Article for Publication

In partial fulfilment of MA: International Relations

University of Pretoria

Jacob Mahlangu

14061912

Co-Author (Supervisor): Dr. Mabutho Shangase

Title:

Mitigating the impact of neoliberalism: the case of

education in Rwanda

November 2019
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Postal Address:

P.O Box 3725

Kwaggafontein

0458

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Table of Contents

Abstract………………………………………………………………………………………1

1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………...…………..3

2. The concept of neoliberalism……………………………………………………………4

3. Neoliberalism in Africa…………………………………………………………………...6

4. The neoliberal education system……………………………………………………….9

5. The case of education in

Rwanda……………………………………………………..13

6. Recommendations………………………………………………………………………15

7. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….19

Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………...21

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Mitigating the Reaches of Neoliberal Ideology in Education: Private Schooling in
Rwanda
Mabutho Shangase and Jacob Mahlangu

Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria, South Africa.

Abstract

The education sector provides an opportunity and space in which African countries

could assert themselves in mitigating the reach of neoliberal ideas from at least the

vantage points of improving state ownership and influencing curriculum design.

Arguments on African countries having a potential to delink from or defy their

integration in the West dominated neoliberal global economy are misleading and

unrealistic. The resilience of neoliberal ideology and the material and ideational

dominance of the West will continue to prove that no African country is currently in a

position to single-handedly delink from the highly integrated global economy.

Nonetheless, African countries should still be able to identify policy areas where the

impact of neoliberalism could, to some extent be curbed. The improvements in the

public education system and the decline in the enrolment in private education in

Rwanda herein present an empirical case that neoliberal ideas can successfully be

reined in.

Employing secondary sources and content analysis methodology, this paper uses

official government reports and media articles to track the trajectory of government

intervention in the education system in Rwanda and the subsequent decline in

subscription in private schooling in this case study.

This research paper reveals that the state has huge potential of achieving desired

political outcomes in areas where it enjoys total control provided it departs with a

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vision and clear-sightedness in terms of ideology, effective policy implementation

and management. Thus identification of specific areas of intervention such as in the

public education system where realistic goals can be set is critical in countervailing

the neoliberal ideology. Improvements in the public education system in Rwanda

provides a compelling case whereby citizens are able to access better quality

education at no cost and accordingly releasing private funds and savings for use in

other areas of bettering lives.

Key words: Neoliberal ideology; Education system; Rwanda; State intervention.

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 1. Introduction

The neoliberal ideology has been a dominant discourse in the international political

economy, and it has been obligating countries to liberalise, privatise state-owned

enterprises, deregulate finance, trade and the market, encourage competitiveness,

limit state intervention in private affairs of individuals and to also protect private

property rights through using the agents of the state, such as the military or the

police. The paradigm came in the form of structural adjustment programmes in

African countries, which pressed these countries to reform their domestic policies to

meet the international required standard and adopt a Western-centric approach

when dealing with socio-economic issues within their own territory. The obligation of

considering the Western world as the main ‘epistemic communities’ was based on

the issue of conditionality for financial aid, funds and other assistance that

multilateral institutions offered to the African countries when they were facing a

financial disaster in the 1970s. Therefore, in order to become members or

signatories of the ‘Washington Consensus’ trio of organisations such as the World

Trade Organisation, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, African

countries had to reform their domestic economic policies in support of neoliberalism

and good governance. The structural adjustment programmes have been replaced

by Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers.

The paper focuses on how the influence of the neoliberal paradigm could be

mitigated. The impossibility of the paradigm being completely replaced or eradicated

has opened a way to look for methods in which it could be reduced, particularly in

those areas or sectors where the extended hand of the market excludes the

disadvantaged while it is crucial for them to have access to or possess the service.

In this particular case, the paper examines the education sector of Rwanda. The

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paper investigates how the government of the country has made efforts to make its

education sector remain under its control instead of transitioning it into a private

good. Due to the history of the country, discrimination and exclusion have been the

cornerstone of promoting fee-free education. The paper suggests that, although the

neoliberal paradigm perpetuates, is embedded and persistent; continuous attempts

at fighting it is possible and in order for social justice to be fully realised, alternative

paradigms are needed to cater for the excluded, poor, disadvantaged, marginalised,

suppressed, discriminated against and oppressed.

