Organisers : African Union Commission & UNESCO
Topic: Pre-Launch of the joint CESA-SDG4 Continental Report
Title: The Continental Report – "Education in Africa: Placing Equity at the Heart of Policy"
Date: Wednesday, 19th October 2022
Time: 17:15 PM – 18:45 PM Mauritius time (GMT+4)
Venue: Le Méridien Île Maurice
Storyline: At the 2018 Pan-African High-level Conference on Education (PACE), Member States asked the African Union and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to produce, on a regular basis, a continental report monitoring progress towards achieving the implementation of CESA 16-25 and SDG 4. The two organizations entrusted UNESCO’s International Institute of Educational Planning (IIEP-UNESCO) to produce this first report, which aims to contribute to the efforts African countries to accelerate the achievement of the strategic objectives and targets set out in both agendas. It presents a baseline situation analysis covering the first five years of implementation. The report is aligned with the ongoing benchmarking process conducted by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and anchors its conceptual and analytic frameworks to the agreed benchmark indicators. This report benefitted a grant support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
A focus on equity underpins the analysis in this report “Placing equity at the heart of education policy”, reflecting the commitment in Agenda 2030, CESA 16-25, and the 2018 Nairobi Declaration and Call for Action on Education, to leave no child behind. Using a multidimensional approach to examine disparities in education, it discusses the links and intersections between household wealth, location, gender, home language, crisis and displacement, disability, and a child’s access to quality education and learning.
It presents both the patterns of disparities in education along these dimensions and the ongoing efforts by African governments for equitable and inclusive education. Equity must be placed at the centre of political prioritization, policy planning, and investment decisions in order to provide access to quality education at all levels and ensure learning opportunities that will enable children to thrive.
Objectives: This session aims at presenting in the framework of the 2022 ADEA Triennale on Education with the proposed theme of the 2022 Triennale ‘’Reflecting on the impact of COVID-19 on Africa’s educational systems, and how to build resilience to sustain the development of skills for the continent and beyond’’ the findings the report centered on Equity as a contribution to the discussions on how can our education systems be better designed to respond to emerging and worsening challenges as experienced during the Covid-19 pandemic? and, how can governments, businesses, and civil society mobilize for greater investment in education systems?
Expected outcome:
- Improved knowledge of the state of education in continental Africa, focusing on equity issues, from the findings documented in the Continental Report.
- Better understanding of experiences, good practices, and innovative solutions to inform policies and programmes to promote learning with equity in Africa.
- Increased awareness and consensus on the importance of improving the targeting of education policies to achieve differentiated outcomes in terms of equity.
Introduction remarks:
- Prof. Mohamed Belhocine, Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation, African Union Commission (pre-recorded video)
- Borhene Chakroun, Director, Division for Policies and Lifelong Learning Systems, UNESCO Education Sector
Presenter: Carolina ALBAN CONTO, Research and Development Manager IIEP-UNESCO Dakar
Moderator: Dr Jordan Naidoo, Ag. Director, UNESCO International Institute for Education Planning (IIEP)
Rapporteur: Mr. Caseley Olabode Stephens, Policy Officer, Education, Science, Technology & Innovation Department, African Union Commission
Panellists:
- Mr. Adoumtar Noubator, Director, AU Pan-African Institute of Education for Development (IPED)
- Mr. Koffi SEGNIAGBETO, Head of Office, IIEP-UNESCO Dakar
- Hon. Claudiana A. Cole, Minister of Basic and Secondary Education, The Gambia
- Dr. Dzingai Mutumbuka, former Minister of Education, Zimbabwe