Category: Literacy

Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainen launched today a Regional Teachers’ Initiative in Africa and for Africa, a €100 million investment from the EU budget in empowering the world’s fastest growing youth population through quality education. This flagship initiative under the EU–Africa Global Gateway Investment Package aims to accelerate the training of teachers for Sub-Saharan Africa, responding to the need for 15 million new qualified teachers for Africa by 2030. The initiative will contribute to regional and national objectives by supporting and complementing national education and teacher reforms, offer opportunities for cross-country collaboration, partnerships, and peer learning in the region and with Europe.

At the launch of the initiative in Pretoria, South Africa, in the presence of the Minister of Basic Education from South Africa, the African Union Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ministers of Education from South Africa, Senegal and Botswana and representatives of EU Member States, UNESCO, teachers, and young activists, Commissioner for International Partnerships Jutta Urpilainensaid: “I am proud to launch today the Regional Teachers’ Initiative, a €100 million Global Gateway investment in quality education in Africa. We want to support our partners to have in every classroom a qualified teacher, a valued professional who can empower children and young people to thrive and develop skills for a future professional life. Together we can improve learning outcomes and accelerate progress towards Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality education for all. Education is the most powerful investment in our future, and teachers are key to it. We need more teachers and quality teaching.”

Qualified teachers in greater numbers

The initiative aims to increase the number of qualified teachers by making teaching both an attractive job prospect for promising young professionals and a life-long learning experience. It puts an emphasis on teachers in basic education acquiring and transmitting digital and green skills — skills that will enable students in tomorrow’s world to plug into the opportunities of the digital transformation, and engage them in the preservation of our planet. The initiative will also cover teaching in crisis contexts.

The Regional Teachers’ Initiative is open to all countries in Sub-Saharan Africa through continental, sub-regional and multi-country actions, and North African countries are able to participate in some activities.

The European Union and EU Member States –Belgium, Germany, Finland, and France– will work with the African Union and African countries, as well as UNESCO, to build up an inclusive, motivated and competent teacher workforce and harness the demographic dividend.

Source: European Commission

Washington, January 20, 2023 – Success for young girls in West and Central Africa like in the story of Ama starts in primary school where good teachers and good conditions can help them focus on learning. Providing training and resources for teachers, having regular learning assessments, but also good roads to facilitate school transport, clean water and toilets at school, and school feeding programs are proven interventions to help improve learning outcomes.

As the World celebrates International Education Day, investing in young people and making education a priority matter more than ever. Here are seven key lessons from Western and Central African countries from the regional education strategy to help girls and boys get ready to learn, acquire real knowledge, and enter the job market with the right skills to become productive and fulfilled citizens:

1 – Recognize previous gains

Average net primary school enrollment in Western and Central Africa is close to universal, rising from 50% in the 1990s to nearly 90% today. Secondary enrollment in the last decade more than doubled to a current average of 55%.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the education crisis in the region and millions of children could not go to school or access distance learning, significant efforts have been made in educating young African girls and boys over the last decades. But there is more to do to further advance education reforms.

“With close to universal access in the primary cycle, the progress made is dazzling. However, we should not lose sight of the fact that this success is relative, as it is more quantitative than qualitative. There still is a long way to go,” says World Bank Regional Vice-President for Western and Central Africa Ousmane Diagana.

2 – Transforming Education = Addressing Learning Poverty

Despite progress, 8 out of 10 children in Western and Central Africa are unable to read and understand a simple text by the age of 10, and more than 32 million children remain out of school – the largest share of all regions worldwide. Weak foundations in childhood continue into adulthood: heavy school drop-out, limited social advancement, and a low-qualified workforce are the consequences of learning poverty. Transforming education means the government taking action to end learning poverty

3 – Leadership for impact: Countries learn from their own experiences

Tackling the learning crisis requires strong leadership, better implementation, and more investments in high-impact interventions, including a whole-of-society and government approach. Governments can learn from such interventions, expand, and adapt them to local contexts.

