African education leaders vow to eradicate illiteracy

African education leaders have resolved to eliminate learning poverty by 2035.

A summit attended by over 540 global education leaders and featuring 25 technical sessions culminated in a five-point declaration that will transform the landscape of African education.

Learning poverty is the inability to read and understand a short, age-appropriate text by age 10. It’s a measure of how many children lack the basic knowledge and skills needed to succeed.

This was discussed during the 2024 Africa Foundational Learning Exchange (FLEX 2024), held in Kigali, Rwanda from November 11 to 13, 2024. 22 Ministers of Education, and 12 Heads of Ministerial Delegations from 34 countries in Africa endorsed the African Union’s call to declare a ‘Decade of Education’, aimed at tackling the continent’s learning crisis.

During her keynote address, the summit’s guest of honour, Jeanette Kagame, the First Lady of Rwanda, highlighted that some African countries continue to face significant learning challenges.

“Reading and comprehension of simple texts is still an issue for nine out of 10 children aged 10 and below, in the majority of African countries. What a loud alarm bell this statistic rings?” Posed Mrs Kagame.

She added: “Should we fail to strengthen foundational learning and critical thinking, increase primary education completion rates, and allocate more resources to education, specifically to the more vulnerable learners, what is to be the long-term cost to the youth, their skills development, employability, and social welfare?”

The First Lady’s passionate appeal was echoed by Zambia’s President and Africa Champion of Foundational Learning, Hakainde Hichilema, in his address.

“We need to start thinking more strategically about innovative models of funding education and to use our resources more effectively,” Hichelima stated.

Adding that, “We need to implement evidence-based approaches and scale what works to improve foundational learning on the continent and robust accountability mechanisms at all levels for both partners and governments.”