, among other concerns and responsi-
bilities, I have a seventeen-year-old son in the school system and cannot
throw my hands up in despair and defeat.

Alireza Asgharzadeh

Throughout this project,

and situated knowledge as they relate to both Iranian and Canadian con-
texts. As a member of a minoritized ethnic group in Iran, from early
childhood I learned the pain of not being able to communicate, read,
and write in my own mother tongue. Shortly after the establishment of
the Pahlavi dynasty in 1925, all non-Persian ethnic groups and nationali-
ties in Iran were denied the right to education in our own languages. Not-
withstanding the fact that we Azeris, Kurds, Arabs, Baluchs, Turkomans,
and others constituted the majority in the country, the government
sought to supplant our languages, cultures, and histories with those of
the Persian minority. As non-Persian citizens of Iran, we were subjected to
open and shameful acts of linguicide, cultural annihilation, and forced
assimilation.
xii Preface

I completed my primary and secondary education in a schooling sys-

tem where I was not allowed to read, write, or even speak my own mother
tongue. The education system in Iran promoted and enforced a superfi-
cial sense of nationalism based on the Persian language and culture. The
richly multicultural, multi-ethnic, and multilingual character of Iranian
society was vehemently and forcefully denied. The school environment,
textbooks, curricula, extracurricular activities, teachers, and school
administrative personnel all subscribed to and served the view that saw
Iran as one nation with one language and one culture. In essence,
monoculturalism and monolingualism became the official doctrine of
nation-building processes in the country. As a result, the Iranian educa-
tion system itself came to function as a huge engine for linguicide, decul-
turation, and assimilation.
Like millions of non-Persian Iranians I grew up longing for an educa-
tion system where difference and diversity were valued, where students
were encouraged and felt proud to talk in their own language; to read
their history along with other histories; to see their people's contribu-
tions registered in textbooks alongside others' contributions; to feel
proud of who they were and where they came from. However, achieve-
ment of these aims and goals in my birthplace remained only an ideal for
me and millions of other students, teachers, and educators. I left Iran in
my early twenties with a vision of aspiring to live in a society where differ-
ence and diversity were celebrated. Later on, when I finally found my way
into Canadian universities, I was really impressed to see the level of atten-
tion, discussion, and analysis that went into conceptualizing, theorizing,
and realizing difference and diversity in Canadian institutions of learn-
ing and education. It was during these times that I came to know Profes-
sor George Sefa Dei and his valuable work on issues of equity and sites of
difference. I started working on the present project, researching issues
of difference and diversity in the Ghanaian schooling system. With much
enthusiasm and excitement, I worked on transcribing the interviews and
analysing the data, and in the summer of 2002, along with our research
team, travelled to Ghana on a field trip. This trip provided me with
ample opportunity to view the Ghanaian schooling system closely and to
get a first-hand idea about the project that is partly manifested through
this book.

Sharon Eblaghie Bahador

Reflecting on my participation in this writing project, I situate myself

as a learner, a teacher, and a community helper. My work has been
 Preface xiii

informed by diverse experiences of schooling in different parts of the

world. As a doctoral student in a Canadian university, I am aware of how
my position in the Western academy privileges me. Having been raised in
a multicultural family (Persian, Chinese-Filipino), following the Baha'i
faith, and living in different countries, I have experienced schooling in
both public and private settings, both in Asian and in North American
schools. Moreover, since childhood, my views on difference and diversity
have been reinforced towards one that is world embracing. My upbring-
ing affirmed differences in ethnicity, but did not place sole significance
on them. Rather, as children, my brothers and I were taught that we come
from one family - the human family. As a result, our identities were
shaped not only from a multiple ethnic/cultural perspective, but rather
more by our beliefs about the spiritual nature of humankind.
My interests lie in many facets of education, primarily in urban educa-
tional settings. It has become obvious over the past decades that in the
major industrialized and commercialized centres of North America, most
of the population that inhabit the inner cities consist of minority and
immigrant families. In the United States and Canada, 'urban' and 'inner
city' have become synonymous terms and are euphemisms for visible
minorities. Moreover, urban is associated with poverty. What brought me
to the field of sociology and equity studies was my experience teaching
science in an American urban public school in the southern United
States. Having completed high school in a suburban school in Canada
and then teaching in an urban school, not only did I experience first
hand the differences between classroom pedagogy in an American urban
public school versus a Canadian suburban public school, but I also wit-
nessed how similar the two curricula were. It was in my second year of
teaching in the United States that I seriously started questioning how my
students' experiences were affecting the way they engaged with the les-
sons in class and how, as a teacher, I may or may not have assisted their
learning because of my teaching practices. It was also during that same
year that I started my graduate studies in a program that focused on issues
dealing with the urban classroom.
Urban schools in North America and schools in Ghana are similar in
that students' diverse backgrounds and experiences are not always vali-
dated. The challenge for educators is how to make the learning experi-
ence more inclusive, especially in settings where students come from
different cultural, ethnic, linguistic, and religious backgrounds. Before
moving back to Canada, I came across the work of Professor George
Sefa Dei on anti-racism education. It spoke directly to what I was deeply
interested in, and was destined to continue with because of my valued
xiv Preface

experience in the United States. It is with great enthusiasm that I came

to work on this project with Professor Dei and his team.

Riyad Ahmed Shahjahan

I also bring my personal history, hopes, and aspirations to this project. I

am a Bangladeshi Canadian Muslim male, born in the United Kingdom.
I grew up in Kuwait, and am now a doctoral student in Canada. I have
embodied a transnational, yet confusing, fragmented life, never knowing
where I belonged or who I was. From childhood, I have been identified
as a British citizen, but have never lived in the UK long enough to call it
home. In Kuwait, where I spent most of my life, I was always considered
a foreigner or 'other' because I did not have an Arab Kuwaiti heritage.
Moreover, in Bangladesh, where I visited family for summer vacations, I
never stayed long enough to connect with the region itself. Throughout
my life I have felt that everyone knew who I was except me. In school my
skin colour pigeonholed me as a dark-skinned Indian 'miskin' (miskin
means 'the impoverished' in Arabic). Among family in Bangladesh, I was
this chocolate-coloured boy who held a highly esteemed British passport.
Coming from a middle-class family, I went to private British institu-
tions for my junior and secondary schooling. Throughout my schooling
as a child, and later in high school, I have experienced violence in
numerous forms. I seldom felt I was welcome at school. At times I wanted
to manifest a different body, because I felt my body represented an infe-
rior 'other.' In Kuwait, most workers who did remedial jobs came from
South Asia. My identity was pigeonholed in that category, even though
my parents were middle class. When my parents used to take me to Bang-
ladesh, I was treated the opposite way because I lived abroad and carried
a British identity. It is interesting how we have multiple positionings as
we move from region to region. Throughout my schooling, the knowl-
edge that I interacted with created another division in my life because it
did not resonate with my history, upbringing, and values. In addition, I
was disappointed with my undergraduate studies because the knowledge
I was being taught dissociated me from my spiritual world view, history,
values, and upbringing.
My transnational experience has, however, given me opportunities to
interact with and learn from people who come from different religions,
languages, races, ethnicities, nationalities, classes, and sexual orienta-
tions. These experiences have helped me appreciate the richness of
diverse experiences and knowledges, and the impact this diversity has on
the way we know and act in this world.
 Preface xv

I have come to participate in this work because of two polar, interre-

lated experiences in my life. On the one hand, my experiences as the
'other' have helped me appreciate and acknowledge people's differ-
ences in their schooling and reduce the violence that is associated with it
when it is not acknowledged. On the other hand, my transnational expe-
riences have allowed me to appreciate the strengths of difference and
diversity. This work is important for me, as it affirms people's differences
and acknowledges that difference is a strength rather than a weakness.
In addition, it is important because most of the time, having been turned
into 'objects' rather than being a 'subject' of difference, people are
pigeonholed into categories and are not allowed to express who they
really are. Schooling is an important part of people's lives because many
of us spend a considerable amount of our life in the educational setting.
Hence, it is pertinent to create a space where difference and diversity are
acknowledged and affirmed.
This page intentionally left blank
Acknowledgements

Many individuals have assisted with this work.In particular we would

like to thank Stan Doyle-Wood and Arlo Kempf, both of the Department
of Sociology and Equity Studies of the University of Toronto for reading
and commenting on an initial draft of the manuscript.
For the research in Ghana, which formed the basis of this book,
George Dei would like to acknowledge the assistance of Alireza Asgharza-
deh, Lems Crooks, Bijoy Barua, Gulnara Medebeukova, and Paul Adjei
Banahene, all of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education of the
University of Toronto (OISE/UT), who at various times worked as grad-
uate researchers during the data collection phase. We are grateful to Mr
Paul Akom, Dean of Students at the University College of Education at
Winneba, for his invaluable assistance during the course of the field
research project in Ghana. Many thanks go to Messrs Dickson K. Darko,
Martin Doudo, Esther Danso, and Mrs Ntow of Ghana, who served as
local Ghanaian research assistants. Our sincerest gratitude goes to the
many Ghanaian educators, administrators, students, parents, and com-
munity workers who gave their time for the interviews during various
phases of the fieldwork. Ms Evelyn Oduro of the Ghana Ministry of Edu-
cation, Accra, deserves a special mention.
We truly value the interactions with other colleagues at OISE/UT,
whose desire to share knowledge has been simply wonderful: Bathseba
Opini, Tania Principe, Kayleen Oka, Rick Sin and Deborah Barnes. We
would also like to thank all the anonymous readers of the manuscript for
their constructive comments. To the staff of the Department of Sociology
and Equity Studies (OISE/UT), Cheryl Zimmerman, Cheryl Williams,
Kristine Pearson, and Olga Williams, who offered other forms of support
that facilitated this study we say a big 'thank you.' The Social Sciences and
xviii Acknowledgments

Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) provided funding for

the Ghanaian research study.
Special thanks go to our dear families,who have supported us emo-
tionally throughout this project.
SCHOOLING AND DIFFERENCE IN AFRICA:
DEMOCRATIC CHALLENGES IN A CONTEMPORARY
CONTEXT
This page intentionally left blank
1 Introduction :Threads of Inclusive
Schooling

There is Africanm proverb that when the cock crows in the dawn it is a
call for us to wake up, an indication that it is early morning and the start
of a new day. We are also reminded that the cock performs this duty not
for itself but for us. Why? Simply, the cock is already up, so it is waking
others up. But how are we to receive this call? We must receive it as a call
to duty, to wake up and fulfil our duties and responsibilities, to make our
workplaces, homes, schools, colleges, universities, union halls, and so on
a better place for everyone. There are multiple places of responsibility
and accountability for each of us. In this book we humbly join the search
to look for effective ways to speak about and address the complexities and
intersections of social difference and schooling. As we enter the discus-
sion we are often confronted by a simple question. How does one (e.g.,
researcher, writer, student, teacher, parent, guardian, school administra-
tor) navigate the moments that complicate the self as a multiple, differ-
entiated subject? We know the self is not just one thing. In fact, each self/
subject has different and multiple layers that define our complex identi-
ties. Unfortunately, there are moments in everyday life when we are more
apt to deny these differences in the name of a shared commonality.
There is fear of difference everywhere. It is this realization that propels us
in particular to write about difference in the context of Ghanaian and, by
qualified extension, African schooling. We are motivated by our collec-
tive intellectual and political desires to speak about the complexities of
'difference,' and of how difference is understood in discussions of inclu-
sive and minority schooling in Ghana. Our academic goal is to contribute
to the promotion of 'educational inclusion' in Ghanaian school settings.
If we look critically at our school systems, we can see that we have some
students engaged in a fierce struggle to escape 'the margins.' We cannot
4 Schooling and Difference in Africa

be oblivious to the impact and consequences of this struggle. In fact, the

goal of achieving educational excellence is seriously impaired by inaction
in addressing difference in schooling contexts.
Let us be clear here. In broaching the question of difference, we are
not in anyway taking the position that unity is not a lofty ideal. We cherish
promoting unity and pride in the things that connect us as a community.
But we see this 'unity' as one that is best defined in terms of difference
and sameness rather than simply as one defined in sameness alone. Our
goal is not to uncover tensions and struggles where none exist. However,
as we question the desire 'not to rock the boat' and remain oblivious to
our differences, we are fully aware of the perils that accompany such a
silent stance. It is easy for us - especially those who benefit more from the
ways things stand at the moment - to be complacent and comfortable. In
one of our discussions around this collaborative project, one of the
authors, George Dei, shared this story: Not long ago he was privileged to
be invited to speak to a gathering in a local school on the importance of
African history and why school teachings should reflect the different con-
tributions that all students bring to the educational system. He recalls viv-
idly the invitation letter, stressing how important it is for speakers to be
very upbeat and uplifting and not dwell too much on the 'negative.' It
asserted the message that we must focus on the positive contributions
African peoples have made, and continue to make, in the service of world
civilization - this was a call to 'celebrate' achievements. In his introduc-
tory remarks, George joked that he was indeed sorry to disappoint the
gathering, because he forgot to bring the orchestra and church choir
with him. The point is that, for George, the struggle is still ongoing and
as such it is difficult to shed the gaze of critic and enter the mood of cel-
ebration. Thus, we must not drag our feet when dealing with the tensions
of evoking and confronting social differences.
Our world today is about differences and yet there are those who claim
that difference is irrelevant. This is a paradox and a contradiction; how-
ever, we strongly believe that education can help in offering guides and
solutions to overcoming this dilemma. Many of us are calling for a new
approach to schooling and education that instils a sense of community,
citizenship, and social responsibility, and one in which we value our dif-
ferences as much as we herald the things we share in common. In other
words, we are speaking of new approaches to schooling and education
where by our differences and commonalities become the important
sources of our collective strength. Our differences should not become
the force that divides us. We must cherish what is unique and, at the same
time, what is common to all of us.
 Threads of Inclusive Schooling 5

