Becoming an independent entrepreneur in the informal sector of northern Cote d'ivoire: What role can primary schooling play?

Pergamon Int I Educanonal Development, Vol 17, No 3, pp. 265-283, 1997

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B E C O M I N G A N I N D E P E N D E N T E N T R E P R E N E U R I N T H E I N F O R M A L S E C T O R O F N O R T H E R N C O T E D ' I V O I R E : W H A T R O L E C A N P R I M A R Y

S C H O O L I N G PLAY?

JOSHUA A. MUSKIN

Center for International Studies and Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Florida State University, Tallahassee, Florida, U.S.A.

Abstract - - With under 20% of grade 6 graduates in Crte d'Ivoire proceeding to secondary school, the informal economic sector serves as a critical sector for their employment. A study of this sector reveals a general, fundamental set of skills, knowledge and attitudes required to learn and master the different vocational trades~ Further, while these characteristics clearly have a basis in academic topics, the utility of school-acquired mathematics, reading, sciences, etc. in these trades is greatly limited by their typically theoretical, rote transmission. More practice-based instruction in primary school should improve both work performance and future learning, both formal and informal. © 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd

INTRODUCTION

Three overwhelming facts dominate the situation of education in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa. First, with only 18% of all students who enter school proceeding to the secondary cycle, based on 1990 data (Human Development Report, 1994, p. 157), primary education effectively rep- resents a terminal cycle for all but a select few individuals. Secondly, the vast majority of the African population inhabits rural areas: 70% based on 1992 statistics (Human Development Report, 1994, p. 149). Thirdly, employment in the region is found predominantly in subsistence agriculture and the informal sector of the economy. According to Standing and Tokman (1991, pp. 99, 102), approximately 60% of the urban labor force of sub-Saharan Africa in 1985 were occupied in productive activities that fall outside of the formal wage-earning sector, or about 15% of the total labor force for the region. Eliminating the estimated figures for unemployed laborers in 1990, the urban informal sector for the region included about two-thirds of the total urban working force. Standing and Tokman situ- ate 70% (123 million) of the region's total labor force in the agricultural sector. Considering the predominantly subsistence nature of this sector, along with the generally informal nature of sup- plemental non-farm income generated by farm- ing families, the significance of informal economic activities appears even more substantial. The

situation represented by these three facts is almost guaranteed to persist for the next several decades.

Notwithstanding these data, the overwhelming emphasis (in fact if not in the rhetoric) in primary level education throughout Africa continues to be on preparing all students for passage to formal secondary schooling and, eventually, formal sector employment. Illuminated by the above figures, this approach can only be seen as ill- conceived and wasteful. This manner of education is typically characterized (and often criticized I) as involving strict discipline, rote mastery of abundant facts, and overly academic, abstract transmission of basic knowledge and techniques, such as mathematics and reading. There is generally very little (or no) association made between what is learned in the classroom and the real-life context of the students' present or future world. Additionally, there is only scant, if any, attention paid to developing students' reasoning abilities, expressiveness and creativity.

In contrast, very little reflection is needed to conclude that it would be more appropriate to fashion a primary schooling that addresses more prominently the needs of the 82% who do not continue their formal education beyond the primary cycle. Many African nations have already adopted this in their national education reform plans. For example, the 1962 Mali Education Reform program called for the construction of an education focused on national sociocultural and

265

266 JOSHUA A. MUSKIN

economic values that are also open to a universal vision. The basic tenets of this program still remain in force, though the functional strategies have undergone many face-lifts over the decades. Most recently, this refrain is repeated in the 1994 version of education reform in Mall, the Nouvelle Ecole Fondamentale. In his inaugural announce- ment of this new initiative, the Minister of Basic Education, Adama Samass6kou, called for schooling to be linked to real life in the following manner: 'II s'agira de changer les rapports entre l'6cole et la vie, entre les enfants et les maitres, entre l'6cole et les parents, de fa¢on/t adapter l'6cole au milieu '2 (L'Essor, no. 12,834, 28 October 1994, p. 8). Though there is considerable enthusiasm for this initiative, both in Mali and from international donors, it is much too early to say if it will be successful. Particular attention in this regard must be directed toward the teachers who will implement the related reform innovations and toward the parents, who will demonstrate their faith in this reform by whether or not they send their children to school. The same dynamics- -of reform and popular response - - have been repeated in countries throughout the continent.

When translated from policy in to action, the manner of reform required to bring the education process closer to the realm of work means preparing school students for subsequent informal, non-formal and self-learning educational opportunities. Economically, this manner of schooling involves preparing students to become productive participants in society in whatever sector they find employment. It is proposed here that this 'education-for-life' approach (as opposed to education-for-education) can be accomplished without sacrificing the current 'selection' func- tion of the present rote approach that predomi- nates formal primary schooling (cf. Dote, 1976; Bock and Papagiannis, 1983; Schwille et al., 1990). In practice, no country has yet succeeded in implementing this policy, at least not within any national formal education systems.

But what does it really mean to be educated for productive participation in society? This question requires attention from perspectives of both supply and demand. Unlike the common approach to research on 'quality' in schooling (cf. Fuller, 1985, 1986; Heyneman, 1983), in which the suitability (for an unspecified future) of school 'outputs' (graduates) is assumed by the assurance of high calibre 'inputs' (texts, trained teachers, infrastructure, etc.), the approach adopted here focuses on the demand side of the equation. The guiding

question in the research was 'What skills, knowledge and attitudes are demanded of candidates and participants in the informal economic sector to learn and master a given trade?' Starting from this perspective, the study of the supply of educated graduates for the productive sector then became 'How, and how well, does primary schooling prepare students for this set of competencies and characteristics?' C6te d'Ivoire was particularly well-suited to this research as the national Ecole et Ddveloppement (School and Develop- ment) primary school program had as its central objective the education of students for work and family and local development. (This program is described further later in the article.)

In the present study, the discussion of this participation is limited to the economic sphere, whereas many other areas of participation could, and should, be considered, including cultural, political, familial and community, to name the most salient. For the three reasons indicated above, the analysis is also limited to primary schooling and to productive work in the informal sector.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Informal sector The present study reflects an effort to identify

a common set of fundamental skills, knowledge and attitudes that the primary school leaver is most likely to need to learn (usually as an apprentice) and eventually master a professional trade in the informal sector of a developing economy. Ultimately, the researcher hopes to be able to provide insight into how primary school can better prepare students to undertake apprenticeship training with an enhanced chance of eventually becoming a masterful, productive independent artisan.

The findings are based upon research conducted during 6 months in 1989 in northern C6te d'Ivoire. As indicated above, the informal sector was chosen because it constitutes both a major area of domestic production and the principal opportunity for employment for primary school leavers. (In this era of structural adjustment, this is also increasingly the case for secondary - - and even many tertiary -~. school leavers.) According to the national government statistics department, the informal sector in C6te d'Ivoire was estimated in 1985 to be more than twice as large as the modern, formal sect6r, employing about 910,000

BECOMING AN INDEPENDENT ENTREPRENEUR 267

people. Government forecasting at the time pro- jetted a 31% increase in this figure for 1990, while anticipating just a 5% rise in formal sector employment (Muskin, 1991, p. 140).

The study occurred mostly in Korhogo, a city of about 63,000 inhabitants (based on the 1980 census). Artisans and other economic actors (merchants and farmers) in three nearby villages (Lataha, Dokaha and Tioroniaradougou) and two other major towns in the north (Boundiali and Madinani) were also included (see Figure 1.)

The research on the informal sector skills, knowledge and attitudes involved four basic strategies. First, formal interviews with 42 artisans, merchants and farmers 3 elicited information concerning each individual's past schooling and professional training, family background, actual work and economic status. The interview process, last-

ing typically about 1.5 to 2 hours, also included simple tests of the individual's reading, mathematics and reasoning skills.

