Lessons learnt in policy and practice from the COVID-19 pandemic and building resilience to sustain Africa’s educational systems

Date: Thursday, 20th October 2022

Time: 11:45 AM – 13:44 PM Mauritius time (GMT+4)

Venue: Le Méridien Île Maurice

Storyline: Interventions that are likely to be impactful are those that are anchored on sound policies and strategies and backed by evidence. The interventions also need to be well-planned and resourced, efficiently executed, and effectively monitored and evaluated. The COVID-19 pandemic brought to the fore the inadequate level of preparedness, especially for the education sector. The policy and practice responses by African countries aimed at delivering education at home during the initial stages of the pandemic were largely reactionary as the knowledge about the pandemic continued to grow. Forward planning with crisis situations such as COVID-19 in mind is, therefore, imperative. ADEA's engagement with African countries at the policy and implementation levels on strategies for continuous learning, reopening of learning institutions, and the future’s “new normal” based on the COVID-19 pandemic experience revealed valuable lessons. Equipped with a gender, equity and inclusion lens, the KIX Observatory on COVID-19 Responses in Educational Systems in Africa provides evidence from 40 GPE partner countries in Africa on how governments quickly responded by changing policies and practices to mitigate the impact of the pandemic in terms of the continued operations of education and the well-being of learners beyond education. The discussions under this sub-theme will therefore focus on (1) financing education recovery in a post-COVID-19 era, (2) developing the environment for teachers (capacity and policy needs) and learners, and (3) using infrastructure, technology, and connectivity to increase access and diversity to education. As part of accelerating the progress towards SDG 4 – and CESA 16-25 for Africa, the UN Secretary-General is convening a Transforming Education Summit (TES) in New York in September 2022. The aim is to rally education actors to commit to "mobilizing action, ambition, solidarity and solutions". This is critical in transforming education in the remaining period, and beyond, for SDG4 and CESA 16-15. The outcomes of TES (renewed commitments, greater public engagement, and summary and call to action) will be disseminated and further discussed at the ADEA 2022 Triennale.

Objectives:

  1. Reflect on Africa’s educational systems before and during the COVID-19 pandemic to inform strategic directions towards building resilient educational systems to prepare for future crises.
  2. Build consensus, commitment, and partnerships among the Ministries and key educational stakeholders in Africa around the successful implementation of reforms, aligned to TES commitments and call to action.

Expected outcomes:

  1. Policies, programs, and partnerships needed to build back better educational systems in Africa.
  2. Strategies to improve the policy-level salience for FLN.
  3. Enabling policy environments for TVSD – guidelines for formulating/ reviewing policies, governance frameworks, and models for developing appropriate interventions.
  4. Strategies to improve leadership, governance, and accountability in financing public higher education institutions.
     

1st Panel on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (1hr)

Moderator: Dr. Obiageli “Oby” Ezekwesili, President of Human Capital Africa and Senior Economic Adviser at Africa Economic Development Policy Initiative (AEDPI)

Rapporteur: Prof. Hellen Inyega, ADEA Resource Person, University of Nairobi

Panellists:

  • Hon. Agnes Makonda Ridley, Minister of Education, Malawi
  • Hon. Prof. Mariatou Koné, Minister of National Education and Literacy, Côte d'Ivoire
  • Hon. Claudiana A. Cole, Minister of Basic and Secondary Education, The Gambia
  • Dr. Benjamin Piper, Global Education Program Director, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
  • Dr. Margarita Focas Licht, Acting Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Global Partnership for Education
     

2nd Panel on TVSD and Higher Education (1hr)

Moderator: Dr. Lucy Heady, Chief Executive Officer, ESSA Africa

Rapporteur: Kimberley Kerr, Chairperson, ADEA Executive Committee

Panellists:

  • Hon. Dr. Valentine Uwamariya, Minister of Education, Rwanda
  • Hon. Dr. Monica Musenero, Minister of Science. Technoloav and Innovation. Uganda: Chairperson, AU STC-ESTI Bureau; ADEA Steering Committee
  • Hon. Mrs. Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Tertiary Education, Science and Technology, Mauritius
  • Mutonii Mavanda, Festo Didactic, Southern and Eastern Africa
  • Ms. Titia Bredée, Chief Executive Officer, Nuffic