2. The concept of neoliberalism

Neoliberalism is considered to be a policy paradigm that is transnational, linking

economic policy ideas to political programs aiming at improving market economies in

the developing and developed worlds (Orenstein and Appel 2016: 313).

Neoliberalism has turned into a hegemonic and powerful model for what Sheppard et

al. (2007) refers to as governance of ‘best practice’ reshaping itself from the

perspective of its earlier proponent called Friedrick Hayek, to become the discourse

and practice of every day. Ferguson (2009: 170) cites Peck (2008) stating that

Neoliberalism is a ‘true-ism’ for the current doctrine of macroeconomy; the doctrine’s

key elements are: the acceptance and validation of private enterprises, a negative,

suspicious and opposing attitude towards the state’s intervention in the market,

passion and support for ‘free-markets’ and deregulation. Neoliberalism refers to

processes and policies whereby a relatively small amount of private interests is

allowed to determine social life to maximally gain personal profit (Chomsky and

McChesney 1999: 7).

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Neoliberal ideas suddenly dominated economic thinking after the failure of

Keynesian economics and the oil crisis and shocks of the 1970s (Orenstein and

Appel 2016). Neoliberalism is initially associated with Thatcher and Reagan, for two

decades that have passed (now three), it has been and still is a trend that is

dominant in the global political economy and has been adopted by political parties of

the traditional left, the right, as well as the center (Chomsky and McChesney 1999:

7). According to Rodrik (2002) countries that have adopted the agenda of the

‘Washington Consensus’ (which has neoliberal recommendations) have been facing

‘deep economic insecurity’ and ‘income inequalities’. Neoliberal ideas are anti-

Keynesian and anti-statist, they stem from Friedrich Hayek and the economic theory

of monetarism by the economics department of the University of Chicago and Milton

Friedman (Orenstein and Appel 2016). The emphasis posed by the ‘Chicago school’

was based on markets having to determine the distribution and value of resources;

for markets to do this freely, the school discouraged intervention by the government

in the markets except when the reason is to ensure that markets were functioning

properly (for example, protecting property rights, enforcing contracts, and ensuring

physical safety) (Orenstein and Appel 2016).

In generality there are five features considered central to the pursuit of neoliberalism,

such as: enterprises owned by the state being privatised as this is deemed as a

correct way to stimulate the efficiency of the market and to also ensure that market

forces are encouraged; believing that the market is efficient in resource allocation

and to the encouragement of economic development; cutting expenditures of the

state in terms of provisions of social welfare; an ideological denouncement on

collectivism and replacing it with the economic individualism value (Herod and Aguiar

2006: 3).

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According to Harvey (2007) Neoliberalism above everything else is a project aimed

at the restoration of class dominance; although the effectiveness of neoliberalism as

an economic growth engine has been limited, it has achieved in directing wealth from

classes that are subordinate to dominant ones, and also from poorer countries to rich

countries.

3. Neoliberalism in Africa

Neo-liberalisation has spread across the globe like a tidal wave of discursive

adjustment and institutional reform (Harvey 2007: 2). Although evidence indicates

that the paradigm’s development has been uneven geographically, there is no place

which can attest to its ‘total immunity’ (Harvey 2007: 2). Neoliberalism has a clear

genesis of intellectualism; however, it impacts different places in various ways;

neoliberalism today has become a dominant ideology shaping our world, as well as

dictating government policies and the actions of key international institutions such as

the World Trade Organisation (WTO), International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the

World Bank (Saad-Filho and Johnston n.d).

According to Harrison (2005) the Berg report’s analysis of the economic problems

facing Africa revealed that their failed economies were due to the inefficiency and

excessiveness of the intervention of the state in the economy. The African continent

received neoliberalism through the IMF and World Bank-sponsored Structural

Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) (Harrison 2005: 130 8). This serves as part of

the reason why the African continent finds it impossible to delink from the neoliberal

paradigm, as Harrison (2005: 1308) further elaborates that even though the SAPs

were not identical, they possessed a core agenda of a neoliberal kind, strengthened

by conditionalities when lending. The programmes of adjustment maintained their

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status core of development thinking in the 1980s while the continent’s debt grew and

International Financial Institutions branding themselves as auditors and paymasters

of policy- making for development for most African countries (Harrison 2005: 1308).