Secondly, extended research on six individual artisans expanded upon the formal interview protocol, including (i) several guided, open interviews covering both professional and relevant personal matters, (ii) discussions with associated apprentices and clients, and (iii) multiple site visits to observe the techniques and skills used in work and professional interactions at the workshop. This ethnographic approach extended over the full 6 months, allowing time for some famili- arity and confidence to develop between the researcher and subjects. The major purpose of both strategies was to seek the crucial attributes for the eventual mastery of the artisans' respective trades. The views of 21 local technical experts

ODIENNE

BOUNDiAL~

r - - - m l - - - - l l 170 miles

D OLataha \ ~_~ FERKESSEDOUGOU

• Tioroniaradougou KORHOGO BOUNA

KATIOLA

DABAKALA

100 milgs

Fig. I. Locations of villages and schools included in the study of Northern C6te d'Ivoire.


responsible for monitoring and assisting the population of small independent artisans u e.g. mechanics, carpenters, tailors and welders - - were also solicited, serving as important comple- ments to the artisan interviews.

The third strategy was to survey 140 independent artisans and 140 of their apprentices. 4 The use of a survey instrument permitted the researcher to gather much the same information in the interviews, but in an abbreviated form and took on average about 15 min to administer. Included were questions concerning the composition and size of workshop, origin, family, professional information, educational and professional background, and a brief cognitive test of just four questions. The survey was administered only to artisans and other economic actors operating in urban Korhogo.

With the study's focus being primarily on the vocational trades, especially among the survey group, the large majority of the sample was male, as women are largely scarce in these activities. Where women are economically active, notably as merchants, restaurateurs, cultivators, tailors and hairdressers, they were included in the sample in numbers that reflect a rough estimation of their proportional representation in the activity. This resulted in the inclusion of many women merchants and restaurateurs and relatively few tailors and their apprentices. The findings of the research are intended to apply equally to female and male artisans, merchants and students, understanding that the skills, knowledge and attitudes investi- gated, and the associated implications for primary schooling, deal with just one domain of an adult's full range of economic and social roles and functions.

Having gained insight into the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary to master and perform a trade, the researcher looked backwards in the process. The aim was to assess how well the Ivoirian primary school program, both in its design and its delivery, prepares school leavers for informal sector employment.

This step constituted a purposeful, strategic departure from the more common approach in the related research of anticipating, or simply assuming, eventual, specific school impacts in the workplace. Researchers and education policy makers tend to base the design of education programs and school interventions on a vague, generalized understanding of professional skills and a faith that formal academic skills will translate automatically into productivity, s This attitude is con-

firmed by the common belief of employers (presented by the majority of the research into education and productivity; cf Middleton et ai., 1993, chapter 2) that basic academic skills, not vocational skills, are basically all that their new employees require. 6

Primary education sector The research protocol covering the education

element of the school-work dynamic also involved a few different strategies. The principal strategy involved multiple visits to each of six primary schools, three in more urban settings (Boundiali and Madinani) and three in villages near to Korhogo-city (Dokaha, Lataha and Tioroniara- dougou). Each visit included several classroom and extracurricular activity observations, as well as interviews with teachers, administrators and students. The purpose was to investigate from the school side, using both implicit and explicit infer- ence, the functional relationship between the formal education content and process and the required skills, knowledge and attitudes of the informal sector workplace. Additionally, students in the CM2 (sixth year) class of each school took the same test given to the 42 interviewed artisans, merchants and cultivators.

The school-level data was supplemented by interviews with regional primary school inspec- tors and directorate officials, and with professors of the Korhogo primary teachers training college. Finally, information concerning the primary curriculum, its content and delivery, was taken directly from textbooks, teachers manuals and other related documents.

DEFINING THE INFORMAL SECTOR

No consensus exists concerning a definition of the concept of the informal economic sector. This can be explained, at least partly, by the fact that economic activities in different countries and regions occur in many different policy, economic and technological contexts; what may be considered informal in one situation would be classified as formal in another. 7 For the purposes of the present research, the definition offered by Fluit- man and Oudin (1991, p. l) reflects best the circumstances and context which the author experienced in C6te d'Ivoire:

Informal sector activities are typically carried out in small units, micro-enterprises, established, owned and operated by one or a few individuals with little capital; the activities are usually labour-intensive and result in low-quality but


relatively cheap goods and services; micro-enterprises tend to have limited access to infrastructure and markets for inputs and outputs.

M ore specifically, several features serve to unify the diverse group of informal sector occupations and operators functioning in Korhogo and other towns in the North. First, the relative smallness of size, referring to various features. Almost all the workshops in the study sample had just one income-earning individual: the owner-operator, or patron. In over half the cases, the workshop was a temporary structure, although there was great variety among the different vocations; for example, 96% of the tailors in the sample operated in p~_rmanent buildings while virtually all mobylette s mechanics operated with only a tree as shelter. Smallness was also evident in the amount of working capital, output, inventory and in the number of clients. A second, related common feature of workshops in the north was their geo- graphically constrained market area, mostly serving clients in local markets on a direct retail basis.

Thirdly, most patrons employed only rudimentary or non-existent formal internal financial pro- cedures. Only 20% of the sample reported keeping any manner of formal accounting records and only 30% acknowledged having a bank account. Use of credit was also very rare, with over 90% of the patrons using personal savings or family con- tributions to initiate their businesses.

Fourthly, the informal sector of the north operates with no true professional, technical standards that would either encourage or impose uniform quality in the products or services provided. The absence of regulations, guidelines and requirements is evident in all aspects of operations, such as training, pricing, inputs, techniques and products. This situation pertains equally to those entering an informal sector profession as it does to those already operating independently. Basi- cally, the market serves as the regulating agency, 'authorizing' a particular artisan to operate by providing him/her with an adequate clientele.

Fifthly, necessary skills and knowledge for entering a profession are acquired in an informal, practical setting: apprenticeship training. The average number of apprentices among the sampled workshops in Korhogo was 3.3, ranging from a low of 1.3 for jewelry and watch repair to a high of 4.4 for auto mechanics. The average age of the surveyed sample of 140 apprentices was 20 years, having reportedly begun their apprenticeship at just over 16.5 years of age. The average age of the youngest apprentices found at the 140 workshops in the sample was 13.7 years. The surveyed

apprentices had already been in their training an average of 3.3 years, while their patrons had been apprenticed an average total of 5.7 years. Their average level of schooling was barely 3.5 years, while that of their patrons was almost double, 6.7 years. Just over a third (37.7%) of all the apprentices at the workshops in the sample had received any schooling. About a third (34.2%) were related to thepatron and about a quarter (27.4%) of them paid to be apprentices.

Finally, the results of the study indicate the sector's members tend to be mostly law-abiding. There was only an apparently small subgroup of informal sector artisans, who disrespected prevailing laws and regulations and failed to register or to pay fees and taxes associated with their business operations (Muskin, 1991, pp. 207-209).

THE EVIDENCE AND IMPACT OF BASIC ACADEMIC SKILLS IN THE INFORMAL

SECTOR WORKPLACE

Ensuring the acquisition of basic academic skills - - reading, writing, mathematics m by students is commonly perceived, whether de jure or de facto, as the major aim of formal primary education. Consequently, as it relates to the present study, it is important to investigate more closely how learning and performing the major tasks associated with productive informal sector performance can be related directly to school- acquired skills, knowledge and attitudes. Adopt- ing the more common vector of inquiry employed in the research, the 'supply' approach: How does the mastery of basic academic and reasoning skills influence directly the development and execution of technical competence in informal sector work? For example, it seems obvious that the common informal sector artisan, merchant and farmer is not able to perform serious accounting considering the finding that barely half the informal sector producers (based on a sample size of 182) were able to read and perform very basic calculations, with especial difficulty in the areas of proportions and subtraction (Muskin, 1991, pp. 434-443). Nor is it reasonable to expect this group to be able to organize and administer a modern enterprise having observed a generalized difficulty among the sector's participants with the sorts of abstraction, deductive processes and intellectual, logical reflections that one confronts regularly in 'modern' society (Muskin. 1991).