In Chad, a mobile payment system for the remuneration of community teachers improved their attendance record, while enhancing their commitment. In Mauritania, the establishment of school management committees increased parent involvement. Mali increased secondary school enrollment 2.5 times since 2000 thanks to a dynamic public-private partnership model. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Sierra Leone offered free lessons through radio, television, phones, and online. In Senegal, the Improving Quality and Equity of Basic Education project has helped Koranic schools, or daaras, provide foundational skills to pupils. In addition, the Africa Higher Education Centers of Excellence project is training post-graduate students and scaling up research capacity and regional collaboration in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, or STEM, to address the widespread skills shortages.

These examples show that countries can take action and turn this learning crisis into an opportunity for building a better future.

4 – For the Sahel region, education offers a path to shared prosperity and peace.

Education is a key driver of stability, social cohesion, and peace. In the face of growing uncertainty, young people live in areas where climate shocks prevent them from farming as they did before, and many turn to the call of the terrorists. Empowering the youth with the right skills and giving them job opportunities is essential to realize their full potential and ensure social justice for all. The Sahel countries and partners, such as the Sahel Alliance, are taking important steps to roll out an education roadmap as a game-changer over the next 10 years.

In the 2021 Nouakchott declaration, the G5 leaders committed to developing innovative policies to improve quality education by boosting support to teachers and increasing education expenditure beyond the 3 percent of GDP currently allocated to this area.

5 – Harness the power of technology

Technology can play a crucial role in providing new and innovative forms of support to teachers, students, and the broader learning process while also enhancing the equity, quality, resiliency, and efficiency of education systems.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, millions of students were affected by school closures. In Nigeria, Edo state saw an opportunity to further the development of its digital education drive and used WhatsApp, among other platforms, to organize e-classes. Through its EdoBEST initiative, more than 11,000 teachers received rigorous training and 7,000 virtual classrooms were created, in a whole system reform to leverage modern digital technologies backed by science to improve teaching and learning processes.

6 – Putting young people first

“Putting our young people first is at the heart of our work. Even before the pandemic, the world was already experiencing a learning crisis. The future of any society lies in its ability to provide its children and youth with the tools and opportunities to flourish, and to contribute to the development of the country,” said Ousmane Diagana.

The #YouthActOnEDU Spoken Word Competition mobilized youths on the Education matter and showcased the importance of education and access to quality learning. Meet, watch, and listen to the winners from across the AFW region.

7 – A strong political commitment

Leaders from across Western and Central Africaendorsed the Accra Urgent Call for Action on Education in June 2022 to meet ambitious targets with a focus on :

helping 30 million children to read by 2030;

ensuring that 12.5 million more adolescent girls are in school by 2030;

training 3.7 million more young adults in foundational skills by 2025;

ensuring that 1 million more youth acquire digital skills by 2025, of whom 60% are expected to obtain better jobs.

Source: World Bank

The Media Council of Kenya (MCK) has rolled out a programme to foster financial education among journalists based in Kisumu County.

MCK has partnered with Absa Bank and ICEA Lion Insurance firm to pilot the Financial Literacy Programme for journalists and media practitioners at the Lakeside County before expanding it to other regions of the country.

The initiative targets to address financial matters bedeviling the society as well as groom the scribes to be able to creatively generate story ideas surrounding the subject.

Some 20 journalists drawn from various media houses benefitted from the inaugural free training session.

The Director, Media Training and Development at MCK Victor Bwire while speaking during the opening of the two days’ workshop at a Kisumu Hotel on Tuesday, underscored that suicide and depression cases among journalists were on the rise occasioned by lack of personal financial literacy and funds mismanagement.

He says that saving culture is not ingrained in Kenyans forcing the regulator to capacity build journalists to help raise awareness among the public in a bid to reverse the trend.

According to a report by EFG Hermes, 2021, 88 per cent of Kenyans do not save regularly for a rainy day due to high spending culture and the gradual rising cost of living.

Bwire says that there is a need to educate the public on financial matters regarding investments, savings and insurance to increase its uptake.

“The Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) has unveiled an insurance scheme for livestock in the arid and semi-arid regions in Kenya, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia and Eritrea to protect smallholder herders from drought and other climate related risks,” Bwire stated.