The way difference is celebrated, and also denied, today presents

some unique challenges for the educator. There is a greater expectation
of functioning education to be more effective in tapping into our diver-
sities, differences, histories, and cultures. The right to an education
comes with responsibilities. Therefore, the individual learner should
have a clear understanding not simply of her/his individual rights, but
also of her/his responsibilities to the larger citizenry. The community is
made up of differences, and so it requires that the educator, learner, par-
ent, guardian, caregiver, community/social worker, and administrator
become fully aware of the multiple desires, goals, and ambitions inher-
ent in that social space, as well as of the contradictions and tensions that
are experienced in everyday life. Education means cultivating respect for
each other, our differences, authority, our peers, and our ambitions.
In rethinking schooling and education in Ghana, we are reminded of
some key questions: (a) What do we see as the role education can play in
the creation of a socially cohesive society? (b) How do we allow our
schools to do what they do best - that is, provide education to learners so
that they are able to enhance their self-development and take advantage
of the valued goods and services of society? (c) How do we achieve the
characteristics of a healthy school system? and, lastly, (d) Can we arrive at
some consensus on what we see as the urgent and most enduring task of
public education (see also Ungerleider 2003a, b)? We have no definite
answers to any of these questions. But we can say this. If race, ethnicity,
gender, class, sexuality, ability, and other forms of difference are not
central to discussions of the answers, we are heading towards failure. We
say this because the negative treatment and evocation of difference hold
the potential of crippling our school systems. And yet this is ironic
because our schools are the true meeting places of diverse bodies, where
people hang together for a period hoping to acquire knowledge of self
and collective advancement.
In theorizing the search for viable educational options for Africa
based on the perspectives of local subjects, this book concerns itself with
the ways in which schools deal with difference and diversity within and
among student populations. Our learning objective is to offer under-
standing of and engagement with African education in 'post-colonial'
times through the stimulation of critical discussions regarding the rele-
vance of responding to ethnic, gender, class, linguistic, and religious dif-
ferences within African schooling. We posit that in order to understand
educational change, we need to embark upon a radical inquiry of 'social
difference' (i.e., how difference shapes our ways of seeing, knowing, and
acting). We are disturbed by the historic and current dispositions of
6 Schooling and Difference in Africa

schooling and education as simply reinforcing an awareness of individu-

als that fits bodies into a single set of imaginaries about the 'nation' and
'common citizenship.' We believe that in the current transnational and
global contexts we must use the power of human imagination to propose
alternatives that are informed by how people come to know, understand,
and experience themselves as both members of a community and citi-
zens of a nation state (see also Popkewitz 2000; Rizvi 2000).
Despite many gains in education, local schools and communities have
to contend with historic and new forms of colonial subjugation as capi-
talist globalization expands and continues to script human lives. But
there are also significant voices of resistance to such an encroachment.
In other words, minority subjects everywhere simultaneously experience
and resist repression and exploitation by the dominant culture. With this
in mind, we believe that education cannot proceed to bring about trans-
formation if its central assumptions regarding schooling continue to be
complicit in the subjugation of class, gender, ethnic, cultural, religious,
and linguistic minorities.
We are witnessing some unprecedented changes in our world today
that, for good or for ill, affect all aspects and spheres of life on earth. An
important area influenced by these changes is the attention paid to the
celebration of diversity and difference. Many are still unaware of the
worldwide significance of these changes, particularly in the realm of edu-
cation, learning, and pedagogy. These changes, nonetheless, do not alter
the fact that no part of our globe is immune to these transformations and
any attempt to deny this reality is at our collective peril. As we go through
these changes and try to make sense of them, their complexity and inten-
sity become ever more apparent, enhancing to an overwhelming degree
already existing contentions, contradictions, and ambiguities. An aware-
ness and knowledge of these ongoing transformations, no doubt, brings
responsibility and demands commitment. Such a commitment however,
requires that all of us (students, learners, educators, parents, community
workers, social activists, administrators, and policy makers, etc.) think
seriously about our practices in both educational spaces and off-school
environments. Issues of difference and diversity are at the centre of all
democratic, representative, and socio-political trans/formations, and as a
consequence educators, teachers, and learners must take every opportu-
nity to pursue inclusive schooling and education to a serious degree.
There is something positive to be gained in attempting to understand
the material and experiential realities of diverse student populations as
they navigate their ways through our school systems. We need therefore,
 Threads of Inclusive Schooling 7

to learn more about the experiences of living with different and multiple
identities, just as we need to understand how students' lived experiences,
within and outside the school environment, affect their engagement
with and disengagement from that environment. A critical examination
of the challenges and possibilities of inclusive schooling should allow us
to uncover how ethnicity, race, class, gender, language, religion, sexual-
ity, physical ability, power, and difference influence (and are in turn
influenced by) the schooling processes. Inclusivity is about how the pro-
cesses of teaching and learning and the administration of education
combine to produce schooling successes and/or failures for different
bodies. Inclusivity addresses questions of power, equity, and social differ-
ence as significant factors in determining differential learning outcomes
and social opportunities for students. We see these as major challenges
for African education as we move ahead in the twenty-first century.
Admittedly, rethinking African education and schooling can be easier
said than done. There have been many accounts of African schooling
that point to the limits and possibilities of change, as well as to what is
perceived as the role of education in contributing to the national devel-
opment project. We enter this discussion from various vantage points
that are informed by our schooling experiences, where negations, omis-
sions, and denials have characterized much of the learning process.
However, while many are apt to read the problems of education simply
in terms of material and physical absences, we are intent on bringing
critical knowledge to the 'educational project' through raising the spec-
tre of difference and its relevance to schooling in Africa.
The way we speak about problems, the way we frame issues, the kind of
language we use, our conceptualizations and theorizations, and even our
choice of terminologies are all relevant in the search for viable solutions.
For example, the word 'crisis' is employed in a rather leisurely way in the
discourse on 'development' and 'education' in Africa. We do not under-
estimate the fact that there are mounting challenges and obstacles that
pervade Africa's search for viable solutions to its developmental needs.
But historically, education has been approached solely in terms of its
capacity to contribute fundamentally to the national development and
nation-building processes. In emphasizing the goal of national integra-
tion, however, post-independence and 'post-colonial' education in Africa
has simultaneously denied heterogeneity in local populations, as if differ-
ence itself was a problem. Given this orientation, education has undoubt-
edly helped create and maintain the glaring disparities and inequities,
structured along the lines of ethnicity, culture, language, religion, gen-
8 Schooling and Difference in Africa

der, and class, that continuously persist and grow. This pattern can, how-
ever, be disrupted.
Education can acknowledge difference and diversity while at the same
time highlighting commonalities, even among peoples with conflicting
interests. Ultimately, it can contribute to both national integration and
social reconstruction. To do so, however, it must meet the challenge of
minority education. More specifically, since transformative change
encompasses more than the reform of existing curricular and pedagogi-
cal practices, it ought therefore to respond to problems of discrimination,
prejudice, and alienation within schools. In our contemporary world, an
education that focuses on social and cultural values, while addressing
conflict and encouraging reciprocity and peace, is the one most likely to
succeed.
To promote the democratic participation of all citizens in a project of
nation building and to provide lasting solutions to various socio-political
problems, education in Africa must acknowledge and affirm difference
and diversity within the context of pursuing equity and social justice. To
this end we confront some fundamental questions: Does schooling help
promote social and economic development? Is there a central role for
education in national development? In a discussion about the vocational
schooling fallacy, King and Martin (2002) point to the politics of the
manipulation of schooling in the developing world. The link between
education and development has often been assumed but is hardly theo-
rized. Foster (1963), for instance, challenged conventional thinking on
schooling issues in his classic study on Ghana, arguing that 'schools are
remarkably clumsy instruments for producing prompt large-scale
changes in [developing] areas' (144). This implies that we cannot safely
assume the link between schooling and development.
The obvious limitations and shortcomings of schools in bringing about
large-scale social changes does not mean that schools have no role to play
in promoting social development. In fact, schooling is generally seen as
playing a powerful role in the development of democratic citizenship.
But if this is to materialize, then, as Schweisfurth points out (2002, 303),
the 'requisite values, knowledge and skills need to be developed' within
the schooling population. In other words, the curriculum must be able to
fully respond to the values of society and community. This shift is one that
involves moving beyond schooling towards education. Yet education can-
not afford to be colonizing and imposed if it is to inculcate in youth the
values of common shared aspirations and visions. Colonial relations of
schooling are manifested in the differential treatment of bodies, the hier-
 Threads of Inclusive Schooling 9

archization of particular knowledges, and the peripheralization of cer-

tain experiences, cultures, and histories.
Educators need to address gaps between educational theory and ideals
about shared belonging, values, and destinies. We should critique
schooling practices that discriminate among groups of students by pro-
viding advantages for some and disadvantages for others. We need to
look critically at schoolyard and classroom practices. Educators can pro-
mote peaceful approaches to the political and social expression of differ-
ence and to issues of democracy and diversity. We ought to be both
conscious of, and sensitive to, the equity aspects of democracy. A fair rep-
resentation of all groups can be revealed in the visual culture, knowledge
representation, and staff representation in schools. The offering of
courses in life skills, vocational and technical skills, technical drawing,
social studies, and cultural studies has been viewed as holding the possi-
bilities of transforming the social realm at the beginning life stage of the
learner (see also Afenyadu 1998). Nevertheless, the efficacy of curricula
in promoting the values of equity will have to be supported with concrete
educational responses that target the challenges of difference.

Towards a Comparative Lens

Clearly, we bring with us diverse experiences, hopes, and aspirations

while working on a common project. The academic and political project
of this book is to draw on our multiple and varied experiences of school-
ing in the search for viable educational options in the South. The Gha-
naian case provides us with ample opportunity to speak directly about
Ghana and, by qualified extension, Africa. Given our varied locations, we
believe we can offer lessons that a span wide geographic space. As noted
already, while the issue of North American schooling may be conceptu-
alized differently from that of Africa, there are some broad parallels to be
made. For example, North American education is struggling to deal with
state cuts in funding. Schools have to contend with ways to promote inclu-
sive learning environments that have a broad representation of staff, cur-
riculum, and instruction in a social climate where there is a lack of
resources and an absence of political support. In North America, there is
a struggle over how we (as educators) may ensure that education is made
relevant to the wider society. There is no denying that in this contest the
imperatives of market forces are 'winning.' However, the promotion of
cost-effectiveness in North American education has been at the expense
of the issues of equity and social difference.
10 Schooling and Difference in Africa

It is noteworthy that the dominant, conventional discourse particularly

around such notions as 'return to basics,' 'standards matter the most,'
and 'quality education,' alongside the disturbing shift towards the 'mar-
ketization of education,' has only helped to sideline equity consider-
ations. Admittedly, the supreme reign of the global marketplace is very
much evident everywhere. Yet market-driven reform policies continue to
have disastrous consequences not only for teaching and learning, but
also for the administration of an inclusive education seeking to serve mul-
ticultural, multi-ethnic, and multilingual societies. Currently, market
considerations determine how we come to understand social justice and
equity education in schools (and this is happening not just in North
America but throughout the world). Equity cuts have become a central
feature of schooling reform around the globe (see for example Grant
and Lei 2001; Dei and Karumanchery 1999; Hatcher 1998). Not surpris-
ingly, therefore, in places where equity has not been examined critically
in terms of its implications for schooling, the promise of educational
reform to produce change has been short lived.
Africa is affected in profound ways by the 'marketization of educa-
tion.' The cost of schooling has become unbearable for large segments
of local populations. Class divisions have intensified in these societies,
where education is seen as a major tool for social mobility. Moreover,
Africa has not benefited from the encroachment of corporate capital in
supplying computers and other resources of information technology to
schools, items that are vital 'state of the art' educational equipment. In a
climate of increasing scarcity of resources, government policies on edu-
cational resource distribution have created serious social inequities. The
provision of educational resources to regions and communities in Africa
has followed a zero-sum pattern, where the gain of a small minority has
culminated in a loss for the silent majorities. As such, the educational
resource allocation in Africa can only be characterized in terms of net
gains and losses for the different stakeholders of the educational system.
As the nation-state sheds its responsibilities for publicly funded school-
ing, it actively seeks the unfettered involvement of the private sector in
education. This has made existing social inequities even more visible.
Furthermore, because education has been allowed to serve the needs of
corporate capital, different priorities for financial budgeting have come
into play. A most salient aspect of such prioritizing is that the goals and
purposes of education are being defined by the dictates of globalization
and global capital. Within such a climate, addressing the immediate con-
cerns of social equity and justice has not always registered on the radar
 Threads of Inclusive Schooling 11