The results of tests conducted as part of the research revealed a generally low (an average


score of 60% or less correct) level of arithmetic, literacy and reasoning abilities and a compara- tively high ability (an average score of greater than 70%) with oral comprehension tasks among the 42 artisans, farmers and merchants interviewed by the researcher. Formal schooling was found to affect positively the ability of the informal sector producers to perform both mathematics and reasoning problems, corroborating some of the findings of Cole and Scribner (1974) among the Kpelle of Liberia. Other factors that appeared to influence the level of academic skills and cognitive performance among those interviewed include:

• the existence of a minimum threshold of schooling associated with the retention of mathematical skills;

• the evident impact of work experience in retaining and even expanding mathematical and reasoning skills for non-schooled producers; and

• the seemingly positive effect of Koranic schooling in the acquisition and mastery of academic skills while active in the workplace (Muskin, 1991, pp. 567-588).

All these tentative findings appear to be fecund areas for further research.

The role of school-related skills in informal sector work

The negative effects on informal sector production of the generally low level of basic academic skills possessed by informal sector producers in northern Crte d'Ivoire--evident in the results of the mathematics and reasoning tests - - were observed in various aspects of the daily work and overall professional behaviour of this group. Also apparent was the impact on production and professional performance of a general difficulty of abstraction and of textual - - contextual - - recall found in the results of the oral comprehension test (cf Muskin, 1991, pp. 419, 433). The producers' limited ability with textual recall is surely exacerbated by the widespread incidence of illit- eracy, as writing cannot serve to compensate for what cannot be remembered (cf Goody and Watt, 1963). Finally, it is argued here, the generally poor results on the basic academic and reasoning skills tests relate directly to the inadequate technical skills and knowledge identified by local technical experts, and even by some of the producers themselves.

The need for mathematics and other basic

academic skills in the daily operations of the informal sector productive enterprise was articu- lated and demonstrated convincingly by many of the informal sector producers and technical agents interviewed for the present research. One basic mathematics application is that of giving the correct change, a task which observation revealed is not necessarily all that simple. In many instances, an artisan asked an apprentice, or even the client, to count out the proper change. Another use for mathematics in work is that of measurement, again seen to be a surprisingly troublesome skill; even more the case with the mathematical manipulation of measures, For example, one tailor measured a client's waist size using the inches, rather than the centimetres, side of his tape measure. In one carpentry workshop in Korhogo, the patron presented a bookcase he claimed was divided into three sections of equal widths. In reality, the two outside sections were both exactly 70 cm wide, while the middle section measured about 60 cm. The carpenter had probably been asked to build a bookcase that was 2 m wide. Obvi- ously unable to translate into practice the division of 2 by 3, even with the help of his pocket calculator, he apparently resorted to an aesthetic solution of evenly measured outer sections that looked to be about the same width of the third, center, area. (Similar results were found by Odurkene (in Rathbeger, n.d.) among carpentry and metalwork apprentices in Nigeria and Uganda.)

Similar examples of visual approximation sat- isfying aesthetic, rather than technical, criteria were observed in other trades as well. Even for the sewing profession, which relies heavily upon measurements, the manipulation of numbers often seems to be only approximate. The vulnerability of informal sector producers due to their inability to read is also exemplified well by many tailors. Without the opportunity to refer back to written notes, illiterate tailors must rely basically upon memory to remember the style and other details

cuffs or no cuffs?, pleated bodice or flat?, one, two or no pockets? - - that his or her several customers requested. Usually able to record and read numbers, measurements did not seem so subject to the illiterate tailor's powers of mental recall.

The impact of textual vs contextual comprehension, or the power of abstraction, is nicely illustrated by the negotiations with an experienced carpenter for the construction of a wood- framed bird cage. Explaining the details of the request represented in a rough technical drawing


was not a simple process, despite a shared understanding of French. First, the presentation of the idea of two compartments - - one with wood walls, the other with chicken wire - - appeared to confuse the artisan. Not understanding the explanation of the drawing, even after acknowledging the different dimensions represented, the carpenter gathered some scrap pieces of wood to represent what he understood with a model. Seeing that the carpenter had not yet grasped the proper proportions the researcher profited from the strategy of a model to show what was desired. 'Ah,' exclaimed the carpenter, 'you want a salon and a bedroom.' It was so simple; the answer lay in the context of the carpenter's own life, not in some abstract explanation or a drawing on paper. In executing the bird cage, he situated the interior wall at 35 cm rather than at the measurement of 20 cm indicated in the drawing and in the verbal explanation, obviously replicating instead the relative proportions of a true salon and bedroom in a real house.

Thepatron who made the bird cage was a clever, competent and relatively successful carpenter. He demonstrated accuracy in his calculations of the amount of wood needed. He also made a good economic decision in choosing to build the cage with planks rather than constructing a frame out of two-by-fours with plywood walls. The final product was well-executed, besides the opening in the top which had no relationship to the entry represented in the drawing. He even added a few interesting items and resolved one detail which had been left ambiguous in the drawing and original explanation: the feet of the cage. The most important common criterion for judgment, that of 'l'esth6tique,' was surely met: the cage looked good and would definitely serve its func- tion. As was observed and explained of the 'typical' informal sector artisan, he manages - - despite his being illiterate, having only rudimentary mathematical skills and demonstrating poor abstract reasoning skills - - to perform with an acceptable level of competence, especially admi- rable considering the considerable poverty of the prevailing economic and technological situations.

The practical nature of vocational mastery Most artisans it was found possess, perhaps

above all other qualities, great astuteness, cleverness and practical wisdom, which they combine with enormous 'courage', or diligence. They commonly show no fear of trying something they have not seen or attempted before. Undergoing a

lengthy apprenticeship during which they observe and repeat the same manipulations and techniques innumerable times, future artisans culti- vate a solid, practical aptitude with the skills and knowledge of their respective professions. Addi- tionally, as is indicated by the results of the test of reasoning ability, informal sector artisans typically exhibit a relatively well-developed capacity for following the steps of an explicit argument or procedure to arrive at an effective solution (Muskin, 1991, pp. 275-296).

Many artisans also demonstrated the adoption and use of different conventions and specific techniques - - often referred to as 'tricks of the trade' - - to compensate for an inability to apply basic academic skills in their work. These facilitate work by permitting them to avoid or simplify many calculations and other more formal cognitive tasks; also observed by Lave (1977), among tailors in Liberia (Scribner and Cole, 1981). For example, tailors typically require, and cloth merchants regularly only sell, fabric cut to standard lengths. For a short-sleeved shirt, a singlepagne is sufficient. A long-sleeved shirt takes two; a dress, two or three, depending upon the style. The fabric from which a pagne is cut arrives from the factory in a length equivalent to sixpagnes, called a piece. Pagne merchants do not even require a tape measure to cut a single pagne: all they have to do is to cut the piece along the correct fold. Vendors of cloth for trousers also use a uniform length: 1.25 m, which they have often acquired from wholesalers pre-cut to 2.5 m. They also can cut accurate lengths without using a measuring stick or tape. Even vendors who acquire full bolts of cloth for retail sale were usually seen to measure the proper length with a stick cut to 1.25 m or with a meter-long stick marked only at a quarter. a half and three-quarters of the stick's full length. It is rarely necessary, though, to acquire more than 1.25 m as the tailor also usually conforms to convention, rarely asking for a length of cloth that diverges from these standards. Even in the case where the style might require a bit more, the tailor will accept the standard length, unless she or he chooses to recommend purchasing a whole second pagne or a full 2.5 m.

