Education needs more funding as continent heals from coronavirus

The African Regional Forum on Sustainable Development, which took place last week in Kigali, Rwanda, considered progress made, lessons and the challenges facing the education sector as the continent moves to meet the Strategic Development Goals.

As Nelson Mandela once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. This is not just a tot of wisdom but nod to the power of education versus ignorance.

The Covid-19 pandemic has caused the largest ever global disruption of education — a fundamental human right in itself — which is also critical for the realisation of all other human rights.

Research by Unesco on school closures showed that all African countries except Burundi closed schools in the first semester of 2020 due to the pandemic.

Following the school closures, education approaches have changed significantly, with a distinctive rise in e-learning.

This has brought to the fore concerns about the digital divide — the gap between those who have computers and online access and those who do not — and its impact on equity.

The gap in mobile broadband adoption and internet use between developed and developing countries is especially large. School closures have also had its adverse effects including exacerbating the gender divide.

Research shows that there are greater learning losses among girls and an increased risk to them of child labour, gender-based violence, early marriage, and pregnancy.

Additionally, children in situations of vulnerability such those with disabilities, and those living in rural areas have also been confronted with challenges to effectively participating in online learning.

Analysis of trends across Africa indicates that Uganda is one of the countries in the world that had the longest periods of school closure, protracted up to two years.

Countrywide school closures in Uganda disrupted learning, threatened the social and mental health of the youth.

Prior to the pandemic, most African countries’ education systems were already grappling with many challenges, including under-investment, and underfunding, as well as poverty and income inequalities, which were perpetuating inequality and discrimination in access leading to education exclusion.

Most African countries were spending less than 20 percent of their national budgets on education and those that spent 20 percent or more still had many challenges.

To mitigate these, there is need for renewed political and policy commitment by African states to increase investment in the education sector over and above 20 percent of national budgets.

In order to build back better human rights-based, gender sensitive, resilient and quality educational systems, it is imperative to draw on some of the already emerging good practices while also imagining new pathways to bridge the digital divide by increasing investments in infrastructure and technology, identifying new strategies for strengthening multi-stakeholder engagement and partnerships, and putting human rights at the centre of all recovery efforts in line with the UN Secretary-General’s Call to Action for human rights.

Education is a fundamental human right that enables access to all other human rights. In today’s complex and rapidly changing world marked by progress but also with increased vulnerabilities, diseases and inequalities, education itself needs to evolve and adapt to the evolving future, most importantly in Africa. It is the golden thread that runs through all the 17 SDGs. Let us make it inclusive and equitable so that it can enable sustainable growth, social cohesion, and stability; all which are fundamental building blocks for promoting human rights, creating peace, prosperity, and development.

Marcel Akpovo is the Regional Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights for East Africa and the African Union