Learning drives economic growth, fuels innovation and creates jobs. It equips countries – and people – with the skills they need to escape poverty and build prosperity. And it gives people the power to build more secure livelihoods, enjoy better health and participate in political processes that affect their lives. For all of these reasons, Africa’s ongoing education crisis demands the urgent attention of political leaders and aid partners.
We do not use the word “crisis” lightly. In education, as in other areas, much has been achieved over the past decade. Enrolment levels have soared. More children are making it through primary education into secondary school. Gender gaps have narrowed. Many countries have registered a pace of advance that would have been inconceivable when the Millennium Development Goals were established.
Yet, on current trends, the target of universal primary education by 2015 will be missed by a wide margin, leaving millions of children out of school – and there are worrying indications that progress may be slowing. Meanwhile, many of the children in school are receiving an education of such abysmal quality that they are learning very little. Far from accumulating “21st century skills”, millions of Africa’s children are emerging from primary school lacking basic literacy and numeracy.