screen of governments and educational policy makers. Even in the so-

called advanced industrialized and post-industrial societies of North
America, the demand for inclusive education is often viewed as 'a luxury'
given the increasing funding cuts to schools and universities (see for
example Looye and Sesay 1998). By comparison, one can only imagine
how African and Southern governing bodies would respond to a similar
demand for inclusivity.
The current approach to schooling in Africa can be viewed as part of
the problem rather than a solution to the continent's numerous prob-
lems. Education in school settings using a colonial lens often distorts our
imagination, limits the learners' vision, and stymies any critical reflection
on alternatives that allow human ingenuity to flourish and to find new
solutions. We need new forms of schooling that allow learners to imag-
ine and re-imagine new possibilities for helping local communities to
dispel the myth of 'development' by using local and indigenous cultural
knowings. Educational reforms on the continent must not be caught in
the dominant paradigms of Western thinking. Genuine reforms must
critically evaluate what potential exists in local contexts and tap local
resources and creativity to think through solutions to people's problems.
Colonial relations still continue to be reproduced at the political, eco-
nomic, cultural, and ideological levels of society by internal and external
forces. There is a higher and more sophisticated form of colonialism in
place today that condones and confirms the denial of voices, experi-
ences, and histories in the name of common citizenship and the nation-
building project.
In North America, well-meaning educators have been quick to recog-
nize the importance of taking into account social difference in the
schooling and education of youth (see Grant and Lei 2001; Ghosh and
Ray 1995; James 1995; Jacob and Jordan 1993). This importance is recog-
nized because of the commitment of liberal education to individual free-
dom and choice. In fact, most educators who view multiculturalism
favourably see the challenge of multicultural education primarily in
addressing the individual and collective rights of diverse student bodies.
These educators have come to question the lack of recognition of the
positive contributions of groups, with the resulting misunderstanding
and miscommunication among segments of the population. In schools,
multicultural teachings, through classroom instructional and curricular
practices, acknowledge and celebrate diversity, albeit somewhat superfi-
cially. Likewise, the pedagogic practices of progressive educators value
the contribution of different cultures. The overall emphasis is on rooting
12 Schooling and Difference in Africa

out in tolerance, discrimination, and the lack of goodwill. But the connec-
tions between questions of identity (e.g., race, class, gender, sexuality,
language, religion, and physical ability), schooling, and knowledge pro-
duction have not always been powerfully made. Thus, while cultures and
different histories may be broached in classroom discussions, students
have not been empowered to connect these to the broader questions of
structural racism, social oppression, domination, and the marginaliza-
tion of peoples in society.
More concretely, the existing multicultural education in North Amer-
ica has been viewed as incapable of incorporating issues of power and
injustice (see for example Grant and Lei 2001). Multicultural education
has manifested itself mainly through superficialities such as food festi-
vals, ethnic clothing, and various additive, exhibitionist, and tourist
approaches to what is supposed to be genuine inclusive schooling. The
fact that multicultural education can be pursued as an assimilation of
ethnic and racial minorities into what is 'Canadian' or 'American' as
'Whiteness,' or as reconstructed and remodelled on a white identity, has
not been problematized (see also Bedard 2000). In these kinds of multi-
cultural educations, in the majority of cases, cultural plurality has been
engaged in very depoliticized ways - for instance, without confronting
questions of power and difference (see Solomon and Levine-Rasky 1996)
— while the fundamental principle of physical representation material-
ized through having racial minority teachers in schools and in positions
of power and influence within the educational system, has simulta-
neously been left on the sidelines.
The cynic may argue that these are Canadian and North American
concerns that have no relevance to African contexts. We beg to differ.
Like North American communities, African communities are plural soci-
eties and have to deal with the question of difference and diversity. If
African communities are to build on the possibilities laid out by the
nation-building project of anti-colonial and neo-colonial times, then
what is needed is a critical examination of the entire nation-building
project to ensure that all members of society have true claims of citizen-
ship and are able to develop a sense of entitlement to the valued goods
and services in society. Inclusive education has a critical role to play by
helping all learners to critically interrogate the underlying assumptions
of the nation-building project that emphasize empathy, commonality,
and goodwill while avoiding difference as if it were a pernicious disease.
Unfortunately, the political economy of African schooling, including
educational policies, the social location of teachers and students, and
 Threads of Inclusive Schooling 13

the content of the curriculum, has gained very little attention. This book
will, we hope, contribute to addressing this gap by raising some of the
most important questions about difference in the context of Ghanaian
schooling. We challenge the perception that schooling as a process and
what it produces in its graduates is monolithic for communities. A major
objective of learning would be to contribute to the promotion of educa-
tional inclusion and equity in school settings in Ghana in particular and,
by implication, other pluralistic societies. We hope our emphasis on dif-
ference can help engender debates about reducing the marginalization
of some students and increasing the chances of educational success for
all students. Using an anti-colonial approach to schooling in post-inde-
pendence Ghana, we hope to provide readers with an understanding of
how the issues of ethnicity, class, gender, language, religion, and other
differences play out within an African schooling system.
We believe that learners must be assisted to adopt a stance that advo-
cates identifying, challenging, and changing values, structures, and
behaviours that perpetuate systemic discrimination and other forms of
oppression structured along lines of ethnicity, gender, class, language,
religion, physical ability, and sexuality. The entrenched inequities and
power imbalance among social groups must be addressed. In the context
of schooling, a 'mosaic' discourse indeed cherishes difference and plu-
rality by promoting an image of thriving, mutually respectful and appre-
ciative ethno-cultural communities. This cherishing, however, in and of
itself is not sufficient and must not be seen as enough. We need a critical
discourse and political practice that challenges persistent inequities
among communities. Relations of power and domination are deeply
rooted not only in our socio-political institutions, but more importantly
in our discourses. The aim for us is to critique and challenge the domi-
nant discursive practices that contribute to the reproduction of relations
of domination and subordination.

Addressing and Responding to Difference in the African Continent:

A Literature Review

Around the world there are a growing number of people who are
excluded from meaningful participation in the economic, social, politi-
cal, and cultural life of their communities (UNESCO 2003a). The Jom-
tien World Conference on Education for All (1990) set the goal of
'education for all.' Many international organizations have been working
towards achieving this goal. Despite the many developments that have
14 Schooling and Difference in Africa

taken place, there are still an estimated 113 million primary school chil-
dren not attending schools around the world, of which 80 million come
from Africa (UNESCO 2003a). Of those who do enrol in schooling, large
numbers drop out before completing their primary schooling. It is rec-
ognized that current strategies and programs have mostly been insuffi-
cient with regard to the needs of children and youth who are vulnerable
to marginalization and exclusion. There is an urgency to address the
needs of learners who are excluded or marginalized on the basis of their
class, ethnicity, language, ability, religion, gender, or other lines of dif-
ference (UNESCO 2003a, 9). This urgency is captured in the recent
move towards inclusive education in both the Salamanca World Confer-
ence on Special Needs Education (1994) and at the Dakar World Educa-
tion Forum (2000):

[SJchools should accommodate all children regardless of their physical,

intellectual, social, emotional, linguistic, or other conditions. This should
include disabled and gifted children, street and working children, children
from remote or nomadic populations, children from linguistic, ethnic or
cultural minorities and children from other disadvantaged or marginalized
areas or groups. (Cited in UNESCO, 2003a, 4)

While the question of inclusive education has been recognized inter-

nationally, most initiatives within Africa have been geared towards
improving access in the primary education setting. For instance, educa-
tion is a key priority within the New Partnership for Africa's Development
(NEPAD), yet the question of difference and diversity is not given prior-
ity. Launched in 2001, NEPAD is a program for the African Union that
aims at (a) eradicating poverty in Africa, (b) placing African countries on
the path of sustainable growth and development, (c) halting the margin-
alization of Africa in the globalization process and enhancing its integra-
tion into the global economy, and (d) accelerating the empowerment of
women (NEPAD 2004a). Unfortunately, this program on Africa's devel-
opment has not moved away from the usual priorities over-flogged in
earlier plans (e.g., Arusha Declaration and Lagos Plan of Action) (anon-
ymous reviewer, 2005).
We believe that education should not be about producing a labour
force to serve the requirements of global capital. Instead, it ought to be
about providing skills and knowledges to members of a community so
that they are able to understand each other and their connections with
wider communities. Education starts when people and communities
 Threads of Inclusive Schooling 15

think about the varied options, strategies, and ways through which we
come to understand our world and act within it. Meaningful education
requires changes both in our ways of thinking and in the structure of
social, political, cultural, and economic institutions of society.
The question 'Who controls the "education agenda" and why?' is sig-
nificant, especially when we begin to challenge issues of power and resis-
tance in regard to educational reform initiatives supported by the West in
Africa through the World Bank and the (IMF International Monetary
Fund). Today, for instance, Structural Adjustment Programs (as neo-
modernization visions) and initiatives around Highly Indebted Poorer
Countries (HIPCs) have established a foundation and source of 'truth'
about development. But in working with critical and counter-ideas, it is
important to see how we think and conceptualize through 'development'
discourses in order to avoid the easy slippage into the form, logic, and
implicit assumptions and postulations of the very things that we are con-
testing. For instance, with regard to structural adjustment policies
(SAPs), Chisholm et al. (1999), discussing these policies in the context of
South Africa, argue that 'an equity goal ... can be effectively neutralized
when associated with or subordinated to wider cost-reduction impera-
tives,' and further note that 'the discourse of'development' is ... ideolog-
ically and structurally indifferent to the specificity of oppression' (399).
Similarly, the World Bank's policies hamper the question of difference
and diversity initiatives. The Bank has discouraged the use of local lan-
guages, seeing them as barriers to accessing an international body of
knowledge. As a 1980 sector paper of the World Bank notes: 'The empha-
sis on local languages can diminish an individual's chances for further
education and limit access of specific groups or countries to an interna-
tional body of knowledge' (cited in Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir 2001,
314).
Since the early 1980s there has been a powerful discourse of develop-
ment, propagated foremost (but not exclusively) by the World Bank and
the IMF, that has successfully linked poor economic performance in
Africa to crisis in governance. This discourse has also attributed Africa's
economic problems solely to domestic policies whilse ignoring, to an
immense degree, the fiscal imbalances in African countries that are due
primarily to inequities within the global economy. While one should not
ignore the domestic implications of Africa's woes, it is important to reit-
erate that it is precisely this discursive lens of minimizing external com-
plicities and accountabilities that has propelled the structural-adjustment
policies of the World Bank and IMF. Today, even though many countries
16 Schooling and Difference in Africa

of Africa are independent, they are still experiencing neocolonialism.

Many countries and organizations are recolonizing Africa in terms of ide-
ologies, philosophies, lifestyles, and education (see also Chimedza 1998;
Quist 2001). For instance, bilateral donors such as the British and French
use development aid to strengthen the use of their own languages as lan-
guages of instruction (Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir 2004).
However, it would be wrong to assume that local resistance has been
muted in Africa. Within local settings, we see hope regarding the pro-
duction of a new knowledge that challenges unequal relations between
societies/groups and the potential for one group to use its power to
articulate and project its world view onto others (McKenzie 1997;
UNESCO 2001; Unterhalter et al. 2004; Warsame 2001). There are also
feelings of encouragement and empowerment generated when discus-
sions on education are extended to the cultural realm beyond the tradi-
tional political and economic spheres. We are thinking here of the
cultural dimensions of schooling and resistance and what learners imply
when they evoke difference as a site of schooling by linking identity and
knowledge production (see also Dei 2004).
First and foremost, identity is about negotiating around ethnicity, gen-
der, class, sexuality, language, religion, physical ability, and culture as
important sites of difference. Recognition of the implications of these
sites and symbols of difference for schooling is essential in creating an
empowering school environment. For it is through these sites of differ-
ence and their intersections that identities are constructed and recon-
structed. Educators can create spaces for critical questions to be asked
regarding the absences, negations, and omissions of bodies and experi-
ences. Learners in turn have the responsibility to constantly pose critical
questions and raise challenging issues. Educators will also need to
develop indigenous, non-Western concepts and categories for under-
standing African societies (see Brock-Utne 1999; Nekhwevha 1999;
Tournas 1996). This requires that we pay particular attention to the pro-
duction and social organization of knowledge, as well as to cultures, lan-
guages, religions, and the socio-political dimensions of schooling,
education, and development.
As a matter of fact, inclusive education and the sharing and exchange
of knowledges are very relevant to Africa. African educators and school
administrators need to put in place mechanisms that address all forms of
injustice and seek fundamental structural and societal changes. Some
have already begun to recognize this problem (see Brock-Utne and
Holmarsdottir 2001; Bunyi 1999; Harber 1998; Herman 1995; Mabokela
 Threads of Inclusive Schooling 17

2000; Maluwa-Banda 2004; Stefanos 1997; Swainson 2000; Ufomata 1999;

UNESCO 2003a; Webb 1999). The problems of schooling are not simply
manifested in intolerance and the lack of good will. They should be seen
as questions of bias, discrimination, hatred, exclusion, and violence (see
also UNESCO 2003a). Rather than viewing ethnic prejudice and sexist
practices as individual acts of ethnocentrism, patriarchal behaviour, or
the violation of the democratic rights of citizens, such discriminatory
and oppressive acts must be understood as integral parts of the social
structure and the politics of maintaining the status quo (see also Ste-
fanos, 1997). There have been some strides made in some African coun-
tries to rupture the practices of denial of heterogeneity in schooling
practices. In the following section we review the current literature and
discuss many of the policies, initiatives, successes, failures, and chal-
lenges of recognizing and responding to issues of difference along the
lines of gender, class, language, ethnicity, and disability throughout the
African continent.