“We should for instance encourage the fishermen and fishmongers from the Lake Victoria region as well as investors in other sectors to embrace insurance schemes to cushion their ventures from losses,” he said.

On his part, Absa Bank Kisumu branch manager Wesley Ngetich challenged the journalists to take advantage of the different products offered by various banking institutions to invest and participate in wealth creation at the onset of their careers.

Further, he urged the participants to establish their own side hustles besides employment to ensure a stream of extra income to unlock their financial independence.

The event was also attended by MCK Western Region Coordinator, Mr Teddy Evans.

 

Source: Kenya News Agency

A new Human Rights Watch report says that in nearly one-third of African countries, teenage girls who become pregnant face “significant legal and policy barriers” to continuing their formal education.

Human Rights Watch said Tuesday it examined more than 100 laws and policies concerning education, gender equity, and reproductive health, that are detrimental to the education of teenage mothers.

Adi Radhakrishnan works with the rights group’s children rights division. He says some African laws have pushed young mothers out of school.

“It’s shocking to understand how governments are undermining girls’ education and effectively closing the door on girls’ futures… These are students who are denied their basic rights to education for reasons that have nothing to do with their desire or their ability to learn and they are not supported by their government,” Radhakrishnan said.

Researchers found that at least 10 African countries have no legal means or measures to protect adolescent girls’ education when they are pregnant and become mothers.

Several countries, including Sudan, impose punishments on teenage girls who have sexual relationships outside marriage. For those girls, going to school while pregnant raises suspicion and exposes them to possible criminal prosecution.

Hannibal Uwaifo is the head of the African Bar Association. He says cultural norms are mostly to blame for young mothers not continuing with their education.

“The issues have to do with families, society, and the community. I don’t think there are any specific laws that bars people going back to school,” Uwaifo said. “I think we need to deliberately encourage African girls to return back to school. We need to actively and deliberately campaign that this teenage pregnancy doesn’t mean they should give up schooling or give up formal education otherwise, if there are any laws which are in place saying a teenage mother cannot go back to school, we would like to know about them and work on them.”

On the positive side, Radhakrishnan says 38 countries in Africa have laws that protect the education of pregnant and young mothers.

“Far more countries have positive frameworks than countries lack them or have discriminatory measures. We have seen students excluded because teachers do not know whether the positive law exists, or parents don’t know there are great lessons to be learned … countries across Africa draw positive practices from their neighbors and develop useful guidelines that make sure that all girls — regardless of pregnancy or motherhood status — all girls are able to access education in Africa,” Radhakrishnan said.

Human Rights Watch urges authorities in countries that lack such laws to create legal frameworks that affirm girls’ right to education. The advocacy group also encourages countries that already have laws and policies to fully implement them so young mothers — and their children — can benefit.

Source: Voice of America

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden virtually joined Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer Tuesday to celebrate the CHIPS and Science Act, which aims to boost U.S. competitiveness against China by allocating billions of dollars toward domestic semiconductor manufacturing and scientific research.

“This bill makes it clear the world’s leading innovation will happen in America. We will both invent in America and make it in America,” Biden said. He was scheduled to join the event in person but had to remain in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19 again on Saturday in what his physician described as a “rebound” case.

In the coming days, Biden is expected to sign the legislation, which passed in a 243-187 vote in the House of Representatives and 64-33 vote in the Senate last week.

The $280 billion act includes $52 billion in incentives for domestic semiconductor production and research, as well as an investment tax credit for semiconductor manufacturing. Advocates say it will allow the U.S. to catch up in the global semiconductor manufacturing race currently dominated by China, Taiwan and South Korea.

Last year, a semiconductor shortage affected the supply of automobiles, electronic appliances and other goods, causing higher inflation globally and pummeling Biden’s public approval among American voters.

Michigan, a major hub for the American auto industry, has been one of the states hardest hit by the semiconductor shortage.

“This bill will mean humming factories and lower costs on electronics, medical devices, farm equipment and cars for working families,” Whitmer said.

The act includes $4.2 billion to fund defense initiatives and the U.S. mobile broadband market, particularly efforts to promote non-Chinese 5G equipment manufacturing.

