Attempts to achieve development in education through partnerships: interrogating notions and methods of building local capacity from the inside

The agenda for education development in developing countries has been driven by collaborative initiatives between academics and policy makers from the North and the South. It has been a problematic relationship, based on notions of development which see poorer countries aspiring to the development ideals of richer countries. The belief is that development initiated from the inside usually leads to more sustainable development. The story of such project experience in South Africa reflects that his kind of engagement is equally problematic, given the inherent political dimensions, often hidden and sometimes beyond the control of the local academic, researcher or local project facilitator.