The study circle concept has proved to be a useful tool in development initiatives in Africa. In September 2004, the Swedish Cooperative Centre Regional Office for Southern Africa (SCC ROSA) organised a regional study circle workshop in Nyanga, Zimbabwe, which provided an opportunity for SCC, its partners and Studieförbundet Vuxenskolan (SV) from Sweden to share experiences in the implementation and management of study circle activities.
42 participants from 15 SCC partner organisations and projects in Eastern and Southern Africa, SV and SCC participated in the workshop, which was organised by our Regional Study Circle Resource Centre (RSCRC). The RSCRC is a unit recently set up by SCC ROSA to provide technical support and back-stopping services to its partners, mainly in the production of study material and building of capacity among partners to effectively plan, implement and manage study circle work. A Study Circle Material Development Officer, Salome Nakazwe (SNakazwe@sccfo.org.zm) has now been engaged by SCC to coordinate the production of quality study material by SCC partners in the region and she will collaborate with Marie Widengård, a Development Worker from Forum Syd who will be stationed in Lusaka from mid November this year.
The workshop was preceded by an internal assessment of study circle activities in Eastern and Southern Africa, and deliberations centered on the assessment report that was presented by SCC. Among other conclusions, the assessment revealed that although partners had produced a lot of study circle materials, there was need to standardize these, revise some of the old materials and translate into local languages. The full list of the study materials that have been produced so far will soon be available on the SCC ROSA website; www.sccrosa.org or www.sccrosa.se.
During the workshop, the major accomplishments, challenges and lessons learnt in implementing study circle activities were discussed and shared. The workshop concluded that there was need to document best practices for all stakeholders, to improve on monitoring and evaluation of study circles and to provide more user friendly study materials and explore innovative forms of study materials. It was noted that over the years, SCC has supported the production of at least 68 different study circle materials, and there was need to improve their quality and availability within the region.
SCC’s new partners, Savings and Credit Co-operative League of South Africa (SACCOL), Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) and O.R. Tambo Farmers Association (ORTAFA) of South Africa commended SCC for organizing such a workshop as it will help them introduce study circles in their work from a much more informed position. The regional study circle workshop will be an annual event on SCC’s calendar.