Gender

The Education for All (EFA) conference held at Jomtien, Thailand, in

1990 resulted in the introduction of over 100 government plans of
actions that included strategies to address inequities in girls' educational
participation (Swainson 2000). As a result of this conference, there has
been increased interest in gender inequalities in education in African
countries by both foreign donors and governments. In terms of gender,
most discussions have taken place in terms of improving access for girls
to primary schooling and basic literacy skills in the African context. The
Ouagadougou Pan-African conference on the Education of Girls and
Women, organized by UNESCO and its partners in 1993, called for a vig-
orous pursuit of efforts to achieve gender equity in education in the
region. African members were urged to put in place appropriate policy
frameworks, programs, and structures to accelerate the process (Obanya
2004).
In November 2001, a questionnaire was dispatched by UNESCO to
forty-seven member states of Africa; twenty-three responded. The report
of this survey, entitled 'Promoting Basic Education for Women and Girls:
A Survey of Structures, Programmes and Activities in Africa,' provided
interesting results (see Obanya 2004). According to the survey, most
countries concerned seemed to face common challenges such as (1) fac-
tors inherent in the education system (absence of women teachers,
18 Schooling and Difference in Africa

school failure, school programs and calendars not being responsive to

local needs; (2) sociocultural factors (large families, early marriages, lack
of parental encouragement for girls' education), and (3) socio-eco-
nomic factors (poverty, opportunity costs of education, limited employ-
ment for school leavers). However, while the enrolment of girls may
have increased in some countries, this does not necessarily translate into
narrowing the gender gap (for instance in Senegal). There have been
some exceptions to this pattern, such as Mauritius, which has no gender
gap in primary and secondary education (Obanya 2004).
Whether a distinct national gender policy in education exists or not
varies from county to country, yet most policies address common con-
cerns. Some countries have special policy documents on the education
of girls and women (e.g., Burkina Faso, Chad, Madagascar, Mali, Mauri-
tania, Nigeria, and Senegal). Other countries have girls' and women's
education policies that are derived from overall national education pol-
icy guidelines (e.g. Benin, Burundi, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya,
Mauritius, Niger, Swaziland, and Togo). Whatever their shape or form,
national policies on the education of girls and women tend to address
the following five common concerns: (1) Attitude change in favour of
the education of girls and women; (2) Expanding access; (3) Gender-
sensitivity education for teachers, managers, and policy-makers; (4)
Ensuring full participation, completion, and success for girls in school,
through a variety of girl-friendly and gender sensitive initiatives; and (5)
Linking non-formal education for women to political, social, and eco-
nomic empowerment issues (Obanya 2004).
Some countries have a good number of projects that are designed to
boost gender equality in education. However, most countries have
pointed out that by the year 2005, the gender gap would have decreased
considerably in primary education, but not in secondary and tertiary
education. Women are still significantly under-represented both in the
teaching force and at various levels of educational administration. Most
women personnel are concentrated in the lower levels of education and
in non-technical streams. Even in countries where women are fairly rep-
resented in educational administration, they are still under-represented
at the policy level (Obanya 2004).
Swainson (2000) demonstrates many of these gender inequity trends in
her review of the gender policies and programs of Malawi, Zambia, and
Zimbabwe. Within these countries women still account for less than one
third of the enrolments and are mainly concentrated in the arts and
social sciences. The gender stereotyping of subjects is common at both
 Threads of Inclusive Schooling 19

the secondary and tertiary levels in all three countries. It is interesting to

note that in Malawi, pregnancy was one of the major causes of dropping
out among girls and school-uniform costs were seen as having a negative
impact on girls' persistence in school. With regard to gender issues in
Tanzania, the main policy thrust of education and training policy, in
1995, was to support girls' boarding and hostel facilities, curriculum
review, and the elimination of gender stereotyping. However, as Swain-
son notes, since gender is not integrated throughout the current educa-
tion policy and none of these recommendations are backed up by
concrete plans of action, gender concerns appear as 'add ons' (2000, 55).
Within Zimbabwe the Ministry of Education, with the help of.
UNICEF, designed and implemented a program of action to address the
girl child using the Gender Equity in Education Project (GEEP). How-
ever, donor-sponsored research on gender and education has often
been more oriented to meeting donor than recipient goals in all three
countries (Swainson 2000). But recently, gender-inclusive policies and
programing at all levels have been improving in the case of Malawi (see
Maluwa-Banda 2004). For instance, the Gender Appropriate Curriculum
(GAG) Unit in Malawi has revised primary and secondary school text-
books to make them more gender-sensitive and portray girls and women
in more positive roles. But still more needs to be done to put gender-
inclusive policies into practice in the school management and learning
environment, where women are under-represented (Maluwa-Banda
2004). Despite commitments to international agreements on gender
equality, the key policy makers in Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe are
still predominantly male (Swainson 2000).
Through foreign financial assistance from certain international devel-
opment agencies, some African countries are actively addressing gender
and other inequities in education. There is a surplus of NGOs Working on
the education of girls and women (e.g., 112 registered in Ethiopia and
some 200 in Niger). For instance, the Canadian International Develop-
ment Agency (CIDA) launched its action plan on basic education to help
achieve universal primary education and focuses on gender parity at both
the primary and secondary levels (CIDA 2002). CIDA's projects are
spread all over the continent, and include programs on improving access
to girls' basic education in countries such as Ghana, South Africa, Zam-
bia, Ethiopia, Senegal, and Burkina Faso. However, most of these CIDA
initiatives are focused on improving access rather than on improving gen-
der inclusivity in schools (CIDA 2004). Similarly, USAID funded in
Malawi a 'Girls' Attainment in Basic Literacy and Education' (GABLE)
20 Schooling and Difference in Africa

program with the aim of improving the access, persistence, and achieve-
ment of girls in primary schools (Kadzamira and Rose 2003). In Malawi
other important players in gender interventions in education are the
Department for International Development, the United Nations Chil-
dren's Fund (UNICEF), and the World Bank (Swainson 2000).
Overall, unequal gender relations have continued to favour the success
of male students throughout the various school cycles. This success is
manifested through the sustained higher number of male students in
classrooms, particularly in universities and institutions of higher learn-
ing. It is also evident in the make-up of teaching and administrative per-
sonnel, the overwhelming majority of whom are male. Although there has
been a considerable increase in the number of female students lately, the
overall male/female ratio is still heavily skewed towards the male popu-
lation. In recent years, various governing bodies, the media, and the edu-
cation system have started important awareness-raising campaigns against
the exclusion of females from centres of learning. Positive steps have
been taken to encourage and facilitate female students' enrolment in
both primary and higher levels of schooling (Apusigali 2001; Unterhalter
et al. 2004). There are, nevertheless, major gaps that need to be filled in
terms of equal access, equal opportunity, and equal representation.

Class

Alongside other categories and sites of difference, class issues have been
recognized as being consequential for schooling outcomes to a consider-
able degree (Kadzamira and Rose 2003; Obasi 2000). We say 'recog-
nized' because it is one thing to recognize differences and another to
'respond' to them. Over the years, in local African communities, increas-
ing material poverty has exacerbated class distinctions. We note, for
example, that in Ghana the introduction of educational reforms in the
1980s exacerbated the hardships of local parents as they tried to provide
an education for their children (see also Dei 2003, 2004). Part of the sit-
uation was the result of the state's attempts at cost recovery that pushed
much of the cost of education onto parents and local communities.
While it may be said that the state continues to shoulder a greater por-
tion of the cost of education, it should also be conceded that increasingly
Ghanaians from low socio-economic backgrounds have found it harder
to provide education beyond the basic level to their children. Similar
trends may be seen in countries like Malawi, Kenya and Nigeria
(Kadzamira and Rose 2003; Mukudi 2004a; Obasi 2000).
 Threads of Inclusive Schooling 21

In fact, parents would argue that they are paying more for public edu-
cation at the primary, basic level despite the fact that such education is
'free' (Kadzamira and Rose 2003). The rise in private schooling has fur-
ther intensified existing socio-economic divisions in society, with private
schools charging exorbitant fees and becoming extremely restrictive
(Selod and Xenou 2003; Tikly and Mabogoane 1997). This trend, in
turn, has created tensions between public and private schooling. Nor is
the rise in education cost confined to private schools. Even within the
public school system, free tuition at the basic level has been accompa-
nied by a steep rise in incidental fees (see Dei 2003; Kadzamira and Rose
2003). For instance, within Malawi, while primary education is free, par-
ents still have to incur such costs as buying exercise books, pens, and
clothes for school (Kadzamira and Rose 2003). And more problemati-
cally in Ghana, there is no uniformity among public schools in school
fees (Dei 2004). This lack of uniformity significantly adds to already exist-
ing confusions, and to feelings of desperation and helplessness, particu-
larly among the have-nots and the poorer segments of the population.
While there is a recognition of the class issue in schooling and of how
it affects schooling outcome and enrolment, economic recessions in
African countries have forced countries that previously had free primary
education systems to begin charging user fees. For instance, Kenya had
eliminated tuition charges at primary schools in the 1970s, but with the
adoption of the structural adjustment programs (SAPs) in the mid-1980s
user fees were introduced. Since then, measures have been taken to
counteract the economic recession that have resulted in limiting access
to schooling, increased attrition, and significantly contributed to absen-
teeism (Mukudi 2004b). With respect to a rural Kenyan community,
Mukudi (2004b) reports that head teachers could not run their schools
without charging user fees. As a result, the burden of the costs of educa-
tion fell on parents, students, and teachers. As Mukudi states:

Struggling with widespread poverty, many parents felt that the government
should fully fund education as a public service. Yet the government lacks
the fiscal capacity to supply schools with development funds they need in
order to operate. The burden of enforcing the user-fee policy at the school
level often falls solely on the shoulders of head-teachers. The primary strat-
egy that head-teachers employ is to exclude from class those children whose
parents have not paid user fees. (456)

Class issues still persist in many countries throughout Africa and have
22 Schooling and Difference in Africa

been exacerbated by SAPs. As mentioned earlier, as the cost of schooling

rises, many learners are excluded, and this causes frustration among par-
ents, teachers, and administrators. Most initiatives that deal with issues of
class have been focused on primary, rather than secondary or tertiary,
schooling.

Language

It is very difficult to demonstrate that African countries have take

'guage differences into account for schooling. While there have been
some initiatives to do so, these initiatives have mostly focused on the
lower levels of schooling, such as the level of literacy and primary school-
ing. The most important reason for this is that language educational pol-
icies in Africa are deeply rooted in the inheritance of colonial language
policies (Bamgbose 2004). Language policy maintenance is very much
dependent on the colonial experience, which continues to shape and
define post-colonial experiences and practices. As Bamgbose argues:

Not only are policies maintained in terms of use or non-use of African lan-
guages for teaching, the colonial practice of confining African languages as
media of instruction to the lower levels of primary education has persisted
in most countries till the present time. (4)

However, certain African counties have begun to take issues of language

differences more seriously by encouraging the use of indigenous lan-
guages. For instance, Mali and Niger have increased their attention to
the use of African languages in teaching, a direct result of educational
reform in both countries (Bamgbose 2004).
Interestingly, while some African countries have moved towards taking
language differences into account for schooling, stated policy does not
necessarily translate into practice. One notable example that many
authors have discussed of this policy-reality mismatch may be seen in
post-apartheid South Africa (see Crawhall 1999; Desai 2001; Heugh 1999;
Webb 1999). For instance, within its language education policy, there
exists the right of forty or more children in class to demand instruction
in their language, but this still remains a policy on paper (Bamgbose
2004). Since the first democratic initiatives in South Africa, educational
legislation has been passed to implement a new school system, introduc-
ing eleven official languages (among which are nine African languages,
English, and the Afrikaans language) and a new policy for schools on the
 Threads of Inclusive Schooling 23

medium of instruction (Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir 2004). However,

according to Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir, the South African language
policy is not really in effect: 'Despite what may be regarded as a very pro-
gressive language in education policy, which in principle enables learn-
ers or their guardians to choose the language of instruction, English is
used as the medium of instruction from Grade 4 onwards' (72).
Similarly, in Nigeria, the government, for pre-primary education,
maintains that it will 'ensure that the medium of instruction will be prin-
cipally the mother tongue or the language of the immediate community,'
yet this policy is not enforceable because of many constraints (Bamgbose
2004, 8). For instance: (1) the regulatory influence of the government is
restricted because it does not own or run pre-primary schools; (2) middle-
class parents who send their children to fee-paying schools demand early
instruction in English rather than in a Nigerian language; and (3) to max-
imize profit through higher enrolments, owners of pre-primary schools
who determine the language of instruction policy prefer to please the
wishes of parents who demand English (ibid.). Namibia is another exam-
ple where there is a progressive language in education policy, yet it is not
being implemented (Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir 2004). In the
Namibian case, one significant constraint to such a policy being imple-
mented is that there is a general lack of interest or support for African lan-
guages in schooling from parents, students, the educational sector, and
policy-makers (Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir 2001).
Within primary education, some African countries - such as Bostwana,
Lesotho, Uganda, Tanzania, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Madagascar, and
Nigeria - have extended the use of an African language as medium to
upper-class primary classes. However, such use at the secondary level is
rare. There are a few cases where instructional materials in content sub-
jects are available (such as Somali in Somalia and Malagasy in Madagas-
car) . In Nigeria, metalanguage for teaching the major languages through
the languages themselves has been developed through the well-known
processes of vocabulary expansion (Bamgbose 2004).
In secondary schooling, as in primary schools, an African-language
subject is optional for at least the first three years. In practice, in all the
cases in which an African language is taken as a subject, it is the first lan-
guage of the student (Bambgose 2004). For instance, Nigeria's bilingual
policy requires that a child should be offered one of the three major lan-
guages in addition to his or her mother tongue (Ufomata 1999). This
policy is implemented at the secondary level, where two Nigerian lan-
guages are compulsory subjects at the junior secondary level, and one of
24 Schooling and Difference in Africa

them continues to be compulsory until the end of secondary education

(ibid.). Moreover, at the tertiary level, teaching an African language as a
subject is a widespread practice. Unfortunately, in tertiary education, the
use of an African language as a medium of instruction is limited to the
teaching of that language as a subject and not for any other subjects
(Bamgbose2004).
Over the years, however, many pilot projects have sprung up in Africa
to either introduce or experiment with African languages as the medium
of teaching and learning in schools. Countries such as Angola, Benin,
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Gambia, Guineau Bissau, Liberia, Mau-
ritia, Niger, Senegal, and Sierra Leone have been involved in these kinds
of projects, whether at the pre-school or primary level (Bamgbose 2004).
Experiments in early or initial medium have been reported in Sierra
Leone, Senegal, Niger, and Nigeria (ibid.). An example of this is the Riv-
ers Readers Project in Nigeria, which is designed to introduce initial lit-
eracy in about twenty so-called minority languages/dialects through
their use as media of instruction in the first two years of primary educa-
tion (Ufomata 1999). There are also experiments involving a bilingual
medium that involve the sharing of roles between an African language
and an imported official language. For instance, in Cameroon, a project
that began in 1981 set out to conduct initial literacy in the mother
tongue followed by its partial use as a medium. Seven languages were
selected for the project. Basic language skills were introduced in the Afri-
can language, with the gradual introduction of French. Unfortunately,
while there has been a proliferation of pilot projects in language instruc-
tion in African languages, there still exists a wide gap between experi-
ments and practical application in terms of policy (see Bamgbose 2004).
Overall, African countries have confined their language policies to
introducing African languages as the medium of instruction at the pri-
mary schooling and literacy levels. There have not been many resources
put in place to develop indigenous African languages and most countries
resort to colonial languages as the primary modes of instruction, in texts,
and for communication at the secondary and tertiary levels of schooling.
While some efforts have been made to make some language-inclusive pol-
icies or experiments, they usually stay at the experimental level and do
not get translated into national language policy. In short, there has been
very little effort made to take language differences into account for
schooling within Africa. A lot more has to be done in this regard and a
real effort made to move beyond the remnants of colonial schooling. As
Ali Mazrui asks: 'Can any country approximate first-rank economic devel-
 Threads of Inclusive Schooling 25

opment if it relies overwhelmingly on foreign languages for its discourse

on development and transformation? Will Africa ever effectively 'take off
when it is so tightly held hostage to the languages of the former imperial
masters?' (cited in Brock-Utne and Holmarsdottir 2004, 80).

