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Read the Focus on Africa brief below and respond to the following prompts: 1. Share your own experience either with struggling to learn in school, or observing an inefficient school. 2. Comment on the brief, either focusing on the challenges with access to education or attaining minimum learning standards. 3. Post a question that arises in your mind after reading the brief.

Focus on Africa - 1: Education

So much of the global conversations about education in Africa for several decades have focused on inequitable access to education, particularly among girls, and for very good reason. In spite of efforts by several groups, there has been little movement in the proportion of children of primary school age (6-11) who are out of school, the proportion of adolescents of lower secondary school age (12-14), and the proportion of youth (15-17) who are out of school. In its February 2018 fact sheet (http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/fs48-one-five-children-adolescents-youth-out-school-2018-en.pdf) using 2016 base data, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics reports cumulatively that about 263 million children, adolescents and youth worldwide are out of school; that is one in every five. In Africa, the numbers are grimmer: one in every three.

However, the focus on enabling universal access to education could sometimes distract from the equally important mission of ensuring success through education. The World Bank Group, in its 2018 World Development Report (http://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2018) titled “Learning to Realize Education’s Promise”, warned of a “learning crisis in global education”. The crux of the report was that in spite of the several years spent in school, millions of children are not achieving the basics of reading, writing or solving simple math problems; these challenges are also accentuated by children living in conflict zones, vulnerable children, children living in poverty and children living with disabilities. In sub-Saharan Africa, less than 7% of children in late primary school are proficient in reading, and less than 14% are proficient in Mathematics.

The data from UNESCO is even more damning: its September 2017 factsheet (http://uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/fs46-more-than-half-children-not-learning-en-2017.pdf) reports that more than 617 million children and adolescents worldwide are not achieving minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics, but the crisis is most pronounced in sub-Saharan Africa where 88% of all children and adolescents will not be able to read proficiently by the end of their primary and lower secondary education. 90% of girls fall into this category, while 85% of boys are equally affected. It is very curious to note that these statistics do not simply refer to students who are not enrolled in school; it is students who are enrolled in school who are struggling to learn. In her analysis (https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2017/10/06/figures-of-the-week-africa-education-world-development-report-2018/) of the 2018 World Development Report, Mariama Sow writing for Brookings states that learning gaps remain high in sub-Saharan Africa in spite of school attendance as many children are not fully equipped to learn because of poor quality of teaching, illness, malnutrition and income deprivation. Where teachers are not well-educated themselves, it is inevitable that their students will struggle to learn. In their analysis (http://blogs.worldbank.org/developmenttalk/learning-realize-education-s-promise) of the same report, researchers Deon Filmer and Halsey Rogers assert that “schooling that does not result in learning is not just a missed opportunity – it is a great injustice”.

The benefits of a good education cannot be overstated; Nelson Mandela’s famous words always ring true: “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. Filmer and Rogers conclude their analysis by stating that the payoff for individuals include employment, higher earnings, health and poverty reduction, while societies benefit through long-term economic growth, innovation, strong institutions and social cohesion. But to attain all these, every country must do the hard work of ensuring that all children everywhere are enrolled in schools and learning.

Prompts:

1. Share your own experience either with struggling to learn in school, or observing an inefficient school.

2. Comment on the brief, either focusing on the challenges with access to education or attaining minimum learning standards.

3. Post a question that arises in your mind after reading the brief.

#education #africa #focusonafrica #futureafrica #future #children #adolescents

While farming has arguable become the forgotten vocation in our drive towards industrialization, it is proven that no sector has higher potential to lift people out of poverty than agriculture. We are committed to processes that will lead to empowerment of local farmers and sustainable trade practices to ensure that maximum value is derived from all agricultural produce. Food security is key for Africa's future. Learn more about the 8 pillars of sustainable development at http://futureafrica.net/our-portfolio/

If the growth in our economies is not commensurate with a reduction in the unemployment rate, how much growth are we actually experiencing? Future Africa is committed to exploring strategies to enhance entrepreneurship training and support while investing in skills development for employability. Learn more about the 8 pillars of sustainable development at http://futureafrica.net/our-portfolio/

Our commitment to Africa is not superficial; we have decided to pursue advocacy for Africa's development on 8 key pillars. Education is one. Find out more about the other seven pillars at http://futureafrica.net/our-portfolio/. We have work to do!