Artisans were observed normally to use three other basic strategies to facilitate or avoid difficult calculations in business. First, most are rarely far from their pocket calculator, though not all know how to operate it correctly. The second common recourse of entrepre.n_ curs seeking to avoid mathematics is to rely upon an apprentice to perform

272 JOSHUA A.

any required calculations. Illiterate patrons generally said that they rely upon a schooled apprentice to write out invoices, estimates and receipts and even, occasionally, to perform a rudimentary accounting and other business-related calculations. Another tactic observed in use by many entrepreneurs wishing to refrain from more com- plicated mathematical calculations was to attempt to avoid difficult calculations altogether. Just as there are uniform lengths used for selling fabrics, the research revealed that many informal sector artisans and entrepreneurs restrict the prices they charge to rounded figures. One restaurant operator stated that the test question, 'How much change must she give a client who pays a bill for 1815 CFAs with a 5000 CFA note?', made no sense to her. 'A meal here it costs 1500 CFAs', she explained energetically in French. 'There is never 15 CFAs here at my restaurant. I can't do that'. Adapting the question to suit her formula, the researcher asked her what change she must give if the lunch bill were 1800 CFAs. She replied without hesitation, '3200 CFAs. That I know by heart'. The test results for this question indicated that the ' 15 CFAs' was the reason for most of the wrong answers. Among 190 patrons and apprentices answering the same question, over 12'7o gave a response within 100 CFAs of the correct answer, 3185. Only about 8% responded with grossly wrong answers (Muskin, 1991, p. 291).

Finally, as they are rarely able to read printed instructions or other documents to learn how a machine operates or is maintained, many artisans explained that they resort to their practical experience, intelligence and courage and simply begin to experiment with different solutions. (Consult- ing other artisans seems not to be a popular strategy.) Relying upon cleverness, a very methodical approach, much persistence and a great desire to discover and succeed, they generally defined an effective, if not efficient, way to perform the task.

Impact of poor basic academic skills upon professional development

The effects of the limited mastery of basic academic and technical skills also appear in the professional evolution of the independent artisan. As a primary-schooled journeyman carpenter traced 90* and 45* angles with a square on boards which he was preparing to cut to make a picture frame, the researcher asked, 'How many degrees are there in a right angle?', '45', he replied.

MUSKIN

His explanation suggested that he had mentally placed together the two ends which formed his 90 ° corner. Having cut each piece at 45*, it was clear that a right angle measures 45 °.

This mistake had absolutely no negative impact upon his execution of the task at hand. On the contrary, he seemed to be a well-trained, competent, accomplished young carpenter. It is unlikely, additionally, that his not knowing about adding angles and that a circle contains 360* will affect negatively his eventual success as an independent carpenter. However, it can be said that his potential for professional development beyond the informal sector is quite probably limited due in part at least to this sort of lack of knowledge. Esthetic innovation may be possible for him, as he could surely construct, for example, a viable six- sided table without measuring angles, but it is doubtful that the potential beauty of the piece of furniture would be matched by technical preci- sion. This distinction, it should be noted, is essentially moot within the current marketplace as the demand for such a table is likely quite rare.

The director of the northern Crte d'Ivoire office of SECUREL, the government agency responsible for overseeing all residential, commer- cial and industrial electrical installations, remarked that he can find nothing to reproach regarding the performance of the typical residential building electrician found locally. Even though they are as a group mostly illiterate and have no formal training in electronics, they faithfully respect the rules of a home electrical installation. However, the illiterate electrician will almost surely never to able to advance in his 9 profession as he will never be able to take advantage of opportunities to learn the fundamental theories of electronics. Such training is required for more official and advanced electrical work, such as employment with the electric company or in industry. Simi- larly, an older apprentice auto mechanic related that the Agip Petroleum Company had offered to pay for him to participate in a formal technical training program at their center in Abidjan. He is illiterate and was consequently ineligible for the session.

Without a basic theoretical understanding of the rules and concepts of one's profession, informal sector artisans typically risk being handi- capped in two principal ways. First, they are destined to perform in many situations a job that is imprecise or of low technical (as opposed to aesthetic) quality. The other way, as indicated


above, is by the existence of a relatively low professional ceiling. A natural intelligence, practical mastery and innate cleverness may suffice to help some individual artisans to advance far in their professional development. The success of the individual artisan may even represent as far as he or she can reasonably expect, given the existing economic and technological environment of the informal sector as well as of the whole national economy. Nonetheless, without the ability to read and without a mastery of the fundamental concepts and rules of the particular field, both artisans and technical experts explained that an individual artisan will likely be unable to advance beyond the limits of the current depressed production setting. There are, of course, exceptions, but such cases are rare, and, perhaps ironically, these individuals were usually more inclined to express a sense of professional inadequacy due to their lack of formal schooling.

It is important to recall that the artisans, merchants and farmers interviewed generally did not attribute their limited professional success to a lack of schooling or to poor mathematical, reading and reasoning skills. School is one thing, work is another, they asserted almost unanimously. However, they did not blame all the failures of their colleagues on the depressed economy of the nation. Rather, they did associate several individual characteristics, skills and types of knowledge with professional success~

IMPLICATIONS FOR PRIMARY SCHOOLING

Both the broader literature and the evidence generated by the present study attribute to primary schooling a variety of roles in preparing a supply of workers for the economic sector. How- ever, the exact nature of these roles is quite dissimilar. The classic literature on this topic built primarily on the tradition established by Foster's (I 966) 'vocational schooling fallacy' argument (e.g. Heyneman, 1983; Middleton et al., 1993) - - assigns only an indirect relationship between schooling and work. By learning to read, write and perform calculations, it is argued, a school-leaver is suitably prepared to undertake a professional training in the workplace, where such training is performed with both greater efficiency and efficacy. The bridge between the school bench and the work bench, writers in this tradition attempt to demonstrate, is best situated in the workplace. Additionally, they argue, the alloca-

tion of social and private costs are more commen- surate in this equation with the balance of private and social gain, the high cost of vocational training producing primarily high wages for the individual beneficiary.

While these arguments may stand up as regards entry into the formal sector of the economy, with its more rigid entry requirements, training proce- dures, satisfaction and division of tasks (this discussion requires a full research agenda of its own), it seems much less robust when looking at the training process, production and entrepreneurship in the informal sector. To begin, the 'manag- ers' in the informal sector tend not to be highly schooled themselves and, therefore, are less likely than formal sector employers to associate practically, or logically, school skills with work. Fur- ther, the common methods of production and entrepreneurship in the informal sector, also as shown above, tend to substitute 'aesthetic' and make-shift solutions for more technical, academic, solutions. The informal sector workshop is clearly not a place to favor and learn the application of the 'tools' of basic academic skills to productive tasks.

This same observation implies directly the conclusion that the bridge between school and the informal sector work place (at least) must be located, then, at the level of the school. (This is not an argument for the vocationalization of the primary education process.) While the large majority of thepatrons interviewed for the present study denied any general relationship between a basic education and work, they were quite eloquent in providing examples of just such links, unaware of the blatancy of their self-contradictions. Having looked already in the above section at the basic school-related skills, knowledge and attitudes required to learn and participate productively in informal sector trades, attention now turns to the supply side of the equation. How well does the Ivoirian primary school perform in preparing students to perform in the informal sector of the economy? What might doing better in this regard entail? Why, more precisely, is it important that the school adopt a critical pre-vocational role? The links between schooling and the informal sector workplace are demonstrated here based both on evidence of what already happens and more so, on what is absent at the level of the school in assuring this relationship. The section concludes with a proposal for a primary school program that is designed to help make these links


much more explicit and effective, and at the same time intended to elevate the more conventional, academic mastery aspect of schooling.

Basic education Despite the common claims by those inter-

viewed of the general irrelevance of basic academic skills and knowledge in the workplace, the role of these characteristics was obviously valu- able both in the technical execution of an informal sector productive activity and in its operation as a business. The importance of these skills is equally evident in their absence - - e.g. the artisan who is only able to approximate simple details or remains limited in his or her production reper- t o i r e - as in their existence - - e.g. the value of the schooled apprentice who takes care of the patron's business matters. The question of main interest here, though, is how well does the current primary school train the Ivoirian student to utilize basic academic skills in productive work. Does the package of basic education include the abilities necessary to apply school-acquired skills effectively to functional situations?