For the last three decades, the neoliberal paradigm has been a ‘free market’

synthesis for economies; furthermore, considering Africa, neoliberalism has been a

dominant force in the continent (Carmody 2007: 1). African issues of conflict and

poverty have deepened during this time, rather than being alleviated (Carmody 2007:

1). Neoliberal scholars and proponents diagnose the cause of economic problems

facing Africa as being too much involvement by a state’s government for the

purposes of protectionism (Bond and Dor 2003: 3). Another cause has been

restrictive methods regarding free trade, which further undermined meaningful

participation in the global economy by the people of Africa (Bond and Dor 2003: 3).

The opponents of globalisation and neoliberalism argue that it’s only through the

involvement of the government in the economy and a successful attempt at delinking

from globalisation by African countries can there be an occurrence of real

development (Bond and Dor 2003: 3). Such a perspective has been proposed by

thinkers such as Samir Amin by utilising the dependency theory; the perspective

asserts that the reasons for the failure of development efforts in Africa is due to:

Africa’s dependence on the West and exploitation which is systemic in nature

through lending practices that are predatory, terms of trade considered to be unfair,

manipulations of the exchange rate and the capital market, and neo-colonialism

(Bond and Dor 2003: 3). Apart from the Structural Adjustment Programs being the

solution by the West to the third world, recent solutions have prevailed such as the

New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) which was launched in 2001;

furthermore, the IMF and the World Bank have been promoting ‘Poverty Reduction

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Strategy Papers’ since the year 1999 (Bond & Dor 2003: 1). NEPAD has been

known to support the Bretton woods’ institutional role as well as the WTO’s in Africa,

although it is advertised as being ‘homegrown’ (Bond & Dor 2003: 1). To support this

line of argument Owusu (2003) asserts that the global attention received by NEPAD

is due to its ideas of Western development embracement together with the changes

in the international political economy that are more acceptable of ideas of a reformist

nature.

Unlike the complete delinking from the global economy as thinkers like Samir Amin

would’ve suggested, the paper argues that detaching from the global economy would

be impossible for African countries. This is due to the nature of the global neoliberal

economy being interconnected and due to the continent’s dependence on foreign

aid, trade and membership to (signatories to) International Financial Institutions such

as the World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, the World bank and

etc. To support this argument. Bryer (2016) due to the need for financial aid, funds

and loans by African countries (as they were facing poor and unfavourable economic

conditions) they were left with no choice but to accept the requirements that

accompanied their membership into these institutions. However, the paper argues

that there is a possibility for African countries to mitigate the influence of

neoliberalism on a sectoral level within their territorial/domestic affairs; the paper

takes the education sector of Rwanda as an example for such an attempt.

4. The neoliberal education system

According to Basu (2004: 621) the logic behind restructuring was motivated by an

experienced need to enhance the efficiency of the public sector while performing

cost reductions and at the same time by the need to have educational standards

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increased, ensuring accountability, and the improvement of outcomes for the

purposes of remaining competitive globally in a market economy that is knowledge-

based. The capitalist economy rapidly spread because of globalisation, which led to

decentralization and privatisation, and the principles of neoliberalism becoming

increasingly evident in public sector regulation and planning (Basu 2004: 621). To

elaborate the impact of neoliberalism in education Basu (2004: 621) refers to the

‘Klein revolution’ to argue that the changes which came about included: the role of

the government being downsized in the economy, with debt reduction and

aggressive deficit; furthermore, it led to the discreditation and destruction of the

instititutions which were collectivist and also those which were Keynesian Welfarist

(Basu 2004: 621).