Catching up with China

The U.S. share of global semiconductor manufacturing capacity has decreased from 37% in 1990 to 12% today, largely because other governments have offered manufacturing incentives and invested in research to strengthen domestic chipmaking capabilities, according to a state of the industry report by the Semiconductor Industry Association.

Now China accounts for 24% of the world’s semiconductor production, followed by Taiwan at 21%, South Korea at 19% and Japan at 13%, the report said.

With the CHIPS Act, the administration hopes to bring as much semiconductor manufacturing to the U.S. as practically possible, said Bonnie Glick, director of the Krach Institute for Tech Diplomacy at Purdue University.

“And what can’t be reasonably onshore, either because it’s cost prohibitive or other allied countries simply do it better, we can ally-shore manufacturing and support that,” she told VOA.

The two allies the administration has leveraged are South Korea and Japan, both of which Biden visited in May. In Seoul, he toured a Samsung computer chip factory that is the model for a $17 billion facility that the South Korean technology giant is setting up in the U.S. state of Texas.

Last week, the U.S. and Japan launched a new joint international semiconductor research hub under a “bilateral chip technology partnership” to bolster manufacturing for 2-nanometer chips as early as 2025.

Washington has also persuaded Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Ltd. (TSMC) to open a U.S. foundry to produce advanced semiconductors. The $12 billion facility in the state of Arizona was completed last month and is scheduled to start production of 5 nm chips by 2024. TMSC also has plants in China.

“We’re back in the game,” Biden said Tuesday. “Remember, we invented these chips, we modernized these chips, we made them work, and there’s a lot more we can get done.”

The CHIPS Act has laid out a clear strategy for Washington, said Volker Sorger, Professor at the George Washington University and co-founder of Optelligence Company.

“Gain autonomy and eliminate political dependencies on these global supply chain values,” Sorger told VOA.

That strategy puts the U.S. on a collision course with China, which also aims to be the global leader in semiconductors. In 2015, Beijing launched the Made in China 2025 project, which aimed to increase chip production from less than 10% of global demand at the time to 40% in 2020 and 70% in 2025.

The Made in China 2025 program and the People’s Liberation Army’s goal of military-civil fusion make it “overtly clear that Beijing is seeking to dominate global technology and supply chains through anti-competitive trade practices and infiltration of dual-use technology research,” Glick said.

The U.S. government has been pushing for stricter export regulations to China by prohibiting export of equipment needed for manufacturing chips at 14 nm and below. “That would mark an escalation from the previous ban covering 10 nm and below,” Glick added.

Taiwan’s strategic importance

Taiwan — a self-governed island that Beijing claims to be its breakaway province — lies at the heart of the increasingly tense U.S.-China rivalry.

Taipei has dominated manufacture of the world’s most high-tech chips, accounting for 92% of the global production of 10 nm or smaller semiconductors, essentially creating what some observers have characterized as a “silicon shield” that ensures American support in the event of a Chinese attack, as well as a deterrence to such a move.

A military conflict over Taiwan could disrupt TMSC’s semiconductor production and have disastrous effects on global manufacturing.

U.S.-China tensions are already spooking technology investors. TSMC shares fell nearly 3% on Tuesday as U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi landed in Taipei in a visit she said demonstrated American solidarity with the Taiwanese people.

Beijing has condemned the visit, the first by a U.S. House speaker in 25 years, as a threat to peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

Rare earths

The CHIPS Act does not include provisions to secure supply chains of rare earths — and other critical minerals used in semiconductors and other high-tech elements — to reduce the nation’s dependence on China, a major producer of these elements.

“I don’t know that we have developed a coherent strategy on accessing both rare and nonrare elements,” Glick said.

Last June, following Biden’s executive order to improve supply chains, the administration released a report concluding that the U.S. was overly reliant on China for critical minerals. Currently, China controls 87% of the global permanent magnet market, 55% of rare earths mining capacity and 85% of rare earths refining.

Earlier this year, the administration announced actions it said would bolster the supply chain of these elements, including a contract for U.S. company MP Materials to process heavy rare earth elements at its California production site — the first processing and separation facility of its kind in the nation.

Source: Voice of America