This question refers primarily to the occur- rence of implicit instruction for work and development that occurs in the national primary level Ecole et D~veloppement program. This school program emerged from the Ivoirian Education Reform Law of 1977. Its basic purpose was to 'open [students] to the social and cultural realities of the nations' and to link 'closely both manual and other practical work to intellectual work'. (Muskin, 1991, p. 352) To achieve this, an academic program was developed (by Ivoirian educators, with expatriate assistance) that oriented conventional courses (the three Rs) to be more relevant to 'daily life', incorporating situations from the context of the local Ivoirian community to permit the student to learn the different academic skills in a manner that is apparently meaningful to their personal lives. New topics were added, relating more directly to development issues. These were civic and moral education, family education (basically, home economics), activit~s d'eveil(literally, 'activities of alertness, or awakening'), local studies, initiation to agriculture, and the extracurricular school cooperative. Pedagogically, the idea is to link ' t h e o r y ' - - whether mathematics, language or literacy (reading) h with practice so that the theory becomes both more accessible to learners and more functional in the home and workplace.

However, observations in grades one, two and

six classrooms at six schools, as well as discussions with teachers, a variety of other educators and former students, indicated that these links were not occurring. The conventional lessons contin- ued to be highlighted, with the primary objective still to prepare students to pass the school-leaving exam for entry to secondary school. The manner of instruction remained rote, with little effort to 'awaken' either the spirit or intellect of the students. And the school cooperatives functioned in only a small minority of the schools covered by the five Korhogo region inspectorates. Students neither saw nor experienced in the classroom, in the school yard or in the whole community the applicability of basic education skills to the performance and knowledge requirements of the local socioeconomic context (Muskin, 1991, pp. 366--397).

For the purposes of the present study, as indicated in the introduction, this context is limited to work in the informal economic sector. Does having learned mathematics at school help the school leaver in technical and business calculations at work? Do reading and writing facilitate or enhance the artisan's, merchant's and farmer's performance in any way? Does training in creative expression help with perceiving and representing technical concepts, shapes and objects for productive tasks? The abundant testimony of all the participants in the informal sector-- the artisans, apprentices and agents - - suggests the answer 'yes' to these questions. Compared with the illiterate, unschooled apprentice alongside whom they work, the artisans and associated technical advisors attested that school leavers are able to learn a profession significantly more quickly and easily. Many other advantages accruing to the schooled informal sector producer have been reviewed in the preceding section.

Apprenticeship training as inimical to the application o f school-based knowledge

Yet, the present research revealed that non- schooled patrons have great difficulty in guiding primary schooled apprentices in applying academic knowledge and skills to the technical task. With little to no schooling of their own and having learned the profession from someone else with no schooling, most informal sector producers can be expected to train the schooled apprentice no differently than they do the non-schooled apprentice. This involves a transfer of the same techniques of 'aesthetic' production and repairs and the same 'compensation' strategies which they


acquired as apprentices and which they still employ. Lacking a complete acquaintance with the basic theory and technical requirements of their respective professions, there is clearly little chance that most artisans will be able to share such fundamental knowledge with their trainees, either theoretically or practically.

Ironically, the apprenticeship process will probably occur in the same repetitive, disciplined manner which the school leaver suffered in school. The apprentice will consequently exhibit the same obedient comportment in order to get by and to avoid the smart of the rap of the patron's knuck- les on his or her skull. The common pedagogical methods of the patron are primarily those of imitation and repetition. In these, the school leaver has received exemplary preparation. It should be obvious, though, that this is not help- ful in linking school knowledge to technical performance.

It also appeared in the research that most primary schooled apprentices commonly avoid even trying to substitute new solutions they might find on their own - - often likely with the benefit of school-acquired skills - - for less effective or efficient techniques that the patron has proposed. This may be attributed, at least in part, to a reasonable survival instinct adopted by the apprentice, who learns quickly not to challenge the strict hierarchy and discipline evident in most workshops. Trainers at the local vocational training institute also described this as a problem for their former students who enter skilled jobs in the formal sector. The graduates of the upper secondary level Centre de Formation Professionnelle, for example, possess undeniably superior formal technical knowledge than their on-the-job trained colleagues. Yet they must still submit in the formal workplace to the direction of those with no or minimal formal training because of their senior- ity. In the informal sector workshop, the apprentice hardly arrives with the level of skill of a CFP graduate, but the fear of embarrassing or anger- ing the patron or older, non-schooled apprentices by proposing something new surely dissuades many apprentices in most instances from offering their ideas. The intolerance of the patrons with schooled apprentices who do speak up reverber- ates in the commonly heard criticism by the patrons that schooled apprentices can be spoiled ('gate'), impatient and ill-mannered, sometimes thinking they already know all they need to in order to start work, as reported above.

The impact of work on basic academic skills Data from the Korhogo research suggest that

experience, not schooling, contributes more to the apprentice's acquisition of the mathematical acumen required for practical work. A compari- son of test results of the interviewed artisans, merchants and farmers with those of CM2 (sixth year primary) students from six public schools in northern Crte d'Ivoire on the same test (Muskin, 1991, appendix VI-A) reveals an apparent gain in arithmetic and reasoning ability for former students with a certain level of work experience. ~° The scores for CE2 (fourth year primary) and CM2 school leavers working in the informal trade sector is clearly higher than for the group of current students: 68 vs 57% for reasoning and 73 and 55% for mathematics. (Given the small size of the sample of informal sector producers, statistically valid conclusions are not possible. However, the findings do indicate a potentially fruitful area for further research.)

These tentative quantitative findings are sup- ported by the workshop-level observations that, learning mathematics as rote tasks, most school ieavers are essentially unprepared to add, subtract and divide boards, bars, buttonholes and other materials. Odurkene (in Rathgeber, n.d.) makes the same conclusion based on research in Ugan- dan and Nigerian workshops. Students may be taught the concepts of geometry and measures but, it appeared in workshop observations and interviews, they do not learn to apply these to practical tasks such as drafting or reading a plan or designing and executing a piece of furniture. Consequently, based on these data and on other findings from the research, it may be conjectured that mathematical and reasoning skills may similarly be enhanced in the classroom by their application to practical situations. (Other possible factors may also help explain this outcome of the research, though, such as better quality schooling, smaller classrooms and greater selectivity in cohort passage for the older group of former students.)

School vs work-based problem solving At school, mathematics, science, geography

and other education typically involves the solution of problems conceived and posed by the teacher, using standard pedagogical materials. In the workshop, however, artisans and their 'students' (apprentices) must conceive and pose the problems themselves. They must be able to com- prehend and represent the particular task as a


mathematical problem on their own before even attempting calculations to derive a solution. How- ever, the selection of the appropriate problem statement is not always evident just because one knows the proper solution process. The practical task requires more than a simple mastery of the individual mathematical operations. It involves the ability to reflect on a problem, to identify its different components, to reveal the relations between the many parts and then to represent these relations as a problem which can be solved with the available tools, which can range from mathematical calculations and scientific methods to a hammer and saw, scissors and a needle, or a spanner and a welding wand.

The two processes are quite distinct, and the former - - problem solving - - clearly does not translate automatically into the latter--problem- posing. In practice, however, the solution process is entirely integral to the problem-posing stage, as a solution is the next logical step. The artisans, merchants and farmers refer to this tandem of competencies quite simply as natural 'intelligence', to which concept they assign considerable value in the mastery of their occupations. The role of experience also appeared in the research, not surprisingly, to contribute in important ways to developing the cognitive abilities of the patrons and their apprentices. This is shown above in the reference to the results of the reasoning test, the only test on which the CM2 students were outperformed by the full group of artisans, merchants and farmers (although not with statistical significance - - performing equally is already meaningful). Regardless of this observation, the primary schooled apprentice, it must be recalled, is still judged by most patrons to perform much better than their non- schooled counterparts in workshop-related mathematical and reasoning tasks. It can be speculated that the prior mastery of problem- solving skills does provide an advantage in the acquisition of problem-posing competencies in the workplace.