In a neoliberal education system, using a structure of appropriation, private profit is

acquired: this means those who cannot afford it are excluded from obtaining it

(Rosskam and Hill 2009; McMurty 1991: 212). The more the accumulation of

education by a private corporation the more the exclusion is prevalent and felt; this is

what makes it ‘private’ (Rosskam and Hill 2009; McMurty 1991: 212). However, he

contests that education is not fit to be acquired in a neoliberal structure of

accumulation, therefore, it is not meant to have others excluded from possessing it;

in fact, for education to be expand even further it needs to be shared (Rosskam and

Hill 2009; McMurty 1991: 212). Rosskam and Hill (2009) argue that instead of a

neoliberal reform in education, education is rather an area that requires governance

by an over-compensating and over-involved state; this is because such would

ensure its successful regulation and enforcement, and equity concerning education

provider’s terms of work and conditions (preventing ‘creaming’ off workers to the

private sector), and lastly the availability and ease of its accessibility, leaving those

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who cannot attend private institutions to at least attend poor quality schools instead

of without access at all.

According to Connell (2013: 100) The neoliberal agenda’s rise in its economic,

political and cultural spheres have powerfully affected education; He argues that the

commodification of education is impossible, however, the issue is that ‘access to

education’ can be. Universities and schools have been redefined by a neoliberal lens

and they now represent and have reformed to operate like firms, with the feature of

competition (in terms of tests), and pressuring public funds to expand for private

schools (Connell 2013: 100). Performative pressures have also been placed on

teachers further increasing insecurity in its workforce (Connell 2013: 100).

The orthodox view shared by various economists about education has been that the

government is the most responsible for its provision and in the supply of its services

(Coclough 1996: 589). The new group of critics who are neoliberal fanatics argue

that the systems of education existent in developing countries should be directly

financed by private households, considering the circumstances of finance facing

governments in the South. Coclough (1996: 589) mentions the benefits that come

with education if it were provided by the public sector and why it should be, such as:

‘Externalities’, explained as those benefits which accrue not only to the recipients of

education but to the whole society; Equity, most people would have access to

education as it would be provided for at a level that makes it easier to attain instead

of privately purchasing it, which excludes poorest people; Decreasing costs, if the

public sector provides for education it would not have to worry about market failures

therefore when markets fail education would not be economically affected if provided

for by the public sector and other many advantages.

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Across the globe but more witnessed in North America the neoliberal project has

been attacking public education due to its market size; for example, global

expenditure on education has been more than $1 trillion (Gibson and Ross 2006).

Another reason has been that education has been considered as central to the

economy, and lastly, if education achieves to produce citizens who are critical

thinkers for a society of a democratic nature so as to potentially challenge corporate

globalisation when the time comes (Gibson and Ross 2006; Kuehn 1999).

According to Kandiko (2010: 153) and Ball (1998) neoliberalism has within higher

education encompassed market ideologies; economics of new institutionalism

inspired by entrepreneurialism and cost-recovery; new managerialism and

accountability. The managerialism of neoliberalism concerning higher education is

related to the commercialisation of universities and their cost-cutting (Kandiko 2010:

153; Bauman 1997; Deem 1998; Miller 1995). Around the world, the agenda of

neoliberalism is leading to a decrease in the funding of public services; in the case of

education, the agenda tries to have public control weakened while at the same time

promoting a greater reliance of education on market forces and privatisation

(Kandiko 2010: 153; Berman 2003: 253). Since the reconfiguration and shift in the

relations between society, private enterprise and the government with social and

economic policies, institutions which were considered to be public such as the

hospitals and schools (previously promoted as important for collective well-being)

were repositioned as part of the market under the neoliberalism (Bansel and Davies

2007: 254). Within this perspective and notion health and education are not deemed

as special or to be of a different kind but rather, as products and services just like

any other, to be bought or sold in the market place (Bansel and Davies 2007: 254;

Peters 1999: 2). The management of technologies under neoliberalism included

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more exposure to competition, more measures of accountability, and goals guiding

performance of implementations (Bansel and Davies 2007: 254).

The neoliberal ideology creates a risk society where ‘chasing credentials’ becomes

the primary aim that young people pursue; they do so in the hopes of securing their

future workplaces or further education (Carter and Lakes 2011: 108; Jackson and

Bisset 2005: 196). When an individual fail in such a society, the failure is considered

of being their own fault; furthermore, whatever befalls an individual in the education

process, they are expected to take full accountability (Carter and Lakes 2011: 108;

Wilson 2007: 97). Citing Apple (2006) and Hursh (2007) Carter and Lakes (2011:

108) argue that the sole purpose of neoliberal reformers is to turn the systems of

education into markets and to have public services privatised as much as possible.

