Introduction and Background

The ADEA Triennale on Education is one of Africa’s premier high-level forums for political dialogue, peer learning, and the exchange of knowledge and impactful experiences in education. It brings together African policymakers, educators, development partners, and researchers to reflect on critical themes shaping the transformation of education systems for sustainable social and economic development across the continent. The Triennale aims to, among others: (1) Celebrate progress and successes: Showcase efforts and achievements in building resilient, equitable, inclusive, and relevant education systems across Africa. (2) Take stock of challenges: Reflect on persistent bottlenecks, emerging issues, and opportunities related to foundational learning, skills development, financing, and innovation. (3) Facilitate dialogue: Enable learning and exchanges between countries and partners, with an emphasis on innovative approaches, leadership, and accountability mechanisms. (4) Chart a collective path forward: Agree on priority actions to accelerate the transformation of Africa’s education and training systems.

The 2025 Triennale builds on the legacy of the previous three held in Ouagadougou (2012)¹, Dakar (2017)², and Mauritius (2022)³.  This year’s edition takes stock of the progress made since 2022 and explores the implications of recent continent-wide developments. These include the designation of 2024 as the Year of Education for Africa by the African Union (AU), and the adoption of 2025–2034 as the Decade of Accelerated Education by the AU’s Fifth Specialized Technical Committee on Education, Science and Technology (STC-EST5).

Crucial strategic frameworks adopted during this period – such as the Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2025–2034 (CESA 25-34), the African Continental Technical and Vocational Education and Training Strategy (CTVET 25-34), and the Science, Technology, and Innovation Strategy for Africa (STISA 2034) – will shape the discussions and priorities of this Triennale.

High-level education convenings that have taken place since the last Triennale will also inform the discourse, including:

• AU Heads of State and Government Summits.
• The 2024 Abuja EdTech Conference and Ministerial Forum by the Mastercard Foundation’s CITL.
• The Inaugural East African Community Regional Education Conference in Arusha (2024).
• The African Foundational Learning Exchange (FLEX) in Freetown (2023) and Kigali (2024), where Ministers committed to ending learning poverty by 2035.
• The 2024 AU Education Conference in Nouakchott, Mauritania.

The framing of the 2025 Triennale is guided by ADEA’s vision of “a high-quality education and training system for accelerated sustainable development in Africa,” and its overarching goal to “empower African countries to transform schooling into meaningful learning.” This is supported by ADEA’s globally connected partnerships, a skilled Secretariat, and the country-led Inter-Country Quality Nodes (ICQNs).

Accordingly, the Triennale will focus on Africa’s key education priorities, as reflected in the ADEA Strategic Plan 2024–2028, including improving foundational learning, remodeling technical and vocational skills development (TVSD) alongside secondary education, advancing higher education and research through harmonized quality assurance and cross-border mobility, and strengthening education systems’ resilience, anchored in three cross-cutting enablers: evidence-informed decision-making through quality education and skills data, leveraging EdTech for access and improved learning outcomes, and promoting equity and inclusion, especially for vulnerable populations.

Objectives & Expected Outcomes

The overall goal of the 2025 ADEA Triennale is to take stock, learn, share experiences, and commit to develop drivers and conditions for resilient educational system. Specifically, the event aims to:

• Reflect on the progress and challenges in strengthening Africa’s educational systems towards ending learning poverty by the end of the decade.
• Promote the sharing of knowledge and experience around practical and innovative solutions in specific areas as guided by the Triennale’s sub-themes.
• Interrogate, validate, and adopt new/emerging trends in evidence, good practices and innovations that support the rebuilding of the future workforce in Africa through education and training.
• Build consensus, commitment, and partnerships among the Ministries and other educational stakeholders in Africa and beyond for continued implementation and scaling of successful education reforms.

The expectation is greater clarity and understanding of successful reforms in Africa’s educational systems since 2022; shared knowledge, experiences, good practices, and solutions in Africa’s education; fostered partnerships for policy and strategy development and implementation; and a binding policy-level outcome framework.

Theme and Sub-themes

Proposed Theme: “Strengthening the resilience of Africa’s educational systems: Advancing towards ending learning poverty by 2035 with a well-educated and skilled workforce for the continent and beyond.”

To operationalize this theme, the 2025 Triennale proposes eight interconnected sub-themes:

1. Reimagining Financing for Education in Africa, Including Implications Due to Shifts in the Global Funding Landscape.
2. Improving foundational learning – Progress and challenges since FLEX 2024.
3. Transforming Secondary Education and Ensuring Sustainable Financing and Best Practices for TVSD⁴ Using Innovative Partnerships – What Works?
4. Repositioning higher education and scientific research through sustainable financing, research relevance, and skills mobility aligned with the AfCFTA.
5. Using evidence and digital technology to bring every learner onboard – hits and misses.
6. From policies to systems and processes – The value of quality education and skills data in tracking scaled and sustained learning outcomes.
7. Innovative and sustainable approaches in school leadership, teacher preparation, and continuing professional development in the Decade of Education for Africa.
8. Gender, Equity, Inclusion, and Climate Adaptation: Moving Together Through Innovation and Scale in Education.

Structure and Format

The 2025 ADEA Triennale will span five days and include a mix of high-level policy dialogues, technical sessions, country and partner roundtables, and side events. The format will foster peer learning, innovation sharing, and collaborative problem-solving.

Approach and format:

In the run-up to the main event, ADEA will engage with countries and key partners on the theme and sub-themes, with as view to co-create the content and identify the co-leads and supporting partners in the process. This will be done through bilateral as well as stakeholder consultation virtual meetings on the different themes.

The Triennale will be held over three days in a hybrid arrangement comprising in-person and virtual sessions. The first day will be dedicated to partners meetings and the launch of the exhibitions, while the second and third days will be for the main event’s official opening and policy-level engagements in plenary (for a shared understanding of the main theme and providing policy guidance) and breakout sessions (these provide space and time for in-depth discussions on the four sub-themes) whose outcome summaries will be presented in plenary for consideration and adoption. The host country, ADEA, and key partners will mount exhibitions on the Triennale theme.

Participants: About 800 participants (500 in person and at least 300 virtual) are expected to grace the event, representing policymakers, development partners, private sector, civil society, the academia, and other key stakeholders in education in Africa and beyond.

Date and Venue: 29th to 31st October 2025, Accra, Ghana.

ADEA Secretariat, June 2025