Notes from AAI’s State of Education in Africa Conference 2015
At first, when I was
contacted to be a panelist at AAI’s State
of Education in Africa Conference I was very hesitant. However, I accepted
the offer after wide consultations, also because you could not convene a
conference on the State of Education in Africa without a special reference to
Covenant University – a leading Christian Mission University in Africa’s
biggest economy.
The Conference attracted
other thought leaders and visionaries including Professor Pat Utomi, Ndidi
Nwuneli, Professor Dorayi Aminu, Devang Vussonji, Professor Julie Ibiam,
Iyinoluwa Aboyeji of Andela amongst others. Panel discussions addressed issues
on: ‘Teacher Training’, ‘Reforming Science and Technology Education in Africa’,
‘Spotlight on Vocational and Technical Training and Higher Education’, ‘Early
Childhood Education’ and ‘Global Best Practices in Education’.
I participated in the panel
on ‘Teacher Training: Equipping new educators with the tools they need for
success’, which was moderated by Amini Kajunju, the first African President/CEO
of the Africa-America Institute (AAI).
About 48 years ago, Fafunwa
in his book New Perspectives in African
Education stated that “of all the educational problems that beset African
countries today, none is as persistent or as compelling as the one relating to
the training of a competent teacher.” This observation is so true of Africa’s
state of education today than at any point in its history.
Even though many African countries
have made considerable progress towards achieving the MDG Goal 2 of Universal
Basic Education for all (EFA), more is left to be desired with respect to
education quality. When we speak of education quality, it becomes necessary to
consider factors affecting availability and quality of teachers.
Towards addressing the acute
shortage of subject teachers at primary and secondary levels of education,
countries engage different short term strategies. Ultimately, such short term
policy actions make teachers available, but do not guarantee qualitative teaching
and learning. For instance, I alluded to how the Nigerian
National Youth Service Corps mobilizes most graduates of tertiary
institutions to serve as subject teachers at all levels of education, from
primary to tertiary.
I shared preliminary results
from the ongoing Survey of past and current
Nigerian Youth Corps members, which reveal that over 80 per cent of those given
primary teaching assignments had not received any form of teacher training or
experience. Consequent to this, most Survey
respondents support the argument that military training alone is not sufficient
preparation for deployment to teaching assignments.
Other issues raised during
the various panel discussions include:
- Poor teacher feedback and assessment systems
- Need for context-specific educational research
- Lack of recognition as well as low funding and support for Colleges of Education
- Poor remuneration and incentives systems for teachers
- Need to leverage ICTs e.g. mobile technologies for inclusive education for all
- Neglect of children with special needs in education planning
- Need for value reorientation towards technical and vocation education and training
Markedly, conference
participants were enlightened on the fact that governments (national,
state-level and local) and global policy organizations do not have all the
answers to the challenges of reforming the African education system.
The private sector which
include business organizations, faith-based organizations, civil society,
non-governmental organizations and most importantly individual families have
significant pieces of the puzzle.
Moving ahead, we can unlock
the potential of Africa’s next generation of leaders by taking a systemic
approach to providing solutions to the deficits in African education.
Everyone has some role to play, no more passing of the buck.
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