Popular views of schooling for vocational achievement

According to the testimony of many educators and past and present primary school students, even the parent population seems to be increasingly sympathetic to the value of a primary education alone. As has been argued elsewhere (Jones, 1922; Foster, i 966; Heyneman, 1983), the alliance of schooling with practical work has not corn-

monly constituted a major concern of parents with children in primary school, except occasionally to oppose it. Traditionally, as has been explained, parents have demanded only that formal education provide the intellectual baggage necessary for their children to attain desk or other modern sector jobs. Although parental opposi- tion to the idea of schooling for pre-vocational training appears to persist, both teachers and students acknowledge that parents are increasingly eager that their children at least learn to read, write and calculate. A recent primary school leaver from Lataha explained:

Maintenant, mes parents comprennent h quoi r&:ole sert. Avant, ils eroyaient que e'6tait seulement pour trouver la ville. Mais maintenant, ils commencent/I comprendre que 1'6cole peut servir m6me si tuvas rester au village. Avant, si le maitre dit que renfant n'a pas la chance de continuer au Sixi6me, le p6re rel6ve le ills de 1'6cole. Maintenant, il dirait que le ills n'a qu'b. terminer le CM2; apprendre le frang:ais, lire, 6crire, ealculer.l'

The evolving sympathy for primary schooling in northern C6te d'Ivoire can generally be attributed to two complementary factors. First, with 'la Conjoncture' - - the national economic crisis that dates to the late 1970s - - there are increasingly fewer jobs available for those with secondary school training, greatly diminishing its economic value. Secondly, with more rural children becoming educated at primary school and staying at home (or returning after sometimes several years of looking for desk or other salaried employment in town), parents have the opportunity to benefit from their children's ability to negotiate with the 'modern' world, with the 'world of writing.' Par- ents are perceiving that the need for schooled skills is becoming increasingly important as the world becomes increasingly literary. The compan- ion of the boy from Lataha quoted above explained that his parents send him to sell their crops to the village cooperative and wholesale buyers as he alone in the family is able to verify the scales and to assure that all the paperwork is executed properly. When he first failed to gain entry to Sixi~me (the first year of secondary school), he reported, his parents were very disap- pointed. 'Mais maintenant, leurs coeurs se refroidissent e n v e r s 9a. '12

Behavior and attitudes The informal sector producers interviewed were

probably most articulate in their enumeration of the behaviors and attitudes that are fundamental to the successful mastery and execution of a profession. These quahties are necessary, though


surely not sufficient alone, for an individual to apply acquired technical skills in a productive, profitable manner. Having the knowledge and skill to repair an engine, sew a dress or install and maintain a village hand pump is virtually useless to the aspiring entrepreneur, the interviewed artisans declared, if the person does not possess the patience, discipline and persistence to apply the particular skill productively. A skilled artisan's talent is also wasted if he or she lacks the sociability and respect to attract clients and to work hard enough to be able to profit economically from the activity. As an apprentice, it is also important to possess a curiosity and openness that will motivate the young trainee to learn all that the patron has to teach, and more. The artisans generally claimed that these characteristics must be possessed innately by the young apprentices whom they train in their workshops.

The research revealed, though, that many informal sector producers do acknowledge that school can play a role in the development in students of certain of these characteristics. In particular, the group of producers, both schooled and non- schooled, believe that the experience of schooling as a controlled community activity contributes greatly to the development of a child's communication and overall social skills. Several mentioned that the schooled apprentice 'sait se comporter avec des 6trangers et accueillir des clients'. ~3 Daily, the student leaves the confines of the family compound to interact with classmates, teachers and any visitors in the formal, official setting of the school. They receive specific lessons on respect, cooperation and discipline in the cur- ricula for moral and civic education, reading and language. These behaviors are subsequently and continually reinforced in the routine of their daily school lives. Group tasks, including play, school clean-up and school cooperative activities such as the garden give the students constant practice in cooperating and collaborating with others. The assignment of homework and independent classroom assignments promotes the development of self-discipline and persistence. Teachers are present to assist the individual student in acquiring and applying these affective lessons in constructive ways, though they certainly also know and employ more immediate, persuasive, painful means to teach respect and the other attributes when they perceive that a student does not quite 'understand' them sufficiently well.

Notwithstanding this common admission, many artisans did still complain that the schooled

apprentice often fails to translate these characteristics into respect, diligence and patience in the context of the workshop. Having acquired these in a formal context, it may be speculated, they may feel these behaviors are not meant for the more 'lowly' jobs of the informal sector.

On the other hand, the experience of schooling in reality unfortunately often seems to serve to quell many of the positive attributes more frequently associated naturally with young children. These include such traits as curiosity, expressiveness and a voracious appetite to discover the world. While the school does develop the student's ability to communicate, it often incarcer- ates this ability with strict discipline and a forced respect. The national Education T~l~visuelle initiative of the 1970s was largely an attempt to emancipate the curiosity, creativity and expressiveness of the primary school student. A major criticism expressed by the secondary school professors receiving graduates from the televised schooling system was that the students were ill-disciplined and poorly behaved (Muskin, 1991; Sosoo, 1986; teacher interviews). The opinion of those reflecting back on the experience with over a decade of perspective claimed that what the professors censured was really the students' free expressiveness and creativity, both traits sought purposefully as central objectives of the televised education strategy.

Entrepreneurial spirit Business is perhaps the aspect of a skilled pro-

fession where the apprentice is least likely to receive adequate instruction in the operation of a workshop from the 'typical' patron. Evidence provided by the technical agents furnishing technical assistance to the informal sector in northern C6te d'Ivoire of the endemic absence of entrepreneurial acumen among the artisans and farmers (and much less so, the merchants) working in the region was as common as their admiration for the technical talents of this group as 'bricoleurs douOs; adept tinkers. The agents' description and observation revealed basic business survival skills in which many patrons demonstrate sufficient competence to train future artisans: calculating the amounts of materials required for a job: costing the job; maintaining a basic inventory; and communicating with customers, suppliers and apprentices. These skills are, for the most part, of a rudimentary, practical, passable nature that do not adequately equip the common apprentice for the more formal economic aspects of


operating a successful workshop in the modern- izing informal sector. These would include deci- sions such as inventory maintenance, business projections and business plans based on feasibil- ity analyses, the distribution of tasks among different workers, or other calculations related to the efficient operation and profitable evolution of a business.

The typical informal sector producer, the present research confirmed, possesses neither the basic ability to manage effectively the more complex economic aspects of an enterprise nor what might be referred to as an 'entrepreneurial spirit.'14 The absence of this 'spirit' is evident in the common satisfaction of the vast majority of the artisans interviewed with their present level of business operations. They were neither planning for future expansion of their operations, nor engaged in any efforts to expand their clientele. For those who did express aspirations to improve their present professional situation, the plan usually involved changing professions. There were a few notewor- thy exceptions to this characterization. In these cases, the entrepreneurial spirit was evident in the use of tactics such as advertising and using business cards, travelling to other regions and countries to learn new techniques, methods and products, and working collaboratively with other patrons, either as an employee or, in one case only, as joint owner-operators.

Due to the limited business acumen and orientation evident within the sector, the patron will also likely be incapable of guiding even a schooled apprentice in a purposeful, organized application of school-acquired knowledge and skills to the entrepreneurial tasks of the specific profession. Rather, as indicated above, it is usually the schooled apprentice who aids thepatron in routine business matters. As with technical skills, most patrons will only be able to convey practical, albeit occasionally ingenious and effective, solutions for business matters which they have learned or discovered through experience or from their former patron.

The skills of entrepreneurship have been shown to relate primarily to (i) the management of money and personnel, (ii) the rational organiza- tion of the different technical tasks associated with the business, and (iii) the creation and maintenance of a satisfactory clientele. In Crte d'Ivoire, at least the first two of these appear either directly or indirectly at school both in the classroom and in the extracurricular cooperative activities. Several lessons are devoted to the house- hold budget in the class $ducation familiale.

Mathematics is surely crucial to proper money management and provides a benefit in business that is widely proclaimed by virtually all those interviewed from the informal sector. Language class also offers occasions for learning about how a business should operate. Finally, the formal inclusion of school cooperatives as part of the primary education curriculum is meant precisely to give students an entrepreneurial experience, including marketing school-produced goods and maintaining a school treasury. Unfortunately, as is explained below, the reality of school instruction does not support the development of these entrepreneurial skills or spirit.