Ethnicity

There is scant literature that discusses the question of ethnicity and

inclusive schooling in the African context. Yet there have been some pos-
itive developments in this area. Disparities based on race and ethnicity
have largely been removed in the general expansion of primary school-
ing in both Tanzania and Zimbabwe, though less so in Malawi (Swainson
2000). Yet, in some countries disparities still continue along ethnic lines.
For instance, in a recent study on ethnicity and education in Kenya, Alwy
and Schech (2004) have found that there is a substantial difference in
educational opportunity and resources among the students who come
from the provinces where the ruling elite have originated, past and
present. They discovered that there was a large difference in the access
to and quality of primary education in certain provinces, and these ineq-
uities were concentrated in the north-eastern regions and the Coast
province, where the Somali and the Swahili reside. These inequities in
access to education between the provinces, between ethnic groups, are
reflected in the national examination performance of students. The
issues of access to schools and the distribution of qualified teachers and
other educational resources have influenced the persistent poor enrol-
ment rates and educational outcomes of ethnic minority students. Alwy
and Schech conclude that their results support 'placing the notion of
ethnicity at the forefront of analyses of educational policies in Kenya'
(273).
In Uganda, some interesting initiatives have been taken to include
some of the marginalized groups of the country. In these efforts, atten-
tion has been paid to make sure that education is relevant to local needs,
especially for those groups who are ethnic minorities (UNESCO 2001).
For instance, the Alternative Basic Education for Karamoja (ABEK) pro-
gram serves a semi-nomadic people who live in a fragile and precarious
ecological environment in north-eastern Uganda. This intitaive recog-
nized that formal primary schooling is irrelevant to Karamojong chil-
dren, as it will undermine the values, traditional knowledge and skills
that are crucial to their survival in the region. As a result, this program
employs a functional basic education approach that enables the child to
26 Schooling and Difference in Africa

do much of his or her learning without disrupting their normal domestic

and work routines. Along with the use of local experts, the curriculum
and teaching materials have been revised and adapted to suit the learn-
ing requirements of the Karamojong children, which include 'indige-
nous knowledge and skills and basic life skills relevant to rural/cattle-
keeping life - e.g., animal husbandry, water and range land manage-
ment, environmental protection, early warning systems and positive cul-
tural practices' (UNESCO 2001, 24).

Disability

Unlike most other African countries, Nigeria has a highly developed and
explicit national policy for special educational needs, although this has
had limited impact on practice (Obiakor 1998). Similarly, within Kenya
there have been rapid developments in dealing with disability issues in
schooling, but there still remains a gap between the ambitions of
national policy and actual provision at the school level (Muuya 2002). In
the Kenyan case, this gap between policy and actual provision in school-
ing was a result of the high emphasis given to the skills of personal care
and obedience in special education and a relatively low emphasis given
to preparation for employment at the level of schools and units. As
Muuya argues, '[T]hinking about special education has not progressed
to a point where it matches the aspirations of national policy in Kenya'
(2002, 237). In Zimbabwe, according to the Disability Act of 1992, all
people with disabilities have a right to operate in ordinary settings edu-
cationally, socially, and politically. A similar policy to Zimbabwe's is in
place in Tanzania and Uganda (Chimedza 1998).
In Uganda, under Universal Primary Education (UPE), implemented
in 1997, the idea of integrated education was put into practice (Kris-
tensen, Omagor-Loican, and Onen 2003). This is consistent with article
30 of the constitution of the Republic of Uganda, which indicates that
' [a] 11 persons have the right to education ... [A] child is entitled to basic
education ... [and] the state shall take action in favour of groups which
are marginalized on the basis of gender, age, disability or for any other
historical or traditional reason' (cited ibid., 195). Children with disabili-
ties were enrolled regular primary schools throughout the country. To
ensure that learners with special needs were given relevant as well as
quality education in an inclusive school setting, all the 12,280 schools in
Uganda were grouped into clusters of fifteen to twenty schools. Each of
the clusters had a Special Needs Education Co-ordinator (SNECo) who,
 Threads of Inclusive Schooling 27

apart from classroom work, visited all schools in the cluster regularly and
advised on the teaching of learners with special educational needs. The
Ministry of Education and Sports had also assigned at least one teacher
in each school to be in charge of special-needs and inclusive education
(Kristensen, Omagor-Loican, and Onen 2003). Yet many problems arose
as a result of this integration: high teacher-pupil ratios, lack of resources
in the schools, and an urgent need for teacher training to respond to the
classroom needs of children with disabilities (Arbeiter and Hartley
2002). Still, as a result of this integration, many teachers developed a pos-
itive attitude towards integrating children with disabilities.
In Botswana, the Botswana National Assembly approved the Revised
National Policy on Education in 1994, which stated that the government
was committed to the education of all children, including those with dis-
abilities (Abosi 2000). Since then the Botswana government has shown
progressively greater interest in people with disabilities in the education
system. As examples, special schools or resource centres have been devel-
oped and supported; a number of programs, such as the Teaching Train-
ing Curriculum, have been changed to incorporate courses in special
education; specialist training facilities have been established at the Uni-
versityof Botswana; an enlightenment program has been developed to
facilitate attitudinal change; more personnel have been sent abroad for
training in different specialized areas; and public buildings have been
adjusted to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Overall, the devel-
opment of special-education measures and provisions for people with
disabilities have been topmost priorities of the government of Botswana
(Abosi 2000).
While countries have taken their own initiatives to deal with disability
issues in schooling, many international organizations and NGOs. have
also been involved in dealing with issues of disability and inclusive school-
ing. One notable example is UNSECO, which has projects on disability
issues and schooling in Mali, Senegal, and Gabon, to name a few exam-
ples (UNESCO 2003b). Where countries have policies in place, yet do not
follow through, many grass-roots initiatives have taken place with the
help of NGOs. For instance, in South Africa, an interesting initiative was
taken to deal with issues of disability in early childhood schooling. While
there is a provision for disabled learners in the mainstream sector, there
is no obligation for the mainstream to accommodate such learners. The
Community and Child Development Centre (CCDC), a non-governmen-
tal organization in the Eastern Cape region, whose purpose was to assist
in the provision of education for all children, started to respond to the
28 Schooling and Difference in Africa

question of children with disabilities by providing training and support to

Early Childhood Development (ECD) practitioners (McKenzie 1997).
The initiative's aim was to 'spread an awareness of the needs of children
with disabilities and to promote their integration into society in general,
especially through mainstream education' (cited ibid., 103). The follow-
ing steps were taken to implement this aim: (1) Staff committed them-
selves to examining their own stereotypes and attitudes towards people
with disabilities (which in turn influenced the curriculum; (2) Children
with disabilities were admitted to the demonstration school attached to
the CDCC; (3) Trainers attended workshops on disability issues; and (4)
The building was made more accessible to wheelchair users (ibid.). In
short, changes were made to the teacher training curriculum, equip-
ment, and aids, to make education it more inclusive for children with
disabilities.

Points of Convergence and Divergence in the African Continent

As we reflect back on the literature we have covered with respect to the

African context, we see that there is a growing recognition of issues of dif-
ference and diversity in schooling throughout the African continent.
Moreover, the question of difference and diversity has also been getting
recognition throughout the continent through the assistance of interna-
tional organizations and donor countries. However, most of the responses
to such issues have taken place in the context of access to primary school-
ing. Yet there are exceptions, and concerns about these issues have been
raised with respect to secondary and tertiary education (see for example
Herman 1995; Mabokela 2000). None the less, a lot more needs to be
done. While it is important to highlight the fact that there are some pro-
gressive policies in place to respond to difference and diversity across the
African continent, we need to remember that the intended reform may
not materialize in reality. According to Psacharopoulos (1989), there are
three main reasons why this may happen in Africa: (1) The intended pol-
icy was never implemented in the first place (i.e., the policy intention was
too vague or the statement of intended policy was made for political lip
service); (2) Even if some implementation took place, it failed to be com-
pleted or achieve the minimum critical mass to have an impact (e.g., a pre-
requisite factor such as feasibility of financing was ignored or social
rejection inhibited the effect of the measures taken); and (3) Although
the policy was implemented, it did not have the intended effect (e.g., the
policy was based on an invalid theoretical model or insufficient evidence)
(ibid., 190).
 Threads of Inclusive Schooling 29

While most of the policies and initiatives on difference and diversity

have been about improving access for different groups of marginalized
people, more attention needs to be paid to include difference and diver-
sity in issues of representation at all levels of schooling, resource alloca-
tion, teacher training, curriculum, and infrastructure. As many examples
discussed earlier show, it is one thing to include different groups in
schooling, but another to ensure that they do not drop out. In addition,
while most policies and initiatives have focused on dealing with one line
of difference, such as issues of class or language or gender, many of the
issues of difference and diversity are interconnected. For instance, Swain-
son (2000) demonstrates the intersections between class and gender
in the context of Malawi, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. Similarly, Crawhall
(1999) demonstrates the interconnection between ethnicity, language,
and issues of class in the context of San and Khoe South Africans. There-
fore, initiatives and policies need to progress to recognizing and address-
ing these interconnections in order to respond to difference and
diversity in African schooling. Furthermore, most policies and initiatives
of inclusive schooling cannot just look at the question of schooling
within the context of schooling in itself. Issues of difference and diversity
need to be tackled from the societal and global level in conjunction with
issues of patriarchy, classism, colonialism and global capitalism. It is
interesting to note that we have not come across any initiative that looks
into religious differences. One needs to question why? In short, this liter-
ature review demonstrates that the question of difference and diversity is
not pertinent only to the Ghanaian context, but applies throughout
Africa, and major gaps need to be filled in terms of equal access, equal
opportunity, and equal representation.

The Ghanaian Context

With a population of around twenty million, Ghana is one of the most

populous countries in Western Africa. It was also the first African coun-
try to win its independence from British colonial rule, in 1957. Since
independence, Ghana's population has more than tripled from about
six million to over nineteen million at the present. Just as in the majority
of other African countries, Ghana's population is extremely diverse in
terms of ethnicity, language, culture, and religious practices. In general
terms, the peoples of Ghana belong to more than fifty different ethnic
groups and speak over seventy different languages.
Among various Ghanaian languages a number are sponsored by the
government and their study in schools and universities is encouraged.
30 Schooling and Difference in Africa

These languages are also generally used by the broadcast media and the
press. They include Akan, Dagaare, Dangme, Dagbani, Ewe, Ga, Gonja,
Kasem, and Nzerna. English is the country's official language and is com-
monly used in schools, universities, state apparatuses, and business cir-
cles. The Akans form the largest ethnic group in Ghana and include
various subgroups such as the Asante, Fanti, Brong, Banda, Adanse,
Assin, Twifo, Denkyera, Akyem, Wassa, and Akwamu. The Akans mainly
live in the south-west and central areas of Ghana and speak various dia-
lects of the Akan language, particularly the two very similar languages of
Twi and Fanti (see also Lentz 2000).
The northern ethnic groups (mainly referred to as Northerners) are
also very diverse and speak an array of different, though at times similar
and related, languages. Likewise, they observe various religious practices
and beliefs. Some of the northern ethnic groups include the Dagomba,
the Mamprusi, the Guan, and the Fulani. The majority of the northern
peoples speak and understand Dagbane and different dialects of the Ga
language. Also, living in south-eastern Ghana are the Ewe and the Ga eth-
nic groups. The Ewe speak a version of the Kwa language, otherwise
known as Ewe; and the Ga also speak a variant of Kwa language. The Volta
region is also home to an ethnic group known as Adangme, whose mem-
bers speak similar and interrelated versions of the Adangme language.
About 65 per cent of Ghanaians live in rural areas, while 35 per cent live
in urban centres (see also Lentz 2000; Dakubu 1988; Gaisie 1976).
By and large, over seven million Ghanaians speak the Akan language
and its various subgroupings. Close to two million speak Ewe, and over a
million speak the closely related Ga and Adangbe (see also Lentz 2000;
Awoniyi 1982). English was imposed on Ghanaians and other West Afri-
can nations during the colonial period, from approximately the 1880s to
the 1960s. According to the 1992 UNESCO Statistical Yearbook, the overall
literacy rate in Ghana is 64 per cent. As to religion, the majority of Gha-
naians adhere to Christianity, followed by Islam. There are also other tra-
ditional Ghanaian religions that are practised among various tribal and
ethnic groups. However, the public observation of traditional religious
practices is not encouraged and the followers of these religions usually
practise their faith away from the public eye. Table 1.1 shows some char-
acteristics of Ghana's officially recognized languages and their speakers.
As Dei (2003, 2004) has observed, Ghana's educational system has suf-
fered in recent years from a number of serious problems, including
chronic under-funding; a lack of resources and infrastructural support,
including shortages of basic textbooks and instructional materials; the
 Threads of Inclusive Schooling 31

