Resources

• NEW PUBLICATION: toolkit for best practices in school governance
  [News]

  04 Apr 2012Idasa's Right to Know, Right to Education project publishes a toolkit for best practicies in school governance. To see the practical toolkit please follow the ...

• A Toolkit for School Budgeting
  [News]

  28 Feb 2012Idasa's Right to Know, Right to Education Project publishes a Toolkit for School Budgeting and Budgeting Processes.

• Right to Know, Right to Education roundtable in November 2011
  [Articles]

  06 Oct 2011Access to Information in the Provision of Quality Basic Education: Exploring its Role in Supporting Government and Civil Society’s Quest for Quality Education that Makes ...

• Community dialogues promote parental involvement
  [Articles]

  04 Oct 2011Six School Community Dialogues were held in Northern Province of Zambia under the Right to Know, Right to Education Project. These Community Dialogues on Parent ...

• Women claim their decision-making space in school governance processes
  [Articles]

  04 Oct 2011Recent community dialogue meetings in Lugari, Malindi and Kisii Central have shown the huge potential and capacities of women to participate in and influence development ...

• Access to primary schooling and its financing dimensions
  [Speeches]

  04 Oct 2011The Programme Manager of Idasa’s Economic Governance Programme, Russell Wildeman, in his response to the Department of Basic Education’s Assessment of the EFA Goal 2, ...

• Parents and community leaders take action to end pupil absenteeism on market days
  [Articles]

  04 Oct 2011The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) in partnership with Idasa’s Right to Know, Right to Education project has worked together to address the major ...

• Information is the way to development: African citizens have a Right to Know
  [Press Releases]

  23 Sep 2011For immediate releaseRight to Know Day Press ReleaseOn International Right to Know Day - 28 September - the Institute for Democracy in Africa (Idasa) emphasises ...

• The Right to Know, Right to Education Project
  [Articles]

  05 Jul 2011This project, within Idasa's Economic Governance Programme, aims to broaden and improve access to basic education in sub-Saharan Africa by linking capacity building, training advocacy ...

• Right to Know, Right to Education Annual Reports
  [Research Reports]

  30 Jun 2011During 2010 The Right to Know, Right to Education project deepened its country level work, while partners in all six countries intensified their community-level work. ...

• Mid-term Review of the Right to Know, Right to Education Project
  [Research Reports]

  08 Jun 2011The Right to Know, Right to Education project is a five-year project, ending in 2013. In May 2010, the project conducted a Mid-Term review in ...

• Day of the African Child
  [Articles]

  31 Mar 2011Petronella Murowe of Idasa’s Economic Governance Programme examines the issues in this year’s theme: “Children Without Appropriate Care”.   Every year on June 16, the ...

• Education top priority in growth strategy proposals
  [Articles]

  29 Mar 2011Malawi’s overarching development policy, the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy (MGDS), expires in 2011 and the government has just concluded consultations with stakeholders on the ...

• Citizens struggle to practice access to information laws
  [Articles]

  29 Mar 2011Uganda has an Access to Information law but what happens in practice is totally different. The general public struggles to access information, as demonstrated in ...

• District education officials provide backing at last
  [Articles]

  29 Mar 2011Right to Know, Right to Education partner in Ghana, the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC), can at last report some progress in engaging with ...

• National partners make policies more user-friendly
  [News]

  29 Mar 2011National level partners have shown their support of the Right to Know, Right to Education project during the national dialogue to disseminate the baseline report.Partners ...

• What blocks participation of women in public forums?
  [Articles]

  29 Mar 2011Recent,community dialogues in Lugari, Malindi and Kisii Central in Kenya are testimony to the huge potential and capacity of women to participate in and influence ...

• Community dialogues secure support of 40 leaders
  [News]

  29 Mar 2011Education authorities in target provinces and districts who met in 2010 warmly embraced the Right to Know, Right to Education project and pledged to work ...

