SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND MATHEMATICS - THE PROBLEM OF DEVELOPING CRITICAL HUMAN-CAPITAL IN AFRICA

Since independence in the late 1950s and the 1960s, African countries have made significant efforts toward the development of their scientif ic and technological humanpower. This effort is exemplified most in cu rriculum development in school science, technology and mathematics. Al so, concerted attempt has been made towards policy formulation and imp lementation. However, due to various socio-economic factors, African s tates have not been able to achieve the goal of self-reliance with res pect to scientific and technological humanpower development. The focus of this paper is to identify some of these factors, highlight their i mplications, as well as to suggest measures to ameliorate their overal l negative effect. Lastly, possible areas for future research are iden tified. The aim of such research endeavours is to collect baseline dat a for planning and decision-making with respect to human capital devel opment in African countries.