Schooling for work and family and community life

As indicated in the above analysis, Crte d'Ivoire's formal school program tends to have more of a stultifying than a dynamic effect on the innate curiosity, energy and enthusiasm of a child as relates to learning. ~s Students in the primary classroom succeed based on their ability to act as passive receptors of academic lessons. Passing from the primary school classes of the Cours Primaires (years one and two) to the Cours Moy- ens (years five and six) level, an observer is struck powerfully by the difference in the levels of energy and eagerness to learn and participate evident in the students. In all schools in the sample, when asked a question, the younger children almost catapulted from their chairs to compete for the teacher's attention, vigorously thrusting their arms at the apparent risk of launching these appendages into orbit. They seek the chance to respond with urgent cries of 'MoL Monsieur/ MoL monsieur!' After 6 to 9 years of indoctrina- tion within the primary education system, effectively the same students sit almost frightfully still and restrained in the CM2 class, waiting for a brave classmate to raise an arm and dare a reply to the teacher's question. They seem only to ask questions when it is absolutely necessary. Just as they acquire mathematical skills without learning how to apply them practically, it can be argued that they acquire communication skills without necessarily learning how to use these to learn more about and contribute to the world in which they live.

Already described, the typical patron generally enforces the same pedagogic method of passive acquisition of information that is used in the school classroom. Even more than with basic academic skills, though, there is little likelihood


that apatron will be able or interested to foster the development of behaviors and attitudes which their primary schooled apprentices either did not acquire or lost in the classroom. This observation refers maybe most prominently, though surely not exclusively, to the quality of curiosity. For the curious and ambitious, there is a positive motiva- tion to learn by whatever means possible so that one can surpass any obstacles and progress in one's occupation. As a practice, curiosity involves experimentation and the application of methods of analysis and critical evaluation. If an apprentice is not endowed with these attitudes and ambitions by school or at home, only the very rare patron will be capable and willing to help him or her to acquire these in the workplace.

The existing system of rote, repetitive education clearly does not provide a suitable context in which the qualities of independence and creativity can flourish. This may be fine for the factory worker or other formal sector employee 'man- ning' Lewis' (1954) surplus labor army, but not for the independent artisan and entrepreneur. Mid- dleton et al. (1993) identify as a major distinguish- ing characteristic between modern and informal sector workers the gamut of skills which each group must possess. Modern sector workers tend to be specialized, their skills being complemented by a diverse cohort of colleagues. In contrast, informal sector producers tend to have to master alone a full range of complementary knowledge and aptitudes, not just technical, but also entrepreneurial. It is equally incumbent that school- based education and workplace training prepare this sort of muiti-faceted, flexible worker.

In order to foster the set of behaviors and attitudes valued most highly by the artisans, merchants and farmers in the typical school leaver, a major adjustment of the management of the primary school classroom is recommended. Specifi- cally, a design and strategy for promoting self- expression, innovation and discovery, along with more conventional basic academic skills, is proposed here under the name 'Education for Inquiry'. The central purpose is to develop independent-thinking school leavers with sufficient academic skills, prepared equally as problem- solvers and problem-posers, ready to undertake professional learning in the workplace. This approach would involve, essentially, developing and assigning academic assignments and other school tasks that result in students' applying their natural characteristics that are presently constrained or, arguably, vanquished completely.

Cooperation among students and between students and their teachers (and other adults) is enticed and voluntary, not coerced. Communica- tion is an exchange of ideas, not simply the ability to speak French and to offer rote responses. Discipline is self-imposed, motivated by a valued goal, not enforced, motivated by the threat of la chicotte, the whip (the traditional instrument of corporal punishment). And curiosity is a love of learning that is encouraged and respected, not a lightning rod for discipline and, consequently, a trait that must be sublimated.

To develop this idea as a strategic option, it is proposed that the conventional lessons covered at the primary school level - - language, mathematics, science, social studies, etc. - - be developed in the formal curriculum in a manner that relates the associated skills and knowledge directly to practical, realistic situations, tasks and aspects of life in the students' home community. This could either be a 'discipline-based' curriculum, wherein for each academic discipline - - mathematics, language, etc. - - the lesson and associated problems and questions relate directly to the students' lives. This is the model that has been adopted, in a textual form, in the national Education et D~veloppement program. Alternatively, it could be a 'theme-based' curriculum, in which academic subjects are taught within a curriculum defined by life topics, such as 'Me', 'My Family', 'My Com- munity', or 'My Country'. This model is often associated with the UNESCO-sponsored Seti Project in Nepal. In both models, it is crucial that the associations with the community not be limited to a textual study. (These models are presented with sample elements of a related curriculum in the table below.) Rather, the students and teacher must get out of their classroom, pass through the school gates and live their assignments. This curriculum would only be out- lined by a textbook; its actual content (tasks, questions, answers) would ideally be prepared and discovered jointly by the teacher and students (Muskin, 1991, pp. 491-503).

CONCLUSION

The title of the present article ends with the question: 'Is there a role for primary schooling' in preparing the future occupants of the informal economic sector? The basis of this question, as hopefully demonstrated in the preceding text, is that formal schooling in C6te d'Ivoire (as in most


Table 1. Two models of education as enquiry

Theme-based curriculum Discipline-based curriculum

Me and my family Mathematics (e.g. counting cousins) Science (e.g. my body) Language (e.g. family history) Social studies (e.g. family geography)

My community Mathematics (e.g. census) Science (e.g. flora and fauna) Language (e.g. ethnic stories) Social studies (e.g. local maps)

My community's economy Mathematics (e.g. workshop calculations) Science (e.g. agriculture) Language (e.g. business transactions) Social studies (e.g. commerce/trade)

My country Mathematics (e.g. cities, population) Science (e.g. environment) Language (e.g. ethnic stories) Social studies (e.g. maps and history)

Mathematics Family (e.g. time for tasks) Community (e.g. number of services and buildings) Economy (e.g. agricultural production) Country (e.g. distances)

Science Family (e.g. nutrition) Community (e.g. waste and water management) Economy (e.g. productive technology) Country (e.g. topography, weather)

Language Family (e.g. genealogy) Community (e.g. cultural events and holidays) Economy (e.g. the marketplace) Country (e.g. news reports)

Social studies Family (e.g. family member roles) Community (e.g. local history) Economy (e.g. regional links) Country (e.g. civic rights and responsibilities)l

of sub-Saharan Africa, and much of the developing world) remains focused on preparing students for further formal studies and eventual participation in the formal sector of the economy. Such an orientation is clearly optimistic (not to say 'fan- ciful'). The informal sector has been seen by students and their parents as well as by educators, planners and policy makers to be the receptacle of the school system's failures: if you can't cut it academically, you either remain at home on the farm or learn a trade or engage in petty commerce. On the other hand, as demonstrated by the research in Korhogo, members of the informal sector tend not to perceive any meaningful con- tributions by formal schooling to the ability to perform in their trades. Schooling and the informal sector have remained, for all involved, two distinct, unrelated phenomena.

The present study of the informal sector trades in northern C6te d'Ivoire has demonstrated that, to the contrary, many of the skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary for successful mastery and performance as an artisan relate directly to basic academic skills. More importantly, the research has hopefully helped shed some light on how these academic-based characteristics contribute to an individual's economic performance. Basic, functional literacy is important in gaining access to further professional knowledge and it has also been shown to be key in the operation and

evolution of the trade as a business. Similarly, evidence has been provided of the essential roles mathematical skills play in the technical and entrepreneurial conduct of a trade. Traits and talents associated with sociability, creativity, discovery and confidence, that tend to be stifled in an apprenticeship setting, have a good chance of being developed in the.right academic setting and with programs designed and executed specifically to achieve this purpose. The principal barrier that exists between the present primary schooling system and the use of school-acquired skills, knowledge and attitudes in the informal workplace, it has been shown above, is that school lessons continue to be taught as rote, devoid of non-academic purpose and utility.