• ZCEA increases participation in national debates on the Budget
  [News]

  29 Mar 2011The Zambia Civic Education Association (ZCEA) has for quite some time enjoyed a good working relationship with government ministries and officials in Zambia concerned with ...

• Twenty three percent of targeted schools reached
  [Articles]

  29 Mar 2011The establishment of a relationship between parents, school committees and local councillors (bucopho) is a major achievement for the project. This was done through a ...

• Participatory budgeting on to a good start in Zambia
  [News]

  29 Mar 2011Three constituencies, Kankoyo in Mufulira, Chingola Central in Chingola (Copperbelt Province) and Mandevu in Lusaka, may be on track for the introduction of participatory budgeting ...

• Welcome to the Right to Know, Right to Education Programme
  [Articles]

  29 Mar 2011The Right to Know, Right to Education Project within Idasa’s Economic Governance Programme, funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DfID), works with ...

• RTK partner behind civil society participation in Parliament
  [Articles]

  29 Mar 2011The draft Constitution of Zambia Amendment Bill and the Education Act Amendment Bill tabled before parliament in 2010 attracted a lot of civil society participation ...

• Ten year campaign for right to education bears fruit
  [News]

  29 Mar 2011The new Constitution in Kenya promises sweeping changes in the right to education and access to information legislation. This year the Minister of Education has ...

• Facilitators for future workshops with SMCs
  [News]

  29 Mar 2011In the process of the dialogues with School Managing Committees (SMCs), Save the Children Swaziland has been able to identify people with vast school committee ...

• Partners meet in Pretoria for annual catch-up
  [News]

  29 Mar 2011At the mid-way point of the Right to Know, Right to Education project partners gathered in Pretoria for the annual partner meeting and monitoring and ...

• Pupils applaud PCC launch
  [News]

  29 Mar 2011Zambian parliamentarians are not alone in applauding the launch of the Parliamentary Caucus on Children (PCC) aimed at addressing issues affecting children Pupils themselves said ...

• A Toolkit for Community Dialogues
  [Toolkits]

  15 Mar 2011Idasa’s Right to Know, Right to Education and Community and Citizens’ Empowerment Programmes have produced this toolkit, which provides basic steps for communities to fully ...

• Joint Statement on the continued use of Primary School Pupils in State/Political Functions
  [Press Releases]

  21 Feb 2011The Civil Society Coalition on Quality Basic Education (CSCQBE), NGO Gender Coordination Network and Human Rights Consultative Committee (HRCC) have also condemned the continued use ...

• Linking access to information and quality education - Call for Papers
  [Articles]

  04 Nov 2010  Education is recognized as a universal human right and is one of the Millenium Development Goals. Access to information is often overlooked as a ...

• Claimed and yet forgotten
  [Articles]

  03 Nov 2010By: Petronella Murowe “For poor people like us, education should be an instrument for liberation.” (Nyerere).  The rights to education and access to information are ...

• The Ugandan experience of budget monitoring at grassroots level
  [Articles]

  21 Oct 2010By Pamela Kamusiime    Grassroots Action for Progress is an organisation in Igaanga, Uganda, about 150 kilometres east of Kampala. Their chairman, Hajj Rajab Ssengooba, ...

• Education for all in Tanzania - from analysis to impact
  [Research Reports]

  21 Oct 2010HakiElimu’s education campaign in Tanzania demonstrates the value of a multipronged strategy that incorporates sound research to support advocacy, broad efforts to educate and mobilize ...

• Role of civil society in budget oversight in Uganda
  [Articles]

  21 Oct 2010By Pamela Kamusiime  The Rights Based Budget training held in Kampala, Uganda from 11th-16th October 2010 gave participants an opportunity to work with people from ...

• Governance and Lies
  [Articles]

  15 Oct 2010By Thembinkosi Dlamini The events of the recent past show that things in Swaziland have reached their logical conclusion – countries pay a price for ...

• International Right to Know Day
  [Press Releases]

  28 Sep 2010On International Right to Know Day today (28 September) African democracy institute Idasa calls on countries that have taken bold steps of enacting access to ...

