African leaders back Decade of Education in bold 2035 vision to end learning poverty

By: Emmanuel Sackey

African education leaders have united behind an ambitious vision to eliminate learning poverty in Africa by 2035. At the 2024 Africa Foundational Learning Exchange (FLEX 2024), held in Kigali, Rwanda from 11th to 13th November 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.

The stakes are unprecedented. The World Bank projects that success could unlock Africa’s contribution to the global economy, to the tune of $6.5 trillion in economic potential by 2030. Conversely, failure to act threatens catastrophic consequences – an estimated $17 trillion in lifetime learning losses across low and middle-income countries globally. This stark contrast underscores the critical importance of immediate, decisive action to transform Africa’s educational landscape.

These considerations followed the passionate appeal by the Guest of Honour at FLEX, Her Excellency, Mrs Jeanette Kagame, the First Lady of the Republic of Rwanda, during her keynote address that officially launched the convening of leaders. The First Lady clearly articulated the challenge the continent faces;

“Reading and comprehension of simple texts is still an issue for 9 out of 10 children aged 10 and below, in the majority of African countries. What a loud alarm bell this statistic rings! 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 of this continent, their skills development, employability, and social welfare?”

The First Lady’s passionate appeal was echoed by the President of Zambia and Africa Champion of Foundational Learning His Excellency, Mr. Hakainde Hichelima who said in his address :

“We need to start thinking more strategically about innovative models of funding education and to use our resources more effectively. We need to implement evidence-based approaches and scale what works to improve foundational learning on the continent and we need robust accountability mechanisms at national, regional, and continental levels for both partners and governments.”

The 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. The five core commitments are:

Set and achieve a continental target of zero learning poverty by 2035 through concentrated investment in foundational skills and systematic measurement of progress across all participating nations.

Full endorsement and implementation of the African Union’s Decade of Education initiative, mobilizing resources and political will for sustained educational transformation.

Establish robust inter-country collaboration frameworks to facilitate knowledge exchange, share best practices, and create synergistic learning opportunities across African nations.

Scale evidence-based interventions through efficient resource allocation, focusing on proven methodologies that demonstrably improve foundational learning outcomes at the country level.

Implement comprehensive data and accountability mechanisms to track progress, ensure quality assessment, and coordinate partner initiatives for maximum impact across the continent.

This unprecedented collaboration between governments, and development partners including the World Bank, ADEA, UNICEF, USAID, FCDO, Hempel Foundation, New Globe, and UNESCO, marks a turning point in Africa’s educational journey.