When it comes to education, neoliberal thinkers are guided by the idea of a weak

state, in simple terms, everything that is public is bad and everything that is private is

good (Apple n.d). One kind of rationality is deemed to be the mightiest than any

other, which is economic rationality; an ‘ethic’ utilised in the analysis of cost and

benefit and efficiency (norms considered as dominant) (Apple n.d). Such a vision

positions and treats students as human capital; in justification, neoliberals argue that

students are future workers while the world is economically competitive, therefore,

students should receive skills that are requisite and be equipped with capabilities

that will enable them to compete effectively and efficiently (Apple n.d).

5. The case of education in Rwanda

According to Rwanda Civil Society Platform (2014) education has been considered

to be an enabler and insurer of citizens (be it boys, girls and, men and women) to

have their potential fully realised; it has been noted to be a fundamental human right.

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By far education has made a change that is significant in terms of its contribution to

the country’s democratisation; access to education has also tremendously increased

(Rwanda Civil Society Platform 2014). In the current era, a Rwandan born child can

expect to at least be guaranteed nine-year minimum period of basic education, with

six of those years spent at primary schooling and the remaining three at secondary

schooling (Rwanda Civil Society Platform 2014). This radical improvement has been

accompanied by the number of children at the primary school level in Rwanda

doubling; when it comes to the secondary level schooling the number has increased

nine times, and seventeen times regarding those who are attaining higher education

(Rwanda Civil Society Platform 2014). The only obstacle between a student and their

education is no longer based on whether a student can afford to pay their fees but

rather on their performance and hard-work; the Rwandan government has expanded

its expenditure on education at an unprecedented and faster rate in order to match

the country’s economic growth rate (Rwandan Civil Society Platform 2014).

According to Williams, Abbot and Mupenzi (2014) fees in Rwanda’s public sector

were abolished in the year 2003; the funding of schools is structured in a sense that

the finance ministry of the country directly administers funds to head teachers.

However, the road towards a complete fee-free education policy success in the

country has not been fully realised. In some way or the other, there are funds

required from households in the country despite the public sector contribution. This

then illustrates how the impact of neoliberalism in any sector or department leaves

traces of its effects and also its remnants which persist into the future. Williams,

Abbot and Mupenzi (2014) argue that there is direct financial payment made by

parents through the contribution of the PTA which stands for ‘Parent Teacher

Association’. Although these financial contributions are voluntary and non-obligatory,

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in areas where the contributions have been high, teachers tend to gravitate towards

that direction than from those with a lower PTA contribution (Williams, Abbot and

Mupenzi 2014).

The Republic of Rwanda’s Ministry of Education’s 2003 paper called ‘Education

Sector Policy’ states on its ‘Preamble’ that: Rwanda currently finds itself in the same

predicament faced by a lot of other countries in regards to achieving and

strengthening its commitment to ‘international development targets’, such as,

Education for All (EFA) and Universal Primary education (Republic of Rwanda 2003).

The Rwandan government aims to fit its education system to the guidelines outlined

in the Poverty Reduction Strategy, the Information and Communications Technology

policy, the Decentralisation policy and the Vision 2020 (Republic of Rwanda 2003).

In its introduction, the paper states that: education is an important tool in ensuring

that all ‘Rwandanese citizens’- boys and girls, women and men fully explore and

utilize their potential (Republic of Rwanda 2003).