• Activities for Right to Know Day
  [Articles]

  28 Sep 2010Idasa is involved with partners, in a series of events to commemorate Right to Know day. We are working with partners in Ghana – Ghana National ...

• Private gain with public funds? How the Tanzanian Government is spending your money
  [Research Reports]

  21 Sep 2010We all are striving for a better life. Whether it’s by toiling in our farms, tending daily to our herds, ensuring our children are healthy ...

• Understanding right to education and access to information in Ghana
  [Articles]

  20 Sep 2010A study by the Right to Know-Right to Education project in Ghana demonstrates that although schools are showing some improvements in meeting UNESCO standards, citizens ...

• Quality Education in Malawi
  [News]

  21 Aug 2010The Civil Society Coalition for Quality Basic Education (CSCQBE) aims to improve the quality of basic education in Malawi through influencing government education policies and ...

• Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue organized by Save the Children
  [News]

  18 Aug 2010Swaziland Meeting held at Mountain Inn Hotel on 18 August 2010. An overview of the baseline fieldwork research findings was presented by Ms. Hlobisile Motsa. ...

• No Information, no peace: How parliamentarians will benefit from freedom of information legislation
  [Articles]

  26 Jul 2010Current parliamentary debate within South Africa on the proposed Protection of Information Bill has got NGOs like Idasa worried about the threat it poses to ...

• Right to Know, Right to Education Annual Reports
  [Research Reports]

  30 Jun 20102010 has been earmarked by both Idasa and the partners as the time for an intensive engagement with communities and other key stakeholders. The ground ...

• 20% of Malawi budget allocated to education
  [Articles]

  30 Jun 2010Growth in the percentage allocated to education in the new Malawian national budget raises teachers’ hopes, especially in the rural areas. Malawi has allocated substantial ...

• Planning and budgeting for children: Our Collective Responsibility
  [News]

  13 Jun 2010By Thembinkosi Dlamini June 16 marks the International Day of the Africa Child. The Day of the African Child has been celebrated on 16 June ...

• African Delegation gets to know participatory budget in Porto Alegre
  [News]

  18 Mar 2010Idasa and partners visit to South America has been covered by a commercial journal in Porto Alegre, where they attended a meeting of the Participatory ...

• Media for Advocacy
  [Podcasts]

  08 Mar 2010Listen to Leo from ISODEC (Ghana) and Raynor from Elimu Yetu (Kenya) on the work they are doing on education rights in Africa.  Both were ...

• Letter to Parliament's Education Portfolio Committee
  [News]

  17 Nov 200917 November 2009 The Chairperson Education Portfolio Committee Hon. Sivumelwano Nxumalo Parliament Dear Honourable, Subject: Supplementary Budget and the Implementation of Free Primary Education in ...

• Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition's satement on passage of right to information bill in Ghana
  [Articles]

  28 Oct 2009The Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition (GNECC) recognizes the right to information as a fundamental human right and the touchstone for all the freedoms necessary ...

• Right to Know, Right to Education
  [News]

  19 Oct 2009One of the projects of the Economic Governance programme is the Right to Know, Right to Education project (2009-2013). Its overall purpose is to broaden ...

• The Right to Know, The Right to Education – September 2009 Mid-year Report
  [Research Reports]

  30 Sep 2009The Right to Know, Right to Education project is a five-year project, ending in 2013. In May 2010, the project conducted a Mid-Term review in ...

• Informed citizens are empowered to participate
  [News]

  29 Sep 2009By: Stefan Gilbert and Nancy Dubosse Last year, information came to light that the Kenyan parliament, one of the few in Africa that has complete ...

• Africa needs transparency
  [Articles]

  28 Sep 2009Why is the “right to know” valuable to people pursuing their ordinary, daily concerns? Information is power, so claiming the right to know is about ...

• Idasa commemorates international Right to Know Day
  [Press Releases]

  27 Sep 2009African democracy institute Idasa will be marking international Right to Know Day on 28 September with an emphasis on its Right to Know, Right to ...