September 10, 2017

Focus on Africa

The 8 Pillars of Sustainable Development

As is the case with mostly every conversation that centres on the African continent, the depth of our underdevelopment and the gaps in our strategy towards addressing these challenges seem to dominate. The continent has routinely demonstrated incredible promise when viewed as a whole, based on the abundance of natural resources, intellectual strength and sheer resilience. One could point to the variety of naturally occurring gems in parts of West and Southern Africa, the plethora of wildlife and flora in Central and East Africa, the pioneering intellectual prowess in North Africa, and the famed entrepreneurial spirit found in the youth and women across the continent.

Given all these, it baffles the mind that individual African countries struggle to rise out of poverty or pursue paths of sustainable development at the pace that the world expects or demands. It is well documented how African countries were at par with many Asian countries only a half-century ago, but the growth that has been witnessed in the East has not trickled down to the global South. What is lacking? Many cite political instability, the constant incidence of ethnic violence, greedy and corrupt rulers and a potpourri of other leadership mishaps that have plagued the continent.

To chart a path forward, Future Africa has outlined eight pillars of sustainable development. Amidst a wide variety of urgent priorities, these eight pillars stand out as indispensable in Africa’s journey towards a desirable future:

1. Education

2. Entrepreneurship and Employability

3. Agriculture

4. Infrastructure

5. Natural Resource Management

6. Elections and Democratic Governane

7. Healthcare

8. Peace and Security

Read more about these pillars here.

Each of these priorities deserves its own unique focus and could be perceived as most fundamental to Africa’s emergence, but all are interlinked. For this first phase of Focus on Africa, Future Africa Ambassadors are challenged to take a deep look at three urgent priorities:

i. Education – http://uis.unesco.org/en/topic/education-africa

ii. Infrastructure - https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2013/10/09/financing-africas-infrastructure-gap/

iii. Elections and Democratic Governance - http://www.dw.com/en/has-democracy-failed-in-africa/a-38426656

As we seek to make critical advancements on these priorities, here are some important questions to consider:

a. How should we be balancing the competing challenges of unequal access to education across the continent with declining quality of education? Most development agencies are focused on ensuring that the more than 130 million children (mostly girls) without access to schooling are provided with equitable access, yet the quality of teaching, classroom infrastructure, and learning outcomes among others are totally shambolic. How can these problems be jointly solved?

b. Are there sustainable approaches to funding Africa’s infrastructure needs while ensuring long-term self-sufficiency? Perhaps the biggest impediment to public infrastructure investment is the financing gap. Most major development projects on the continent are being funded by donor agencies and foreign governments, with apparent long-term dependencies which might cripple the continent’s ability to stand alone.

c. Is it time to evolve an African variant of democracy that addresses some of the underlying challenges inherent in a western-driven democratic agenda? Most elections on the continent appear to be driven by ethnic interests and end up deadlocked at a simple majority in which one candidate secures just over 50% of the vote, with the losing party forced to submit. This has often resulted in violence, vandalism and public unrest. It has also spurred sitting leaders to allegedly employ various tactics to swing election results their way. Could a more communal version of democracy which promotes power sharing or rotation between tribes/ethnic groups lead to a more sustainable system of governance?

Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Welcome to the first Focus on Africa discussion for the Future Africa Ambassadors. Through this series, we will be digging deep into some key African development themes and sharing valuable opinions

#focusonafrica #futureafrica #ambassadors

#powerofyouth #participation

#getinvolved #youth

Have we really thought about this?

#doublestandards

#futureafrica #ambassadors

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