The access to education has increased greatly in the country of Rwanda, with a

notable increase particularly at the lower primary; this is according to the Study of

the World Bank conducted in the year 2018 in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA),

categorising the country an ‘emerged’ one (The World Bank n.d). According to

McNaught, Wulsin and Bridgeland (2009) in the Rwandan budget, education

accounts for 27% of its expenditure; making it the largest area of government

spending, therefore, affirming the government’s commitment in increasing its

availability to its citizens. Despite the education system disruption caused by the

genocide that took place in 1994; there has been a positive reporting on the people

of Rwanda receiving a better profile regarding their education and their contribution

to the country’s workforce in the year 2000 than in 1991 (McNaught, Wulsin and

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Bridgeland 2009). In order to make it possible for Rwanda to be become competitive

globally, the development strategy enacted by its government has been based on

improving the country’s human capital by using education as the main tool to be

utilised in equipping its citizens with the necessary requisite skills (McNaught, Wulsin

and Bridgeland 2009). The policymakers of Rwanda regard its central goal to be the

making of Universal primary education possible by domestically providing every child

within its borders with primary education (McNaught, Wulsin and Bridgeland 2009).

According to Williams (2016: 2) there has been recognition received by the

government of Rwanda for its commitment of increasing access to education for all

young people; furthermore, the government of the country which is considered to be

post-genocide has made significant commitments to changes, from the focus of the

country being based on subsistence agricultural farming to a market-oriented and

knowledge-based society. In this new perspective of looking at the country, the

government has noted that these broader aims and features constitute of the need

for the centrality of formal education (Williams 2016: 3). According to Obura (n.d) it

would be a failure to describe the experience of childhood and education without

considering the history of Rwanda; there has been a disequilibrium in the social

groups, with others being excluded from school. They were excluded on the grounds

of their identity and social group; however, in the current era, Rwanda is proving that

there is a unique role that education for all plays (Obura n.d).

6. Recommendations

 More State involvement in individual affairs

Although the State has been known for trampling human rights whenever it has

unlimited or unrestricted access and control in people’s private lives (based on the

15
value of collectivism); there is still however, a manner in which the state can get

involved in a positive light and aspect. The state would ensure that those who feel

excluded, separated and isolated by the neoliberal paradigm since they cannot

participate in the market, due to a lack of income and jobs- are taken care of and

provided for. This means that the state would operate economically to decrease the

gap between the wealthy and the poor. The state would also ensure that social

justice is taken into account. The neoliberal setting in a state would also be under

scrutiny, whenever it attempts to exploit people as consumers or workers in

Transnational Corporations or universities, and individuals in their own personal

capacity would see the necessity of the state’s involvement in their private affairs.

This is of course, as long as the State does not abuse its power through its organs,

and if only its involvement is based on the protection of- and realisation of human

rights, personal growth and development.

 Taking into account that universal goals are counter-neoliberal

Universal goals and declarations are mostly counter-neoliberal in nature. Goals such

as ending poverty, reducing hunger, increasing access to education, reducing

inequalities and more as noted in the Millennium Development Goals and the

Sustainable Development Goals by the Multilateral institution called the United

Nation. By taking this into account, the dominant neoliberal discourse is

automatically noted to be clearly working against these goals and therefore, although

the paradigm is advocated for by developed countries, if they are to fully realise the

universal goals they are aiming for, then it is clear they should join forces with

developing countries in fighting the paradigm. If these Universal goals are to become

a success, whenever there is an interaction between the developed countries and

the developing countries, it should be based on economic growth, development,

16
improvement, infrastructure advancement, agricultural nourishment, fair terms of

trade, allow the sovereignty of the state in question to rule over foreign investment,

transnational corporations and its own currency, develop its own Acts, Ethics and

conventions so as not to get exploited by the West. Furthermore, the Western world

should support the struggles faced by developing countries and offer these countries

debt relief instead of forcing conditionality to promote Western values of good

governance, neoliberalism democracy.

 Replacing the neoliberal paradigm with alternative African paradigms

Although the neoliberal paradigm is a subset of capitalism, which means that it is an

economic paradigm. There are non-economic paradigms which are based on values,

beliefs, systems and symbols of the African continent which can replace the

paradigm. These paradigms would have to be remodelled, expanded, patterned,

synchronized and reshaped to fit an economic narrative of mechanism and

functioning. Some of these paradigms have already served an economic purpose

before, such as the African Renaissance which advocates for the correct

interpretation of the African history instead of receiving it from imperialist nations who

only tell the past to keep their hegemony present in the present and also for future

purposes. Therefore, such paradigms have made an economic contribution in the

arts, music, museums, education (in terms of curriculum transformation and

linguistics) and also medicine. Other alternative African paradigms include ‘Ubuntu’,

‘Afrocentricity’ and ‘Pan-Africanism’. These paradigms differ from those that seek to

reinstitute their authority based on critiquing the dominant paradigm such as the

dependency theory, structuralism, post-modernism and feminism, in a manner that

they do not diagnose what is wrong with the current dominant discourse; they rather

17
entirely and creatively come up with their own suggestions on how societal affairs

could be conducted.