Table 1.1
Ethnic/linguistic composition of Ghana's population (total 19,162,000; literacy rate 64%)

Language/ethnic group Population Area of residency

Akan 7,000,000 South-central/south-east

(including Asante Twi, Fante,
and Akuapem Twi)
Dagaare (Southern) 1 ,200,000 North-west
Dangme 825,900 Volta region/east
Dagbani 540,000 Central/northern
Ewe 1,615,700 Volta region/east
Ga 300,000 Central
Gonja 250,000 West/central
Kasem 100,000 North/central
Nzema 285,800 Central
Sisaala/Tumulung 121,200 North/central
Wali 99,100 North-west
Other 6,824,300

Sources: The above figures are taken from Ethnologue (2002), an online document:
http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=Ghana. C.Lentz, Ethnicity in
Ghana: The Limits of Invention (Houndmills, Basingstoke, and Hampshire: Macmillan;
New York: St Martin's Press, 2000). United Nations, World Population Prospects, The
1994 Revision (New York, 1995). UNESCO, Statistical Yearbook 1995 (Pans, 1995). M.E.
Kropp Dakubu, The Languages of Ghana (London: KPI, 1988). E. Hall, Ghanaian Lan-
guages (Accra: Asempa Publishers, 1983) S.K. Gaisie, The Population of Ghana ([Paris]:
CICRED, 1976).

absence of a skilled and professional workforce; low teacher morale

resulting from poor service conditions; a lax teacher-training and profes-
sional-development focus; and the lack of adequate supervision of
trained personnel (see also Nti 1997). These concerns, coupled with a
desire that education meet local needs and promote global develop-
ment, have been at the root of a number of the educational reforms pur-
sued by various governments.
General educational reforms are normally instituted to respond to per-
ceived problems in the school system. However, problems such as stag-
nating school enrolments, lack of textbooks and instructional materials,
inadequacy of teacher training, diminishing educational finances, and
inefficiency in educational administration and management practices
have afflicted not only Ghana but much of Africa. But while many of these
problems have been of long standing, others can be attributed to the dis-
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 "Jane Gerson. Yes, yes, it sounds German, I know. But that's not my fault.
I'm an American—a red-hot American, too, for the last two weeks."

The sergeant's face was wooden.

"Where are you going?"

"To New York, on the Saxonia, just as soon as I can. And the British army
can't stop me."

"Indeed!" The sergeant permitted himself a fleeting smile. "From Paris by

motor, eh? Your passports, please."

"I haven't any," Jane retorted, with a shade of defiance. "They were taken
from me in Spain, just over the French border, and were not returned."

The sergeant raised his eyebrows in surprise not unmixed with irony. He
pointed to the two big osier baskets, demanding to know what they
contained.

"Gowns—the last gowns made in Paris before the crash. Fashion's last
gasp. I am a buyer of gowns for Hildebrand's store in New York."

Ecstatic gurgles of pleasure from Mrs. Sherman and her daughter greeted
this announcement. They pressed about the baskets and regarded them
lovingly.

The sergeant pushed them away and tried to throw back the covers.

"Open your baggage—all of it!" he commanded snappishly.

Jane, explaining over her shoulder to the women, stooped to fumble with
the hasps.

"Seventy of the darlingest gowns—the very last Paul Poiret and Paquin
and Worth made before they closed shop and marched away with their
regiments. You shall see every one of them."

"Hurry, please, my time's limited!" the sergeant barked.

 "I should think it would be—you're so charming," Jane flung back over
her shoulder, and she raised the tops of the baskets. The other women pushed
forward with subdued coos.

The sergeant plunged his hand under a mass of colored fluffiness, groped
for a minute, and brought forth a long roll of heavy paper. With a fierce
mien, he began to unroll the bundle.

"And these?"

"Plans," Hildebrand's buyer answered.

"Plans of what?" The sergeant glared.

"Of gowns, silly! Here—you're looking at that one upside down! This
way! Now isn't that a perfect dear of an afternoon gown? Poiret didn't have
time to finish it, poor man! See that lovely basque effect? Everything's
moyen age this season, you know."

Jane, with a shrewd sidelong glance at the flustered sergeant, rattled on,
bringing gown after gown from the baskets and displaying them to the
chorus of smothered screams of delight from the feminine part of her
audience. One she draped coquettishly from her shoulders and did an
exaggerated step before the smoky mirror over the mantelpiece to note the
effect.

"Isn't it too bad this soldier person isn't married, so he could appreciate
these beauties?" She flicked a mischievous eye his way. "Of course he can't
be married, or he'd recognize the plan of a gown. Clean hands, there, Mister
Sergeant, if you're going to touch any of these dreams! Here, let me! Now
look at that musquetaire sleeve—the effect of the war—military, you know."

The sergeant was thoroughly angry by this time, and he forced the
situation suddenly near tragedy. Under his fingers a delicate girdle crackled
suspiciously.

"Here—your knife! Rip this open; there are papers of some sort hidden
here." He started to pass the gown to one of his soldiers. Jane choked back a
scream.
 "No, no! That's crinoline, stupid! No papers——" She stretched forth her
arms appealingly. The sergeant humped his shoulders and put out his hand to
take the opened clasp-knife.

A plump doll-faced woman, who possessed an afterglow of prettiness and

a bustling nervous manner, flounced through the doors at this juncture and
burst suddenly into the midst of the group caught in the imminence of
disaster.

"What's this—what's this?" She caught sight of the filmy creation draped
from the sergeant's arm. "Oh, the beauty!" This in a whisper of admiration.

"The last one made by Worth," Jane was quick to explain, noting the
sergeant's confusion in the presence of the stranger, "and this officer is going
to rip it open in a search for concealed papers. He takes me for a spy."

Surprised blue eyes were turned from Jane to the sergeant. The latter
shamefacedly tried to slip the open knife into his blouse, mumbling an
excuse. The blue eyes bored him through.

"I call that very stupid, Sergeant," reproved the angel of rescue. Then to
Jane——

"Where are you taking all these wonderful gowns?"

"To New York. I'm buyer for Hildebrand's, and——"

"But, Lady Crandall, this young woman has no passports—nothing," the

sergeant interposed. "My duty——"

"Bother your duty! Don't you know a Worth gown when you see it? Now
go away! I'll be responsible for this young woman from now on. Tell your
commanding officer Lady Crandall has taken your duty out of your hands."
She finished with a quiet assurance and turned to gloat once more over the
gowns. The sergeant led his command away with evident relief.

Lady Crandall turned to include all the refugees in a general introduction

of herself.
 "I am Lady Crandall, the wife of the governor general of Gibraltar," she
said, with a warming smile. "I just came down to see what I could do for you
poor stranded Americans. In these times——"

"An American yourself, I'll gamble on it!" Sherman pushed his way
between the littered baskets and seized Lady Crandall's hands. "Knew it by
the cut of your jib—and—your way of doing things. I'm Henry J. Sherman,
from Kewanee, Illynoy—my wife and daughter Kitty."

"And I'm from Iowa—the red hills of ole Ioway," the governor's wife
chanted, with an orator's flourish of the hands. "Welcome to the Rock, home
folks!"

Hands all around and an impromptu old-home week right then and there.
Lady Crandall's attention could not be long away from the gowns, however.
She turned back to them eagerly. With Jane Gerson as her aid, she passed
them in rapturous review, Mrs. Sherman and Kitty playing an enthusiastic
chorus.

A pursy little man with an air of supreme importance—Henry Reynolds

he was, United States Consul at Gibraltar—catapulted in from the street
while the gown chatter was at its noisiest. He threw his hands above his head
in a mock attitude of submissiveness before a highwayman.

"'S all fixed, ladies and gentlemen," he cried, with a showman's

eloquence. "Here's Lady Crandall come to tell you about it, and she's so busy
riding her hobby—gowns and millinery and such—she has forgotten. I'll bet
dollars to doughnuts."

"Credit to whom credit is due, Mister Consul," she rallied. "I'm not
stealing anybody's official thunder." The consul wagged a forefinger at her
reprovingly. With impatience, the refugees waited to hear the news.

"Well, it's this way," Reynolds began. "I've got so tired having all you
people sitting on my door-step I just had to make arrangements to ship you
on the Saxonia in self-defense. Saxonia's due here from Naples Thursday—
day after to-morrow; sails for New York at dawn Friday morning. Lady
Crandall, here—and a better American never came out of the Middle West—
has agreed to go bond for your passage money; all your letters of credit and
checks will be cashed by treasury agents before you leave the dock at New
York, and you can settle with the steamship people right there.

"No, no; don't thank me! There's the person responsible for your getting
home." The consul waved toward the governor's lady, who blushed rosily
under the tumultuous blessings showered on her. Reynolds ducked out the
door to save his face. The Shermans made their good nights, and with
Kimball, started toward the stairs.

"Thursday night, before you sail," Lady Crandall called to them, "you all
have an engagement—a regular American dinner with me at the Government
House. Remember!"

"If you have hash—plain hash—and don't call it a rag-owt, we'll eat you
out of house and home," Sherman shouted as addendum to the others'
thanks.

"And you, my dear"—Lady Crandall beamed upon Jane—"you're coming

right home with me to wait for the Saxonia's sailing. Oh, no, don't be too
ready with your thanks. This is pure selfishness on my part. I want you to
help plan my fall clothes. There, the secret's out. But with all those beautiful
gowns, surely Hildebrand will not object if you leave the pattern of one of
them in an out-of-the-way little place like this. Come on, now, I'll not take
no for an answer. We'll pack up all these beauties and have you off in no
time."
Lady Crandall beamed upon Jane.
 Jane's thanks were ignored by the capable packer who smoothed and
straightened the confections of silk and satin in the osier hampers. Lady
Crandall summoned the porter to lift the precious freight to the back of her
dogcart, waiting outside. Almer, perturbed at the kidnaping of his guest,
came from behind the desk.

"You will go to your room now?" he queried anxiously.

"Not going to take it," Jane answered. "Have an invitation from Lady
Crandall to visit the State House, or whatever you call it."

"But, pardon me. The room—it was rented, and I fear one night's lodging
is due. Twenty shillings."

Jane elevated her eyebrows, but handed over a bill.

"Ah, no, lady. French paper—it is worthless to me. Only English gold, if
the lady pleases." Almer's smile was leonine.

"But it's all I've got; just came from France, and——"

"Then, though it gives me the greatest sorrow, I must hold your luggage
until you have the money changed. Excuse——"

Captain Woodhouse, who had dallied long over his dinner for lack of
something else to do, came out of the dining-room just then, saw a woman in
difficulties with the landlord, and instinctively stepped forward to offer his
services.

"Beg pardon, but can I be of any help?"

Jane turned. The captain's heart gave a great leap and then went cold.
Frank pleasure followed the first surprise in the girl's eyes.

"Why, Captain Woodhouse—how jolly!—To see you again after——"

She put out her hand with a free gesture of comradeship.

 Captain Woodhouse did not see the girl's hand. He was looking into her
eyes coldly, aloofly.

"I beg your pardon, but aren't you mistaken?"

"Mistaken?" The girl was staring at him, mystified.

"I'm afraid I have not had the pleasure of meeting you," he continued
evenly. "But if I can be of service—now——"

She shrugged her shoulders and turned away from him.

"A small matter. I owe this man twenty shillings, and he will not accept
French paper. It's all I have."

Woodhouse took the note from her.

"I'll take it gladly—perfectly good." He took some money from his

pocket and looked at it. Then, to Almer: "I say, can you split a crown?"

"Change for you in a minute, sir—the tobacco shop down the street."
Almer pocketed the gold piece and dodged out of the door.

Jane turned and found the deep-set gray eyes of Captain Woodhouse fixed
upon her. They craved pardon—toleration of the incident just passed.

CHAPTER IX
ROOM D

Woodhouse hurried to Jane Gerson's side and began to speak swiftly and
earnestly:

"You are from the States?"

 A shrug was her answer. The girl's face was averted, and in the defiant set
of her shoulders Woodhouse found little promise of pardon for the incident
of the minute before. He persisted:

"This war means nothing to you—one side or the other?"

"I have equal pity for them both," she answered in a low voice.

"We are living in dangerous times," he continued earnestly. "I tell you
frankly, were the fact that you and I had met before to become known here
on the Rock the consequences would be most—inconvenient—for me." Jane
turned and looked searchingly into his face. Something in the tone rather
than the words roused her quick sympathy. Woodhouse kept on:

"I am sorry I had to deny that former meeting just now—that meeting
which has been with me in such vivid memory. I regret that were you to
allude to it again I would have to deny it still more emphatically."

"I'm sure I shan't mention it again," the girl broke in shortly.

"Perhaps since it means so little to you—your silence—perhaps you will

do me that favor, Miss Gerson."

"Certainly." Woodhouse could see that anger still tinged her speech.

"May I go further—and ask you to—promise?" A shadow of annoyance

creased her brow, but she nodded.

