Continental Education Conference Theme: "Educate and Skill Africa for the 21st Century”

9th Dec 2024 | Source: Flowsa

What: Continental Education Conference

Theme: "Educate and Skill Africa for the 21st Century"

When: 9-11 December 2024.

Where: The Convention Center (Palais des Congrès), Nouakchott, Mauritania.

Who: The Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (ESTI) department of the AU Commission in cooperation with The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); and the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania.

Why:

Africa has made significant progress in expanding access to education over the past decades. However, the continent still faces various challenges in ensuring quality, equitable and inclusive education for all. Many African countries struggle with persisting number of out of school/training children and youths, as well as children not acquiring sufficient foundational literacy and numeracy skills upon which all future learning is built, including issues such as inadequate infrastructure, shortage of qualified teachers, limited access to digital technologies, emergencies, protracted crisis and climate change, high dropout rates, particularly among girls, crises affected children and other marginalized communities. Given these continued challenges, there is a growing recognition of the importance of improving learning and skill development for all children and young people on the continent to drive sustainable development and economic growth in Africa.

The landscape for transforming education in Africa presents both opportunities and challenges. With the rapidly evolving global economy and the emergence of new skills and competencies required for the 21st century, there is a pressing need to re-evaluate and reinvent education systems across the African continent. This transformation should be driven by a holistic approach that addresses the diverse needs of learners, leverages technological advancements, and fosters collaboration between governments, educational institutions, and stakeholders. The shift towards a more responsive, crises-resilient, innovative, and inclusive education system, prepared to cater for all children is crucial for empowering African children and youth and equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and mindset to tackle the continent's pressing challenges and seize its vast potential.

In acknowledgement of the African Union's Education as the Theme of the Year 2024, with the Theme – "Educate an African fit for the 21st Century: Building resilient education systems for increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality, and relevant learning in Africa"; a Continental Conference is scheduled to be held. The Conference will gather key stakeholders across the continent to engage in transformative dialogue and action to strengthen advocacy for best practices implemented under education as the theme of the Year, through policy dialogues and best practices forums; Partnerships Development; and Public Awareness Campaign, with the Theme - "Educate and Skill Africa for the 21st Century".

Objectives:

The main objectives of the Continental Conference are:

To recognise and appreciate the current implementation status and progress by AU member states of commitments and decisions made to transform education in Africa in recent years, including, but not limited to the Transforming Education Summit (TES) plan of action and TEiA side event declaration – acknowledging challenges where appropriate.

To showcase, and advocate for, the scaling up of successful models, and of innovative and sustainable solutions towards achieving quality and equitable education from across the continent, to meet the demands of the 21st century in Africa, and beyond.

To strengthen partnerships and collaboration to foster knowledge sharing among policy makers, researchers, educators, and civil society stakeholders.

To explore and agree sustainable financing mechanisms for education in Africa, through strengthened domestic resourcing and other innovative mechanisms for transforming education systems, and to advocate for the establishment of a Global Education Fund for Africa.

To pave the way for a long-term vision for the transformation of Africa Education through a proposal for the AU to declare 2025-2034 as Africa Decade of Accelerated Education

Expected Outcomes:

A comprehensive update on the status of implementation by AU member states of decisions and commitments made in recent years to transform education in Africa; and the agreement of an action plan, and associated monitoring, evaluation, and reporting instruments, for the next 10 years to address bottlenecks and accelerate actions in key areas where further progress is required.

A commitment to the resourcing and scaling up of successful models and innovative solutions implemented in AU member states, to accelerate the pace of effective transformation of education and skills systems.

Increased membership and participation of development partners in relevant AU Commission's clusters to effectively operationalize and embed action points agreed and foster effective implementation of the AU CESA 2026-2035.

Established consensus on strategies for sustainable financing of education in Africa.

Participants:

AU Member States, including Heads of States and Government, Ministers of Education and Ministers of Finance, AU Chair and Chairperson, Ministers of Youth and Skills Development; Women and Girls Education and Development; Departments of Education of the Regional Economic Communities (RECs); Education Policymakers and Stakeholders; Researchers, and Education Practitioners; Representatives from international organisations and Education Partners; Leaders from Africa and beyond; Media and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs); the Youth and Private sector stakeholders.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Mr. Gamal Eldin Ahmed A. Karrar | Senior Communication Officer | Information and Communication Directorate (ICD), African Union Commission | E-mail: GamalK@africa-union.org