 Autonomy for policy and decision makers

The manner in which policies are made in developing countries includes the study of

social learning. This means that the policy decision making process takes the form of

a hierarchical structure, and non-state actors such as International Financial

Institutions have a say on the input of the policy and its agenda setting. Policy

makers have little control in what goes into the policy as they have already received

a clear directive from external or exogenous forces. These policies end up not being

a response to the socio-economic issues faced by the country but rather a response

to the adherence of international requirements and standards. There would be

flexibility if policy makers were to become their own ‘epistemic communities’, as they

would be able to make their policies reflect direct political and economic issues faced

by their constituents or populace. As things stand, there is almost no relation

between the policies made by decision makers and the problems faced by the

country. Issues are left unaddressed and in place of that, international obeisance

takes centre stage.

 Increased public participation in policy making

The consultations made with the International Community in the formulation of

policies could also be applied to domestic citizens of the country. Such an action is

called recall and referendums, where political leaders collect opinions of citizens who

put them in power or whom they represent- on a grassroots level by visiting

communities. This is essential since communities differ in their needs and wants and

therefore a one-size-fits-all strategy/approach in policy-making is misleading. This

18
ensures that the government and the state is well informed on what is expected of it

by the citizen of the country. Such a perception of the state by the individuals of the

country erases the bad viewpoint that the citizens have about the state’s involvement

in their affairs, as they would be confident that the state is acting in their best

interest. A state that acts as a servant to its citizens is more likely to aggregate

differing opinions of its population with an intention to come up with solutions to a

wide range of and various problems. This of course challenges the neoliberal outlook

of perceiving a state, as the paradigm perceives the state to be invasive of private

privileges and suggests that the state should be kept at bay.

7. Conclusion

Neoliberalism is an ideology which is most promoted by right-wing political parties

who believe and hold liberty in their highest regard. It supports privatisation of state-

owned enterprises, liberalising countries for trade and finance, deregulation,

protection of privately owned property, the free markets, and limited state

intervention in an individual’s private affairs. African countries were obligated to

reform their policies and adopt the paradigm decades ago, as a prerequisite to

receiving loans and financial aid from the ‘Washington Consensus’ trio of

organisations, called the International Monetary Fund, the World Trade Organisation,

and the World Bank. The reform of African policies came in the form of structural

adjustment programmes which are now called Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers.

The paper sought to explore how the influence of the neoliberal paradigm could be

mitigated on a sectoral level; for example, in education. The paper concludes that it

is impossible for the African continent to completely delink from the neoliberal

paradigm due to conditionality and being signatories to the International Financial

Institutions. Furthermore, the continent is interdependent and connected to the

19
global economy. However, there is a possibility to reduce its influence on a sectoral

level. To illustrate this point, the paper utilised a case study of Rwanda’s fee-free

education policy, whereas those who would be excluded in a neoliberal paradigm

from education are now included and almost all young people have access to

education. Although the policy is not perfect as there are still some funds expected

from households, the statistics of school enrolment in the country are high, and

personal payments or financial contributions are not compulsory. Rwanda in this

aspect serves as the best example in how neoliberalism could be curbed at a

sectoral level. Through incremental changes such as this, the paradigm could be

replaced by other alternative African paradigms such as Afrocentricity, Ubuntu, Pan-

Africanism and African Renaissance. Solutions provided for by the paper include:

increasing public participation in the policy making process, giving policy makers

more autonomy and flexibility, replacing the neoliberal paradigm with alternative

African paradigms, taking into account that universal goals are counter-neoliberal

and lastly, more State involvement in individual affairs.

20
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