New ambitions in African education
Between 11 and 19 February 2012, the capital of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou was host to the triennial conference of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA). This year’s edition focused on lifelong learning and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET).
Among the estimated 800 participants were four African presidents, two prime ministers and most African education ministers. Representatives of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Nuffic also attended the conference. South Korea recently joined the donor group and was strongly represented. The country was often cited as an example for Africa’s educational development.
Themes and studies
The main theme of the conference was divided into three subthemes:
- Common core skills for lifelong learning and sustainable development in Africa.
- Lifelong technical and vocational skills development for sustainable socio-economic growth in Africa.
- Lifelong acquisition of scientific and technological knowledge and skills for Africa’s sustainable development in a globalised world.
A series of 70 thorough studies into the above subthemes have been conducted and are available for download at www.adeanet.org/triennale.
Conclusions and pledges
The conference produced a number of conclusions and pledges:
- Leadership at all education levels is required.
- International and regional cooperation must be harmonised at all education levels.
- The educational infrastructure is in a very bad state and services are insufficient. More investments and quality control systems are strongly needed.
- National policies and the capacity to develop them are generally lacking and need to be enhanced.
- TVET at all levels will help the countries build up their economies. This requires partnerships between governments, the education sector and the private sector.
- Lifelong learning is of paramount importance.
- Diversification must be translated into comprehensive educational frameworks.
Putting education high on the agenda
The country representatives promised to put education high on the agenda of the forthcoming African Union meeting as a spearhead for development.
The adoption of these new policy principles and action plans will have an impact on the education policies at the national level and, as such, on international donor support.
About ADEA
The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) was founded some 25 years ago, with the objective to foster educational development in Africa. ADEA is supported by many donor countries, including the Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Canada and Switzerland.