Africa’s current primary school enrolment rate is above 80% on average, with the continent recording some of the biggest increases in elementary school enrolment globally in the last few decades, according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), which is tasked with coordinating international cooperation in education, science, culture and communication. Then there is the additional challenge of Africa’s poorly resourced education systems, the difficulties ranging from the lack of basic school infrastructure to poor-quality instruction. After studies, they come back to rule their countries, while those from poor families who went to public schools would be lucky to get a job even in the public sector,” notes Mr. Odusola. Institutions of higher learning in Africa, he says, need to review and diversify their systems of education and expand the level of skills to make themselves relevant to the demands of the labour However, public health programme performance and outcomes remained poor while the burden of disease increased. Schooling here is so inferior that the national education ministry took over its management. Comments section policy: Any attacks on BusinessTech, its journalists, or other readers will result in a ban. More girls than boys drop out of school before completing secondary or tertiary education in Africa. “South Africa has achieved significant improvements in access to education, but the quality of education is significantly lagging, and secondary education completion rates are comparatively low,” it said. Only four out of every 100 children in Africa is expected to enter a graduate and postgraduate institution, compared to 36 out of 100 in Latin America and 14 out of 100 in South and West Asia. “During this period, the share of employment in the tertiary sector expanded at the expense of the share of the primary sector while primary completion expanded, and tertiary education remain stagnant. market. The AU, keeping in mind that the continent’s population will double in the next 25 years, is seeking through its Continental Education Strategy for Africa 2016–2025 to expand access not just to quality education, but also to education that is relevant to the needs of the continent. In 2015, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) ranked South Africa's education system in the bottom two out of the 76 countries the organisation reported on. If workers from poor and rich backgrounds received the same education, disparity between the two in working poverty could decrease by 39%. With an estimated 364 million Africans between the ages of 15 and 35, the continent has the world’s youngest population, which offers an immense opportunity for investing in the next generation of African leaders and entrepreneurs. It works with the media in Africa and beyond to promote the work of the United Nations, Africa and the international community to bring peace and development to Africa. This varies by subregion, with the lowest levels being in Central and Eastern Africa and the highest enrolment levels in Southern and North Africa,” Ms. Lusigi, who is also the strategic advisor for UNDP Africa, told Africa Renewal. Irrespective of the fact that there is a general … Angela Lusigi, one of the authors of the UNDP report, says that while Africa has made significant advances in closing the gap in primary-level enrolments, both secondary and tertiary enrolments lag behind. Regarding gender equality in education, large gaps exist in access, learning achievement and advanced studies, most often at the expense of girls, although in some regions boys may be the ones at a disadvantage. In comparison, a significant number of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries that spend far less per learner than South Africa have far better educational outcomes, it said. According to Ms. Lusigi, many factors account for the low transition from primary to secondary and tertiary education. Since 1994, South Africa has made great strides in realising the right to education, rapidly building an efficient, accessible and quality education system for children and adolescents. Higher enrolment numbers mask exclusion and inefficiencies, Students learn with tablets in a school in South Africa. This larger economy has space for more jobs, and has lifted more people out of poverty. And in turn, poor quality education in rural areas will only continue to perpetuate long-term poverty in the region. The highly-educated were the primary beneficiaries of the skill-intensive economic growth in the early 2000s. In 2015, almost half of South Africans aged between 25 and 34 had not completed upper secondary education.”. The Statistics South Africa defines poverty with three categories: the food poverty line, the lower … “It’s bad. Today, South Africa celebrates Youth Day, during which young people are commemorated, celebrated and acknowledged for rising up against apartheid and its unfair education system. POOR INFRASTRUCTURE 35 5.1 Struggling to overcome apartheid’s legacy 37 5.2 Continued use of poor and dangerous infrastructure 39 5.3 Gauteng: failings in South Africa's wealthiest province 47 In a league table of education systems drawn up in 2015 by the OECD club of mainly rich countries, South Africa ranks 75th out of 76. Photo:  AMO/Jackie Clausen, Africa grapples with huge disparities in education. Another barrier to advancing from primary to secondary education is the inability of national institutions in Africa to ensure equity across geographical and gender boundaries. Education in South Africa is governed by two national departments, namely the department of Basic Education (DBE), which is responsible for primary and secondary schools, and the department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), which is responsible for tertiary education and vocational training. “South Africa has achieved significant improvements in access to education, but the quality of education is significantly lagging, and secondary education completion rates … BBC News Online, South Africa Lucia Sikhakhane, 17, regards her school - Bophasenatla Secondary - as one of the best schools in Soweto. In 2030, South Africa enjoys an education system with: • High-quality, universal early childhood education The UNDP, through its new strategic plan (for 2018 through 2021), will work to deliver development solutions for diverse contexts and a range of development priorities, including poverty eradication, jobs and livelihoods, governance and institutional capacity and disaster preparedness and management. Yet despite the successes in primary school enrolment, inequalities and inefficiencies remain in this critical sector. Schools in poor suburbs lack proper facilities “This is evident in that the population groups that the apartheid government denied quality education are the population groups that have the poorest educational outcomes today.”. Ultimately, the formal education system prioritised memorisation and judged students by their ability to recall facts. “Often in Africa, decisions to educate children are made within the context of discriminatory social institutions and cultural norms that may prevent young girls or boys from attending school,” says Ms. Lusigi. Countries can start to build and upgrade education facilities and provide safe, non-violent, inclusive and effective learning environments for all. A newly released report by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Income Inequality Trends in sub-Saharan Africa: Divergence, Determinants and Consequences, identifies the unequal distribution of essential facilities, such as schools, as one the drivers of wide income disparities. “Wealthy leaders in Africa send their children to study in the best universities abroad, such as Harvard. Globally, women account for two-thirds of the 750 million adults without basic literacy skills. “What is clear, however, is that historical factors explain a significant part of the current status quo. Although close to achievement, South Africa still faces challenges in meeting the millennium development goal of universal primary education. South Africa's education and finance ministers are being taken to court over poor standards at state schools. Over 30.4 Million South Africans Are Living In Poverty. Corporate boardrooms: where are the women? More children in Africa are going to school than ever before. If the system missed out on teaching kids specific abilities needed in the factory, employees could spend a few weeks training on the job and then be ready for a lifetime of work without the need for continued education. Inadequate education continues to undermine South Africa's youth. 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