Africa Needs Revolution in Education, Says New AU Chairperson

Addis Ababa: Africa needs to create a revolution in its educational systems to achieve the plans and strategies of the continent, the new Chairperson of African Union said.

Addressing the opening the summit today, Chairperson Mohamed Ould Ghazouani said the success of plans and strategies in the continent depends on human resources and effective, quality educational system that is open to new technologies.

Education is the starting point for a sustainable development and a major support for peace and security, new job opportunities, and alleviation of poverty and marginalization, he added.

Noting that the youth represent about 62 percent of the African population at the moment, the chairperson said the loss of youth is the loss of the continent.

African youth are lacking the basic skills and are unemployed in their respective countries, he pointed out.

‘We (therefore) need a revolution in our educational systems,’ Ghazouani said, adding that the continent is lagging behind when it comes to achievement of
the fourth goal objective of development.’

Stressing the need to have comprehensive redevelopment, he emphasized that Africa needs to address the problems faced in its educational systems because of low accessibility, high rates of dropout, in addition to low quality of training and various challenges.

He stated that 75 percent of young Africans do not have the skills they need in secondary education.

All of us, ‘governments, civil society and the various actors have to deploy efforts to mobilize the human, technical, and financial resources to create revolution in our educational systems,’ Ghazouani underscored.

For the chairperson, the main aim is providing similar opportunities to girls and boys to have the necessary skills on continuous basis and unleash the potential of African women to enable them participate in the leadership positions and in development.

The 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government of the African Union, which kicked of this morning, is underway i
n Addis Ababa under the theme: ‘Educate an African fit for the 21st Century — Building resilient education systems for increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality, and relevant learning in Africa.’

Source: Ethiopian News Agency