By: Doreen Ampofo
The qualifications of teachers in Africa are to be harmonized to ensure that learners across the continent receive standardized quality education.
The harmonization which will be done by the African Union will also address the deficit of teachers in the various member states.
The Commissioner for Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation at the AU, Prof. Mohammed Belhocine, in an interview in Accra on the sidelines of the Sixth African Union Mid-Year Coordination Meetings, said the Commission is currently working on the document that will see the realization of the drive.
According to him, the African continent has a 15 million teacher deficit which needs to be bridged by 2030 to achieve Universal Primary Coverage and secondary education.
Acknowledging challenges in Africa’s educational sector which include lack of investment, poor school attendance and disparities in learning outcomes, Prof. Mohammed Belhocine, said although education is in crisis around the world, especially in Africa, the AU is working on policies to improve outcomes.
“We are working on the document to ensure the qualification of teachers is harmonized. There is a deficit so, it will ensure that even though the content is different, the quality will be standardized for the pupils. “
He further explained that “Education in every middle income and low income country is challenged generally and performance is quite different depending on the expenditure on education. Indeed, in Africa, education is in crisis, and so there is a need for more investment into the sector by the individual countries. “
While encouraging countries to explore the use of AI to improve educational outcomes, Prof. Mohammed Belhocine, called for regulation and state-of-the-art infrastructure to take full advantage.
UNESCO, estimates that about 90 billion dollars is needed to finance education in Africa to attain the needed impact.