"That is very good of you," he thanked her. "Shall you be long on the
Rock?"

"No longer than I have to. I'm sailing on the first boat for the States," she
answered.

"Then I am in luck—to-night." Woodhouse tried to speak easily, though

Jane Gerson's attitude was distant. "Meeting you again—that's luck."

"To judge by what you have just said it must be instead a great
misfortune," she retorted, with a slow smile.
 "That is not fair. You know what I mean. Don't imagine I've really
forgotten our first meeting under happier conditions than these. I know I'm
not clever—I can't make it sound as I would—but I've thought a great deal
of you, Miss Gerson—wondering how you were making it in this great war.
Perhaps——"

Almer returned at this juncture with the change, which he handed to

Woodhouse. He was followed in by Lady Crandall, who assured Jane her
hampers were securely strapped to the dog-cart. Jane attempted an
introduction.

"This gentleman has just done me a service, Lady Crandall. May I present
——"

"So sorry. You don't know my name. My clumsiness. Captain

Woodhouse." The man bridged the dangerous gap hurriedly. Lady Crandall
acknowledged the introduction with a gracious smile.

"Your husband is Sir George——" he began.

"Yes, Sir George Crandall, Governor-general of the Rock. And you——"

"Quite a recent comer. Transferred from the Nile country here. Report to-
morrow."

"All of the new officers have to report to the governor's wife as well,"
Lady Crandall rallied, with a glance at Jane. "You must come and see me—
and Miss Gerson, who will be with me until her boat sails."

Woodhouse caught his breath. Jane Gerson, who knew him, at the
governor's home! But he mastered himself in a second and bowed his thanks.
Lady Crandall was moving toward the door. Her ward turned and held out a
hand to Woodhouse.

"So good of you to have straightened out my finances," she said, with a
smile in which the man hoped he read full forgiveness for his denial of a few
minutes before. "If you're ever in America I hope——" He looked up
quickly. "I hope somebody will be as nice to you. Good night."
 Woodhouse and Almer were alone in the mongrel reception room. The
hour was late. Almer began sliding folding wooden shutters across the back
of the street windows. Woodhouse lingered over the excuse of a final
cigarette, knowing the moment for his rapprochement with his fellow
Wilhelmstrasse spy was at hand. He was more distraught than he cared to
admit even to himself. The day's developments had been startling. First the
stunning encounter with Capper there on the very Rock that was to be the
scene of his delicate operations—Capper, whom he had thought sunk in the
oblivion of some Alexandrian wine shop, but who had followed him on the
Princess Mary. The fellow had deliberately cast himself into his notice,
Woodhouse reflected; there had been menace and insolent hint of a power to
harm in his sneering objurgation that Woodhouse should remember his name
against a second meeting. "Capper—never heard the name in Alexandria,
eh?" What could he mean by that if not that somehow the little ferret had
learned of his visit to the home of Doctor Koch? And that meant—why,
Capper in Gibraltar was as dangerous as a coiled cobra!

Then the unexpected meeting with Jane Gerson, the little American he
had mourned as lost in the fury of the war. Ah, that was a joy not unmixed
with regrets! What did she think of him? First, he had been forced coldly to
deny the acquaintance that had meant much to him in moments of
recollection; then, he had attempted a lame explanation, which explained
nothing and must have left her more mystified than before. In fact, he had
frankly thrown himself on the mercy of a girl on whom he had not the
shadow of claim beyond the poor equity of a chance friendship—an incident
she might consider as merely one of a day's travel as far as he could know.
He had stood before her caught in a deceit, for on the occasion of that never-
to-be-forgotten ride from Calais to Paris he had represented himself as
hurrying back to Egypt, and here she found him still out of uniform and in a
hotel in Gibraltar.

Beyond all this, Jane Gerson was going to the governor's house as a
guest. She, whom he had forced, ever so cavalierly, into a promise to keep
secret her half knowledge of the double game he was playing, was going to
be on the intimate ground of association with the one man in Gibraltar who
by a crook of his finger could end suspicion by a firing squad. This breezy
little baggage from New York carried his life balanced on the rosy tip of her
tongue. She could be careless or she could be indifferent; in either case it
would be bandaged eyes and the click of shells going home for him.

It was Almer who interrupted Woodhouse's troubled train of thought.

"Captain Woodhouse will report for signal duty on the Rock to-morrow, I
suppose?" he insinuated, coming down to where Woodhouse was standing
before the fireplace. He made a show of tidying up the scattered magazines
and folders on the table.

"Report for signal duty?" the other echoed coldly. "How did you know I
was to report for signal duty here?"

"In the press a few weeks ago," the hotel keeper hastily explained. "Your
transfer from the Nile country was announced. We poor people here in
Gibraltar, we have so little to think about, even such small details of news
——"

"Ah, yes. Quite so." Woodhouse tapped back a yawn.

"Your journey here from your station on the Nile—it was without
incident?" Almer eyed his guest closely. The latter permitted his eyes to rest
on Almer's for a minute before replying.

"Quite." Woodhouse threw his cigarette in the fireplace and started for the
stairs.

"Ah, most unusual—such a long journey without incident of any kind in

this time of universal war, with all Europe gone mad." Almer was twiddling
the combination of a small safe set in the wall by the fireplace, and his
chatter seemed only incidental to the absorbing work he had at hand. "How
will the madness end, Captain Woodhouse? What will be the boundary lines
of Europe's nations in—say, 1932?"

Almer rose as he said this and turned to look squarely into the other's
face. Woodhouse met his gaze steadily and without betraying the slightest
emotion.
 "In 1932—I wonder," he mused, and into his speech unconsciously
appeared that throaty intonation of the Teutonic tongue.

"Don't go yet, Captain Woodhouse. Before you retire I want you to

sample some of this brandy." He brought out of the safe a short squat bottle
and glasses. "See, I keep it in the safe, so precious it is. Drink with me,
Captain, to the monarch you have come to Gibraltar to serve—to his
majesty, King George the Fifth!"

Almer lifted his glass, but Woodhouse appeared wrapped in thought; his
hand did not go up.

"I see you do not drink to that toast, Captain."

"No—I was thinking—of 1932."

"So?" Quick as a flash Almer caught him up. "Then perhaps I had better
say, drink to the greatest monarch in Europe."

"To the greatest monarch in Europe!" Woodhouse lifted his glass and
drained it.

Almer leaned suddenly across the table and spoke tensely: "You have—
something maybe—I would like to see. Some little relic of Alexandria, let us
say."

Woodhouse swept a quick glance around, then reached for the pin in his
tie.

"A scarab; that's all."

In the space of a breath Almer had seen what lay in the back of the stone
beetle. He gripped Woodhouse's hand fervently.

"Yes—yes, Nineteen Thirty-two! They have told me of your coming. A

cablegram from Koch only this afternoon said you would be on the Princess
Mary. The other—the real Woodhouse—there will be no slips; he will not
——"
 "He is as good as a dead man for many months," Woodhouse interrupted.
"Not a chance of a mistake." He slipped easily into German. "Everything
depends on us now, Herr Almer."

"Perhaps the fate of our fatherland," Almer replied, cleaving to English.

Woodhouse stepped suddenly away from the side of the table, against which
he had been leaning, and his right hand jerked back to a concealed holster on
his hip. His eyes were hot with suspicion.

"You do not answer in German; why not? Answer me in German or by

——"

"Ach! What need to become excited?" Almer drew back hastily, and his
tongue speedily switched to German. "German is dangerous here on the
Rock, Captain. Only yesterday they shot a man against a wall because he
spoke German too well. Do you wonder I try to forget our native tongue?"

Woodhouse was mollified, and he smiled apologetically. Almer forgave

him out of admiration for his discretion.

"No need to suspect me—Almer. They will tell you in Berlin how for
twenty years I have served the Wilhelmstrasse. But never before such an
opportunity—such an opportunity. Stupendous!" Woodhouse nodded
enthusiastic affirmation. "But to business, Nineteen Thirty-two. This Captain
Woodhouse some seven years ago was stationed here on the Rock for just
three months."

"So I know."

"You, as Woodhouse, will be expected to have some knowledge of the

signal tower, to which you will have access." Almer climbed a chair on the
opposite side of the room, threw open the face of the old Dutch clock there,
and removed from its interior a thin roll of blue drafting paper. He put it in
Woodhouse's hands. "Here are a few plans of the interior of the signal tower
—the best I could get. You will study them to-night; but give me your word
to burn them before you sleep."

"Very good." Woodhouse slipped the roll into the breast pocket of his
coat. Almer leaned forward in a gust of excitement, and, bringing his mouth
close to the other's ear, whispered hoarsely:

"England's Mediterranean fleet—twenty-two dreadnaughts, with cruisers

and destroyers—nearly a half of Britain's navy, will be here any day,
hurrying back to guard the Channel. They will anchor in the straits. Our big
moment—it will be here then! Listen! Room D in the signal tower—that is
the room. All the electric switches are there. From Room D every mine in
the harbor can be exploded in ten seconds."

"Yes, but how to get to Room D?" Woodhouse queried.

"Simple. Two doors to Room D, Captain; an outer door like any other; an
inner door of steel, protected by a combination lock like a vault's door. Two
men on the Rock have that combination: Major Bishop, chief signal officer,
he has in it his head; the governor-general of the Rock, he has it in his safe."

"We can get it out of the safe easier than from Major Bishop's head,"
Woodhouse put in, with a smile.

"Right. We have a friend—in the governor's own house—a man with a

number from the Wilhelmstrasse like you and me. At any moment in the last
two months he could have laid a hand on that combination. But we thought it
better to wait until necessity came. When the fleet arrives you will have that
combination; you will go with it to Room D, and after that——"

"The deluge," the other finished.

"Yes—yes! Our country master of the sea at last, and by the work of the
Wilhelmstrasse—despised spies who are shot like dogs when they're caught,
but die heroes' deaths." The hotel proprietor checked himself in the midst of
his rhapsody, and came back to more practical details:

"But this afternoon—that man from Alexandria who called you by name.
That looked bad—very bad. He knows something?"

Woodhouse, who had been expecting the question, and who preferred not
to share an anxiety he felt himself best fitted to cope with alone, turned the
other's question aside:
 "Never met him before in my life to my best recollection. My name he
picked up on the Princess Mary, of course; I won a pool one day, and he
may have heard some one mention it. Simply a drunken brawler who didn't
know what he was doing."

Almer seemed satisfied, but raised another point:

"But the girl who has just left here; am I to have no explanation of her?"

"What explanation do you want?" the captain demanded curtly.

"She recognized you. Who is she? What is she?"

"Devilish unfortunate," Woodhouse admitted. "We met a few weeks ago

on a train, while I was on my way to Egypt, you know. Chatted together—
oh, very informally. She is a capable young woman from the States—a
'buyer' she calls herself. But I don't think we need fear complications from
that score; she's bent only on getting home."

"The situation is dangerous," urged Almer, wagging his head. "She is

stopping at the governor's house; any reference she might make about
meeting you on a train on the Continent when you were supposed to be at
Wady Halfa on the Nile——"

"I have her promise she will not mention that meeting to anybody."

"Ach! A woman's promise!" Almer's eyes invoked Heaven to witness a

futile thing. "She seemed rather glad to see you again; I——"

"Really?" Woodhouse's eyes lighted.

The Splendide's proprietor was pacing the floor as fast as his fat legs
would let him. "Something must be done," he muttered again and again. He
halted abruptly before Woodhouse, and launched a thick forefinger at him
like a torpedo.

"You must make love to that girl, Woodhouse, to keep her on our side,"
was his ultimatum.
 Woodhouse regarded him quizzically, leaned forward, and whispered
significantly.

"I'm already doing it," he said.

CHAPTER X
A VISIT TO A LADY

Turning to consider the never-stale fortunes of one of fate's bean bags

——

Mr. Billy Capper, ejected from the Hotel Splendide, took little umbrage at
such treatment; it was not an uncommon experience, and, besides, a quiet
triumph that would not be dampened by trifles filled his soul. Cheerfully he
pushed through the motley crowd on Waterport Street down to the lower
levels of the city by the Line Wall, where the roosts of sailors and warrens of
quondam adventurers off all the seven seas made far more congenial
atmosphere than that of the Splendide's hollow pretense. He chose a hostelry
more commensurate with his slender purse than Almer's, though as a matter
of fact the question of paying a hotel bill was furthest from Billy Capper's
thoughts; such formal transactions he avoided whenever feasible. The
proprietor of the San Roc, where Capper took a room, had such an evil eye
that his new guest made a mental note that perhaps he might have to leave
his bag behind when he decamped. Capper abhorred violence—to his own
person.

Alone over a glass of thin wine—the champagne days, alas! had been too
fleeting—Capper took stock of his situation and conned the developments he
hoped to be the instrument for starting. To begin with, finances were
wretchedly bad, and that was a circumstance so near the ordinary for Capper
that he shuddered as he pulled a gold guinea and a few silver bits from his
pocket, and mechanically counted them over. Of the three hundred marks
Louisa—pretty snake!—had given him in the Café Riche and the expense
money he had received from her the following day to cover his expedition to
Alexandria for the Wilhelmstrasse naught but this paltry residue! That
second-cabin ticket on the Princess Mary had taken the last big bite from his
hoard, and here he was in this black-and-tan town with a quid and little more
between himself and the old starved-dog life.

But—and Capper narrowed his eyes and sagely wagged his head—there'd
be something fat coming. When he got knee to knee with the governor-
general of the Rock, and told him what he, Billy Capper, knew about the
identity of Captain Woodhouse, newly transferred to the signal service at
Gibraltar, why, if there wasn't a cool fifty pounds or a matter of that as
honorarium from a generous government Billy Capper had missed his guess;
that's all.

