KIX Africa 19 Hub Strengthens Data-driven Education Policy

The KIX Africa 19 Hub Focal Points Meeting took place in Senegal on December 1-2, 2025. It gathered KIX focal points from Ministries of Education in GPE Partner countries across Africa, along with project managers from UNESCO IICBA, UNICEF ESARO, AU-IPED, and International Development Research Centre (IDRC). Part of the Global Partnership Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX), a joint initiative with IDRC Canada, the meeting aimed to enhance evidence uptake, promote peer learning, and align policies within education systems in Africa.

Over the two days, the conversation focused on progress made and promising practices in teacher professional development and in establishing and strengthening teaching councils, evidence use in policy reforms, gender and inclusion, and data systems. 

Representatives from Kenya and Lesotho shared lessons from their peer exchange on curriculum adaptation, assessment, teacher education, and functional assessment for learners with disabilities - demonstrating how peer learning can drive meaningful reform. 

“It was not like we were [not] talking to Lesotho, but we also realized that there were so many things we are learning from [visiting] them. Things that we had observed, especially when we visited the schools, [which] provoked our thinking regarding our practice.” - Mr. Fred Haga, Director of Special Education, Ministry of Education, Kenya

These exchanges revealed that inclusive education is not a standalone programme but a lens through which education systems should be planned, resourced, and evaluated. South Sudan emphasized the importance of sustained government commitment and cross-sector coordination as critical enablers of inclusive education reform. Meanwhile, Somalia reflected on their decade-long process of defining inclusive education in a fragile context, noting how cultural barriers and examination practices can exclude learners if inclusion is not deliberately designed. 

Building on these inclusion insights, representatives from Ghana, Zambia, and Nigeria also highlighted key outcomes and progress from the Regional Capacity Strengthening Workshops conducted in June in Zambia, in September in Nigeria, and in November in Ghana. These cross-country learning exchanges enabled participants to reflect on practical approaches to strengthening teacher management systems and establishing effective teaching councils that can better oversee and support teacher professional development. In particular, the Nigerian experience underscored the critical role of timely, reliable information and effective knowledge-sharing mechanisms in ensuring that data and evidence are meaningfully used to inform decision-making at the national level.

With the importance of data clearly established, the discussions then turned to data systems, where AU-IPED presented the status of EMIS policies across KIX Africa 19 Hub countries. Liberia demonstrated its commitment to data systems, after learning from regional experts during the Peer Review and a high-level National Dialogue that engaged key stakeholders to identify key challenges and design solutions and a costed three-year action plan. Uganda was also cited as an example of how EMIS can support decentralized decision-making, particularly at the district level. However, while progress is evident, the absence of EMIS policies in several countries remains a critical gap, reinforcing the need for coherent, reliable data to inform planning and ensure meaningful inclusion. “Information that is not shared, is not useful information,” as Dr. Ebby Mubanga, Registrar of the Teaching Council of Zambia and Organizer of the Regional Competence Workshop in Zambia, highlighted. 

Throughout the discussion, cross-country learning continued to show impact, including Lesotho’s inclusive education roadmap, Nigeria’s Education Data Bank and teacher training reforms, and Kenya’s gender-responsive policy shifts all reflecting the tangible impact of KIX-supported collaboration. Complementing these policy advances, evidence use in action was also showcased - Liberia’s costed EMIS action plan, Uganda’s growing Evidence Labs model, and Sierra Leone’s work on teacher management reforms demonstrated how countries are translating research and peer learning into policy and system improvements. 

The KIX Africa 19 Hub built on this momentum by deepening its focus on evidence uptake strategies, 2026 priorities, and the evolving role of KIX focal points. Strengthening disability data and EMIS functionality emerged as shared priorities. Ultimately, the meeting reaffirmed that KIX is more than a platform - it is a growing community of practice. As this community matures, focal points are increasingly driving evidence use within their ministries, championing data, inclusion, and peer learning.