A new report placing the spotlight on foundational literacy and numeracy in Uganda was published and launched this morning at the Foundations for Learning Conference organised by the Aga Khan University in Kampala. The work was undertaken by the GEM Report in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Sports.  It is part of the second cycle of the Spotlight, or Born to Learn, series on universal primary education completion and foundational learning in Africa, a partnership with ADEA and the African Union. This cycle, ‘Learning counts’ consists of one continental and four country repo ..read more

A new report placing a spotlight on foundational literacy and numeracy in South Africa was published and launched last month at the 2024 Basic Education Sector Lekgotla, the annual gathering on the state of basic education hosted by the Department of Basic Education. The work was undertaken by the Global Education Monitoring Report and the Association for the Development
of Education in Africa (ADEA) in partnership with the Department of Basic Education (DBE) officials and advocacy activities. It is the first country report to be launched as part of the second cycle of the ..read more

By Manos Antoninis, Director, GEM Report; Silvia Montoya, Director UNESCO Institute for Statistics; and Christian Stoff, Chief, Monitoring, Evaluation and Global Reporting, Education Cannot Wait In 2022, the UIS and the GEM Report proposed a major improvement in the way out-of-school rates and populations are estimated, making efficient use of different sources of information. Yet, the model has a weakness: when crisis strikes, estimates cannot be updated without new information. Sometimes such new information is collected. For instance, UNICEF carried out a household survey in Afghanistan in ..read more

As the continent convened for the launch of the African Union (AU) Year of Education in Addis Ababa, a lot of hope is in the air for the potential that can be unlocked for the continent with a focus on learning. Apart from the lifelong educational benefits from building foundational learning, ripple effects from this Year of Education will be felt across other areas too, from health to climate change and overall sustainable development. There is one pressing challenge that may stand in the way: the size of Africa’s education funding gap New GEM Report research shows that African countries requ ..read more

Radio can be a cost-effective and sustainable education technology. Considering that any school can be equipped with radios, there have relatively low entry barriers as well. The 2023 GEM Report reported evidence gathered by UNESCO showing that almost 40 countries use radio instruction to deliver education. Radios were also an important vehicle for education in the COVID-19 pandemic, with 40% of learners using radio and television instruction instead of, or as well as, digital options. The benefits of radio instruction Effective radio instruction programmes tend to be highly learner-centred, i ..read more

By Sukie Yang and Kai Feng, doctoral students at the University of Pennsylvania and 2023 GEM Report fellow Floods killed more than 800 people in Nigeria, Niger, and other nearby countries between June and October, 2022. The floods were deemed the “most devastating” in a decade by the people of Nigeria. Tragically, more than 1.3 million people had to relocate because of the floods, and over a million hectares of farmland were damaged. As people gather for the annual COP summit this week, it seems fitting to highlight the findings of our background paper prepared for the 2023 GEM Report on the i ..read more

By Quentin Wodon, Director of the UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa (UNESCO IICBA) in Addis Ababa November 1 is Africa Youth Day and an opportunity to recognize youth as key agents for social change, economic growth, and sustainable development. Youth are defined by the African Union as the population from 15 to 35 years of age. They account for over a third of Africa’s population and represent the continent’s future. They also matter for the world. According to United Nations statistics, by 2050, a fourth of the world’s population could live in Africa, and this co ..read more

By Anna Childs, UNICEF Digital Learning Specialist, Eastern and Southern Africa and Joshua Valeta, Director of Open, Distance and e-Learning, Ministry of Education, Malawi This blog, based on a background paper for the 2023 GEM Report, focuses on the importance of better quality content for open distance learning in higher education in sub-Saharan Africa. The volume of students qualifying for admission to higher education in sub-Saharan Africa in recent years has escalated in parallel with heightened demand and increased access to secondary education. However, higher education has traditionall ..read more

All children are #BorntoLearn, but so many never get the chance. Sub-Saharan Africa has the lowest rates of learning in the world, with at most one in five children reaching minimum proficiency in reading and mathematics.    When families realize their children do not benefit from school, it is more likely that they will leave school early. One in four children do not even finish primary school.  To help all children progress through school, there is still a lot more to be done, from better preparing and supporting teachers to ensuring all students have access to textbooks ..read more

By Chido Cleopatra Mpemba, African Union Commission Youth Envoy An education is a precious thing! Born and bred in Zimbabwe I was lucky enough to have been given strong foundations in and through education, which have enabled me through hard work and determination to pursue my goals.  I would not be here today fronting the voices of youth from over 55 countries as the youngest diplomat in the African Union without my parents, teachers, school principles and friends who believed in me and supported me on my learning journey. We cannot forget every African child has the right to an educatio ..read more