APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF), Human Capital Africa (HCA) and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) have urged African heads of states and governments to commit and champion foundational learning ahead of the African Union (AU) Year of Education.
This came after a latest report on the State of Global Education Update was issued by the World Bank, UNICEF and other partners, revealing that nearly 9 in 10 children in Sub-Saharan Africa are unable to read and understand a simple text by the age of 10.
“The foundational level of education among African children is so weak and that has resulted in human capital deficit in the continent,” Founder and CEO of the Human Capital Africa Obiageli Ezekwesili said on Tuesday in a joint briefing in Addis Ababa, capital of Ethiopia.
According to Ezekwesili, leaders of the continent should recognize the scale of the learning crisis confronting the continent and commit to a continental strategy to address it through effective policy and interventions.
She said failing to address the learning crisis will have catastrophic results for the continent’s education outcomes across secondary, tertiary schools, significantly restricting future employment opportunities.
“Agenda 2063 of the African Union will go nowhere until our leaders react now on crisis related to foundational learning,” Ezekwesili said.
For her part, UNICEF’s Education Advisor Lieke Van de Wiel said children who were out of school failed to learn what they were supposed to and that means investments in education have not been generating the right return.
“African leaders must feel a sense of urgency to solve the problem,” said Wiel, further noting that 9 out of every 10 children in Africa are in school but not learning.
The Executive Secretary of ADEA, Albert Nsengiyumva warned that failing to react to the existing learning crisis in the continent will prevent the achievement of the African Union’s vision for the ‘Africa we want’ by 2063.
“We must now ensure that our concerns are shared as widely as possible and that heads of states and governments hear our message in the context of all the challenges facing the continent,” Nsengiyumva said.
At the Africa Human Capital Summit in July, 2023, 43 African leaders signed the Dar es Salaam Declaration and pledged to increase accessibility, affordability, and quality education, and improve literacy rates to 75 percent by 2030.
MG/abj/APA