• Council disconnects children's water
  [Articles]

  08 Sep 2009The decision to shut off water and electricity to schools is a violation of human rights, of the right to education in particular.  Though the ...

• Right to Know Essential in Africa
  [Articles]

  31 Aug 2009The right to know is essential in Africa.  Read this article by Francina Mhundwa, published in the Weekend Observer in August 2009 – download below

• Right to Know, Right to Education Background
  [Research Reports]

  27 Aug 2009Idasa is working with partners on the Right to Know, Right to Education project. This project's activities focus on: increasing the democratic space around the ...

• Right to Know, Right to Education in Kenya
  [News]

  27 Aug 2009Idasa is working with partners in Kenya for the Right to Know, Right to Education project. This project's activities focus on: increasing the democratic space ...

• Right to Know, Right to Education Annual Reports
  [Research Reports]

  30 Jun 2009The six-months from October 2008 to March 2009 proved to be a period in which the seeds of a successful programme and project were sown ...

• Making the Budget Work for Education: Experiences, achievements and lessons from civil society budget work
  [Research Reports]

  03 Dec 2008By: Mario Claasen In 2000, governments around the world committed themselves to improving human development in the areas of health, education and gender equality. The ...

• Reviewing SA Provincial Education Budgets, 2004 to 2010
  [Research Reports]

  14 Jul 2008By: Russell Wildeman and Kate Lefko-Everett This paper provides a review of South African national and provincial education budgets, with the aims of: first, surveying ...

• Increased equality in school funding allocations
  [Press Releases]

  29 Apr 2008Idasa has welcomed emerging signs of equality across the provinces in school funding allocations for poor children. A study by Idasa shows that provincial inequalities ...

• Review of national and provincial education budgets 2007
  [Research Reports]

  28 Jun 2007Every year, IDASA conducts a review of South Africa’s national and provincial Education budgets, looking at main trends in expenditure in the social and fiscal ...

• Implementation of Inclusive Education: How Far Are We?
  [Research Reports]

  07 Mar 2007This paper addresses the government’s inclusive education and training policy by asking whether provincial education departments have access to sufficient funding and implementation capacity. Concomitant ...

• Response to the Proposed Funding Norms and Standards for the Reception Year (Grade R)
  [Research Reports]

  19 Jul 2006The proposed funding norms and standards (2005) aim to give effect to Education White Paper 5 provisions that require the review and amendment of key ...

• Review of National and Provincial Education Budgets 2006
  [Research Reports]

  28 Jun 2006Budget 2006 is unequivocal in its pronouncement that increased allocations to provinces should further the cause of quality services. The fact that quality service delivery ...

• Reviewing Ten Years of the School Nutrition Programme
  [Research Reports]

  06 Dec 2005The provision of basic education in favourable social and economic circumstances is a complex matter. This degree of complexity is increased when basic education must ...

• An overview of education funding
  [Speeches]

  18 Sep 2005This is a presentation that was made to the Council of Education Ministers’ (CEM) meeting. The CEM meeting consists of the national Minister of Education, ...

• A Review of National and Provincial Education Budgets 2005
  [Research Reports]

  13 Jun 2005National budget 2005 continues to give expression to two themes that were developed in the post-2000 era, namely “fiscal expansion” and “fiscal prudence.” Ordinarily, such ...

• The School Funding Norms Five Years On: Service Delivery Developments 2000-2004
  [Research Reports]

  08 Nov 2004By: Russell Wildeman Public schooling has been the site of intense official review and research activities in the last two years. The outcome of these ...

• The National Education Budget - March 2004
  [Research Reports]

  10 Mar 2004By Russell Andrew Wildeman "Government departments engage the country's twin objectives of poverty reduction and economic growth in different ways. The task of the budget ...

• School Funding Norms 2001: are more poor learners benefiting
  [Research Reports]

  25 Oct 2001By Russell Andrew Wildeman "The majority of poor schools in South Africa are based in historically disadvantaged communities. These communities face enormous socio-economic challenges and ...