Major African education conference opens in Maputo

The biennial conference of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) was officially opened on Monday, 5 May 2008 by Mozambique President Armando Emilio Guebuza.

President Guebuza congratulated ADEA on its 20th anniversary this year. He said that the biennial was taking place amid changes in the global economy where the knowledge and use of information and communication technology are becoming increasingly important in the production process and access to knowledge.

“I am pleased to note that our continent is striving to take advantage of the knowledge, scientific innovations and technology available in the world,” Mr Guebuza said in Mozambique’s capital Maputo.

The Commonwealth Secretariat has worked closely with ADEA since the association was formed, and for 15 years, has been the lead agency in the Working Group for the Teaching Profession. This group aims to improve the quality of education in Africa through teacher education by working with African ministries of education, NGOs and the private sector.

By supporting ADEA, the Commonwealth aligns itself with other international organisations, committing themselves to the responsibilities and challenges of education in Africa. “We can harness the synergies across Africa by working together,” says Virgilio Juvane, Adviser at the Secretariat’s Education Section.

More than 600 education ministers, senior officials, researchers, representatives from key NGOs and teaching practitioners are meeting from 5 to 9 May to discuss post-primary education in Africa. The theme for the 2008 conference is ‘Beyond Primary Education: Challenges and Approaches to Expanding Learning Opportunities in Africa’.

Africa has made considerable progress towards fulfilling the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in education, with access to primary-level education significantly expanded, particularly in the Sub-Saharan region.

While there is yet much work to be done in this area, with many young children still out of school, educationalists and policy-makers believe it is now time to refocus on absorbing post-primary education into this momentum.

The successes of universal primary education (UPE) have led to pressure on upper levels – secondary, technical and vocational. And the demand for secondary places has meant primary school teachers are increasingly being called upon to teach secondary-level students. This will inevitably impact on the gains achieved by UPE.

This week’s conference will also focus on education as a driver for development, science and technology, vocational training, financing education, gender disparities and the impact of HIV/AIDS.

Africa has shown unprecedented growth levels averaging 5.5 per cent per year since 2000, and the continent is attracting substantial interest from major new economic powers such as India and China.

As a result, Africa has a new opportunity to ensure that the recent economic upturn is sustained through investing in post-basic education and skills development, Yaw Ansu, Sector Director, Human Development Department Africa Region, World Bank, told delegates at the opening ceremony.

Mr Juvane will be presenting a paper commissioned jointly by the Secretariat and ADEA on ‘The Provision of Teachers and Education Personnel for Post-Primary Education’.

In 1995 Mozambique became the first country with no colonial links to Britain to join the Commonwealth.