Participation in the informal sector (and on the farm), considering the present social and economic make-up of Crte d'Ivoire - - as well as of the rest of sub-Saharan Africa and the developing world - - must be a legitimate and deliberate outcome of the primary schooling process. Oth- erwise, the formal education system will continue to produce by design for failure. Education must have some other, more positive use.

In Crte d'Ivoire, an attempt has been made to redress this situation, using a model that has been adopted by many countries, generally with similar, unsatisfactory results. With the country's national program of Ecole et D~veloppement, the


government has made a strategic effort to relate the different lessons taught in primary school to the set of tasks the school leaver will perform upon entering the productive, mostly rural, sector. Yet, rather than an education in the use of knowledge and attitudes, the lvoirian primary school system has remained an education for the acquisition of knowledge and attitudes; albeit of an 'adapted' curriculum.

An education-for-use certainly requires the acquisition of both basic and practical skills and knowledge. However, it moves beyond the com- pilation of a sort of 'information and competencies catalogue' to provide a training that involves a functional initiation to the application of school- acquired skills, knowledge and attitudes to common work. This is a much more ambitious endeavor. It involves teaching students to apply their formal education, both knowledge and learning skills, to analogous, but previously unseen, tasks in the future. To improve the likelihood of eventual success by future primary school leavers in this transition, the challenge of the curriculum and teachers is to replicate as closely as possible the true nature of the future application in the classroom. For example, centimetres are not measured and added as an exercise in a workbook; a ruler and a wooden board replace the pen and paper. Grain or a bag of nails is weighed, plants are grown in different, experimental conditions, or an elder relates the history of the village.

An active learning process such as this, one that is based on problem-posing as well as problem- solving, that pushes students toward inquiry and discovery rather than memorization and rote, and thatpresents learning as a means, not an end, is critical to preparing competent, progressive future informal (and formal sector) producers and citi- zens. For most children, the ability to innovate and to reason in a professional (or another adult) productive context must be taught, or at least, fostered in an experiential manner. Consequently, as primary schooling offers the only opportunity to the vast majority of Ivoirians, and Africans, for a formal education, innovation and problem- solving must be included within the primary school program.

A large majority of the producers interviewed for the present study agreed that the techniques of their professions cannot be taught as theoretical subjects. Hands-on training and practice are the only ways to learn how to apply one's technical knowledge to actual performance. In the present paper, school-acquired basic skills, knowledge

and attitudes for production and for executing the other tasks of daily life have been observed to be tools for which practical training is similarly crucial. A patron is essential to the student in mak- ing the transition from textbook technical skills (reading about tools and machines) to their practical application in work. However, most patrons were found to be weak in common academic skills, as well as in the formal technical conventions of their occupation. They are, consequently, typically of little assistance in directing the apprentice to apply directly school-related abilities and characteristics to work. (In fact, many current vocational education and training initiatives in western Africa include some manner of formal training of these patrons as part of their overall strategy for the sector, e.g. the World Bank's VET (vocational education and training) projects in C6te d'Ivoire and Togo.) Rather, the individual apprentice is usually left alone to conceive and implement the rapport between the occupational task and the cognitive skills and other knowledge and attitudes acquired at school. The same autonomy is generally required as apprentices strive to employ more specific scientific knowledge or technical skills obtained at school in their work. Yet, based on an evaluation of the Ivoirian primary school conducted as part of the research program, it seemed doubtful that most schooled apprentices would be able to construct this bridge between theory and practice on their own. More likely, they would learn from the patron how to get by without these skills and knowledge, becoming a new generation of bricoleurs, tinkers. Primary schooling can serve as an important complement to other informal sector improvement efforts to help prevent the perpetu- ation of this cycle.

NOTES

1. The critique of conventional, academic schoohng is widely developed both in the scholarly literature (cf. Eisemon and Schwille, 1989; Fagerlind and Saha, 1983; Muskin, 1991; Rathgeber, n.d.) and perhaps even more commonly in policy, planning and evaluation documents prepared at the national and the international levels.

2. Author's translation: 'It will be a matter of changing the relations between schooling and life, between children and their teachers, between the school and the students' parents, in such a way as to adapt schooling to the local context' (emphasis added).

3. The majority of those interviewed were artisans. The specific distribution of professionals interviewed was: carpenters (six individuals); electricians (three); farmers (nine):


builders (one); mechanics (five); merchants (nine); metal workers (five); and tailors (four).

4. in some workshops, more than one apprentice was surveyed, in others, none. In most cases, though, there was a one-and-one match. The average number of apprentices per workshop was 3.3, with a standard deviation of 3.0, these figures varying greatly between professional areas, as is shown later in this article.

5. This observation can also be made for many formal vocational training programs in Africa (and even more broadly in many developing countries), criticized for being 'supply-driven'; that is, for creating graduates that meet some theoretical set of professional standards but do not suit the practical, functional demands of the employment sector.

6. This body of research harks back primarily to Foster's (1966) vastly influential thesis concerning the so-called 'vocational schooling fallacy'. The related research presents arguments based on both quantitative economic research (e.g. rates of return and production functions) and on more qualitative accounts of employer views and observations With this evidence, the literature concludes that neither of the two major objectives of vocational education and training (VET) are truly met: increased productivity (generally represented by an employee's wage), and improved attitudes and attraction toward manual and skilled labor. Rather, the research typically posits, VET tends to be more costly, particularly using a per student calculation, and tess effective in preparing students for specific jobs. In contrast, quality academic education appears to prepare students better for skilled, technical work than does pre-service vocational training. This conclusion is echoed in the recent World Bank pub- lication by Middleton et al. (1993). However, they present a crucial nuance, that they repeat several times, the true significance of which even they seem not to appreciate fully. They make the very simple-sounding observation that evidence shows that vocational skills training does, in fact. contribute more strongly to job productivity than does a strictly academic education in those situations where jobs closely related to the particular skills are readily available to VET graduates. Although they acknowledge frequently this demand side of the training-productivity equation, they tend to dismiss it when they move from the analysis to conclusions regarding policy and action, basically echoing the notions voiced by the greater body of research. Apparently, this group of vocational education researchers tends to feel that the labor demand question falls beyond the purview of education policy and decision makers. (The only common exception is the manpower forecasting and planning research, which has been largely criticized as inaccurate and untenable (cf. Davis, 1980; Blaug; 1992; Psacharopoulos, 1978).) The argument offered here may be dubbed the 'fallacy of the vocational schooling fallacy'.

7. For example, enterprises that pay taxes are often automatically identified as falling within the formal sector. This criterion did not hold for the present study in Korhogo, where tax and registration fee collection was well-organized even for informal sector activities. Rather, factors such as level of technology, access to credit, level of training and business practices seemed much more pertinent in assigning artisans to one sector or another for the present study.

8. Mobylettes, or mopeds, are perhaps the most common means of motorized transportation for the population.

9. No women electricians were encountered or identified in the study as operating within this vocation.

10. This discussion relies upon confidence in the use of cross-secttonal statistical studies. Some of the concerns regarding this technique of analysis are treated in the discussion of work in the area of literacy retention by Simmons (1976).

11. Author's translation: 'Now, my parents understand what schooling is for. Before, they thought that it was just a way to end up in the city. But now, they're beginning to understand that schooling can be useful even if you're going to stay in the village. Before, if the teacher says that the child has no chance of reaching secondary school, the father removes his son from the school. Now, he would say that the boy should just finish CM2; learn French, to read, to write, to calculate.'

12. Author's translation: 'But now, their hearts have cooled down about that.'

13. Author's translation: 'knows how to behave toward strangers and how to greet clients.'

14. One high-ranking school administrator in Korhogo defended this observation by referring to the tendency of commerce in the area, as in much of the country, to be controlled by foreigners (mostly Senegalese and Mauritanians). This observation is also made by Tour6 (1985).

15. Many, if not most, educators and education researchers and critics will appreciate that this characterization can be generalized across sub-Saharan Africa, as well as to most of the developing and developed world (e.g. Heneveld, 1994, p. 3; Lockheed et al., 1990, p. 4).

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