"I say, Governor, of course this is very handsome of you, but I didn't
come to tell what I know for gold. I'm a loyal Englishman, and I've done
what I have for the good of the old flag."

"Quite right, Mr. Capper; quite right. But you will please accept this little
gift as an inadequate recognition of your loyalty. Your name shall be
mentioned in my despatches home."

Capper rehearsed this hypothetical dialogue with relish. He could even

catch the involuntary gasp of astonishment from the governor when that
responsible officer in his majesty's service heard the words Capper would
whisper to him; could see the commander of the Rock open a drawer in his
desk and take therefrom a thick white sheaf of bank-notes—count them!
Then—ah, then—the first train for Paris and the delights of Paris at war-time
prices.

The little spy anticipated no difficulty in gaining audience with the

governor. Before he had been fifteen minutes off the Princess Mary he had
heard the name of the present incumbent of Government House. Crandall—
Sir George Crandall; the same who had been in command of the forts at
Rangoon back in '99. Oh, yes, Capper knew him, and he made no doubt that,
if properly reminded of a certain bit of work Billy Capper had done back in
the Burmese city, Sir George would recall him—and with every reason for
gratefulness. To-morrow—yes, before ever Sir George had had his morning's
peg, Capper would present himself at Government House and tell about that
house on Queen's Terrace at Ramleh; about the unconscious British officer
who was carried there and hurried thence by night, and the tall well-knit man
in conference with Doctor Koch who was now come to be a part of the
garrison of the Rock under the stolen name of Woodhouse.

Capper had his dinner, then strolled around the town to see the sights and
hear what he could hear. Listening was a passion with him.

For the color and the exotic savor of Gibraltar on a hot August night
Capper had no eye. The knife edge of a moon slicing the battlements of the
old Moorish Castle up on the heights; the minor tinkle of a guitar sounding
from a vine-curtained balcony; a Riffian muleteer's singsong review of his
fractious beast's degraded ancestry—not for these incidentals did the
practical mind under the battered Capper bowler have room. Rather the
scraps of information and gossip passed from one blue-coated artilleryman
off duty, to another over a mug of ale, or the confidence of a sloe-eyed
dancer to the guitar player in a tavern; this was meat for Capper. Carefully
he husbanded his gold piece, and judiciously he spent his silver for drink. He
enjoyed himself in the ascetic spirit of a monk in a fast, believing that the
morrow would bring champagne in place of the thin wine his pitiful silver
could command.

Then, of a sudden, he caught a glimpse of Louisa—Louisa of the

Wilhelmstrasse. Capper's heart skipped, and an involuntary impulse crooked
his fingers into claws.

The girl was just coming out of a café—the only café aspiring to Parisian
smartness Gibraltar boasts. Her head was bare. Under an arm she had tucked
a stack of cigar boxes. Had it not been that a steady light from an overhead
arc cut her features out of the soft shadow with the fineness of a diamond-
pointed tool, Capper would have sworn his eyes were playing him tricks. But
Louisa's features were unmistakable, whether in the Lucullian surroundings
of a Berlin summer garden or here on a street in Gibraltar. Capper had
instinctively crushed himself against the nearest wall on seeing the girl; the
crowd had come between himself and her, and she had not seen him.
 All the weasel instinct of the man came instantly to the fore that second
of recognition, and the glint in his eyes and baring of his teeth were flashed
from brute instinct—the instinct of the night-prowling meat hunter. All the
vicious hate which the soul of Billy Capper could distil flooded to his eyes
and made them venomous. Slinking, dodging, covering, he followed the girl
with the cigar boxes. She entered several dance-halls, offered her wares at
the door of a cheap hotel. For more than an hour Capper shadowed her
through the twisting streets of the old Spanish town. Finally she turned into a
narrow lane, climbed flagstone steps, set the width of the lane, to a house
under the scarp of a cliff, and let herself in at the street door. Capper,
following to the door as quickly as he dared, found it locked.

The little spy was choking with a lust to kill; his whole body trembled
under the pulse of a murderous passion. He had found Louisa—the girl who
had sold him out—and for her private ends, Capper made no doubt of that.
Some day he had hoped to run her down, and with his fingers about her soft
throat to tell her how dangerous it was to trick Billy Capper. But to have her
flung across his path this way when anger was still at white heat in him—
this was luck! He'd see this Louisa and have a little powwow with her even
if he had to break his way into the house.

Capper felt the doorknob again; the door wouldn't yield. He drew back a
bit and looked up at the front of the house. Just a dingy black wall with three
unlighted windows set in it irregularly. The roof projected over the gabled
attic like the visor of a cap. Beyond the farther corner of the house were ten
feet of garden space, and then the bold rock of the cliff springing upward. A
low wall bounded the garden; over its top nodded the pale ghosts of
moonflowers and oleanders.

Capper was over the wall in a bound, and crouching amid flower clusters,
listening for possible alarm. None came, and he became bolder. Skirting a
tiny arbor, he skulked to a position in the rear of the house; there a broad
patch of illumination stretched across the garden, coming from two French
windows on the lower floor. They stood half open; through the thin white
stuff hanging behind them Capper could see vaguely the figure of a girl
seated before a dressing mirror with her hands busy over two heavy ropes of
hair. Nothing to do but step up on the little half balcony outside the
windows, push through into the room, and—have a little powwow with
Louisa.

An unwonted boldness had a grip on the little spy. Never a person to

force a face-to-face issue when the trick could be turned behind somebody's
back, he was, nevertheless, driven irresistibly by a furious anger that took no
heed of consequences.

With the light foot of a cat, Capper straddled the low rail of the balcony,
pushed back one of the partly opened windows, and stepped into Louisa's
room. His eyes registered mechanically the details—a heavy canopied bed, a
massive highboy of some dark wood, chairs supporting carelessly flung bits
of wearing apparel. But he noted especially that just as he emerged from
behind one of the loose curtains a white arm remained poised over a brown
head.

"Stop where you are, Billy Capper!" The girl's low-spoken order was as
cold and tense as drawn wire. No trace of shock or surprise was in her voice.
She did not turn her head. Capper was brought up short, as if he felt a noose
about his neck.

Slowly the figure seated before the dressing mirror turned to face him.
Tumbling hair framed the girl's face, partly veiling the yellow-brown eyes,
which seemed two spots of metal coming to incandescence under heat. Her
hands, one still holding a comb, lay supinely in her lap.

"I admit this is a surprise, Capper," Louisa said, letting each word fall
sharply, but without emphasis. "However, it is like you to be—
unconventional. May I ask what you want this time—besides money, of
course?"

Capper wet his lips and smiled wryly. He had jumped so swiftly to
impulse that he had not prepared himself beforehand against the moment
when he should be face to face with the girl from the Wilhelmstrasse.
Moreover, he had expected to be closer to her—very close indeed—before
the time for words should come.

"I—I saw you to-night and followed you—here," he began lamely.

 "Flattering!" She laughed shortly.

"Oh, you needn't try to come it over me with words!" Capper's teeth
showed in a nasty grin as his rage flared back from the first suppression of
surprise. "I've come here to have a settlement for a little affair between you
and me."

"Blackmail? Why, Billy Capper, how true to form you run!" The yellow-
brown eyes were alight and burning now. "Have you determined the sum
you want or are you in the open market?"

Capper grinned again, and shifted his weight, inadvertently advancing

one foot a little nearer the seated girl as he did so.

"Pretty quick with the tongue—as always," he sneered. "But this time it
doesn't go, Louisa. You pay differently this time—pay for selling me out.
Understand!" Again one foot shifted forward a few inches by the accident of
some slight body movement on the man's part. Louisa still sat before her
dressing mirror, hands carelessly crossed on her lap.

"Selling you out?" she repeated evenly. "Oh! So you finally did discover
that you were elected to be the goat? Brilliant Capper! How long before you
made up your mind you had a grievance?"

The girl's cool admission goaded the little man's fury to frenzy. His mind
craved for action—for the leap and the tightening of fingers around that
taunting throat; but somehow his body, strangely detached from the fiat of
volition as if it were another's body, lagged to the command. Violence had
never been its mission; muscles were slow to accept this new conception of
the mind. But the man's feet followed their crafty intelligence; by fractions
of inches they moved forward stealthily.

"You wouldn't be here now," Louisa coldly went on, "if you weren't
fortune's bright-eyed boy. You were slated to be taken off the boat at Malta
and shot; the boat didn't stop at Malta through no fault of ours, and so you
arrived at Alexandria—and became a nuisance." One of the girl's hands
lifted from her lap and lazily played along the edge of the rosewood standard
which supported the mirror on the dressing table. It stopped at a curiously
carved rosette in the rococo scroll-work. Capper's suspicious eye noted the
movement. He sparred for time—the time needed by those stealthy feet to
shorten the distance between themselves and the girl.

"Why," he hissed, "why did you give me a number with the

Wilhelmstrasse and send me to Alexandria if I was to be caught and shot at
Malta? That's what I'm here to find out."

"Excellent Capper!" Her fingers were playing with the convolutions of

the carved rosette. "Intelligent Capper! He comes to a lady's room at night to
find the answer to a simple question. He shall have it. He evidently does not
know the method of the Wilhelmstrasse, which is to choose two men for
every task to be accomplished. One—the 'target,' we call him—goes first;
our friends whose secrets we seek are allowed to become suspicious of him
—we even give them a hint to help them in their suspicion. They seize the
'target,' and in time of war he becomes a real target for a firing squad, as you
should have been, Capper, at Malta. Then when our friends believe they
have nipped our move in the bud follows the second man—who turns the
trick."

Capper was still wrestling with that baffling stubbornness of the body.
Each word the girl uttered was like vitriol on his writhing soul. His mind
willed murder—willed it with all the strength of hate; but still the springs of
his body were cramped—by what? Not cowardice, for he was beyond
reckoning results. Certainly not compassion or any saving virtue of chivalry.
Why did his eyes constantly stray to that white hand lifted to allow the
fingers to play with the filigree of wood on the mirror support?

"Then you engineered the stealing of my number—from the hollow under

the handle of my cane—some time between Paris and Alexandria?" he
challenged in a whisper, his face thrust forward between hunched shoulders.

"No, indeed. It was necessary for you to have—the evidence of your

profession when the English searched you at Malta. But the loss of your
number is not news; Koch, in Alexandria, has reported, of course."

The girl saw Capper's foot steal forward again. He was not six feet from
her now. His wiry body settled itself ever so slightly for a spring. Louisa rose
from her chair, one hand still resting on the wooden rosette of the mirror
standard. She began to speak in a voice drained of all emotion:

"You followed me here to-night, Billy Capper, imagining in your poor

little soul that you were going to do something desperate—something really
human and brutal. You came in my window all primed for murder. But your
poor little soul all went to water the instant we faced each other. You couldn't
nerve yourself to leap upon a woman even. You can't now."

She smiled on him—a woman's flaying smile of pity. Capper writhed, and
his features twisted themselves in a paroxysm of hate.

"I have my finger on a bell button here, Capper. If I press it men will
come in here and kill you without asking a question. Now you'd better go."

Capper's eyes jumped to focus on a round white nib under one of the
girl's fingers there on the mirror's standard. The little ivory button was alive
—a sentient thing suddenly allied against him. That inanimate object rather
than Louisa's words sent fingers of cold fear to grip his heart. A little ivory
button waiting there to trap him! He tried to cover his vanished resolution
with bluster, sputtering out in a tense whisper:

"You're a devil—a devil from hell, Louisa! But I'll get you. They shoot
women in war time! Sir George Crandall—I know him—I did a little service
for him once in Rangoon. He'll hear of you and your Wilhelmstrasse tricks,
and you'll have your pretty back against a wall with guns at your heart
before to-morrow night. Remember—before to-morrow night!"

Capper was backing toward the open window behind him. The girl still
stood by the mirror, her hand lightly resting where the ivory nib was. She
laughed.

"Very well, Billy Capper. It will be a firing party for two—you and me
together. I'll make a frank confession—tell all the information Billy Capper
sold to me for three hundred marks one night in the Café Riche—the story of
the Anglo-Belgian defense arrangements. The same Billy Capper, I'll say,
who sold the Lord Fisher letters to the kaiser—a cable to Downing Street
will confirm that identification inside of two hours. And then——"
 "And your Captain Woodhouse—your cute little Wilhelmstrasse captain,"
Capper flung back from the window, pretending not to heed the girl's potent
threat; "I know all about him, and the governor'll know, too—same time he
hears about you!"

"Good night, Billy Capper," Louisa answered, with a piquant smile. "And
au revoir until we meet with our backs against that wall."

Capper's head dropped from view over the balcony edge; there was a
sound of running feet amid the close-ranked plants in the garden, then
silence.

The girl from the Wilhelmstrasse, alone in the house save for the bent old
housekeeper asleep in her attic, turned and laid her head—a bit weakly—
against the carved standard, where in a florid rosette showed the ivory tip of
the hinge for the cheval glass.

CHAPTER XI
A SPY IN THE SIGNAL TOWER

Government House, one of the Baedeker points of Gibraltar, stands amid

its gardens on a shelf of the Rock about mid-way between the Alameda and
the signal tower, perched on the very spine of the lion's back above it. Its
windows look out on the blue bay and over to the red roofs of Algeciras
across the water on Spanish territory. Tourists gather to peek from a
respectful distance at the mossy front and quaint ecclesiastic gables of
Government House, which has a distinction quite apart from its use as the
home of the governor-general. Once, back in the dim ages of Spain's glory, it
was a monastery, one of the oldest in the southern tip of the peninsula. When
the English came their practical sense took no heed of the protesting ghosts
of the monks, but converted the monastery into a home for the military head
of the fortress—a little dreary, a shade more melancholy than the
accustomed manor hall at home, but adequate and livable.
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