On July 8, 2023, at the invitation of the Senegalese Ministry of Education, the KIX Africa 21 hub took part in the 10th sector review of the Senegalese government’s Program for Improvements to Quality, Equity and Transparency in Education (PAQUET-EF).
Held annually, PAQUET-EF is one of the most important forums for political dialogue on the challenges and performance of Senegal’s education system. In conjunction with its stakeholders, the program aims to analyze the extent to which the key points of the country’s education policy have been implemented during the previous school year, and to lay the foundations for major actions in the coming year.
PAQUET-EF is also an opportunity for major players in the education sector to meet and share knowledge, evidence and high-impact pedagogical practices.
The highlight of KIX Africa 21 hub’s participation was a presentation by Dr. Hamidou Boukary, Senior Administrator of KIX at IDRC, during the scientific day with the theme of “Transforming education: issues, challenges and prospects.”
Speaking on the panel “Consolidating changes in the education system after COVID-19 to promote the achievement of SDG4 targets,” Dr. Boukary presented KIX and the general context in which it was created. He then spoke about KIX actions during COVID-19, lessons learned from the pandemic, and key recommendations for strengthening education systems. In his speech, Dr. Boukary focused on the organic integration of remote learning into education systems, which must become hybrid.
As we know, the COVID-19 pandemic forced all countries, including those of the KIX Africa 21 hub, to review their strategies to ensure educational continuity. To better understand and support countries, KIX set up an Observatory on COVID-19, with the support of ADEA and AU/CIEFFA.
Through its reports, the KIX Observatory has contributed to:
- a deeper analysis of the various educational measures, policies and strategies introduced by countries, particularly in response to the pandemic;
- a general understanding of how the countries’ education systems work, with a focus on the well-being of students and teachers; and
- rapid availability of relevant information and evidence to guide decisions on issues such as funding for COVID-19 related education solutions.
These reports, which the KIX Africa 21 hub helped disseminate, are available on the KIX Observatory on COVID-19 website.
The data produced by KIX have shown that remote learning should not just be a back-up solution, but an integral part of education and teaching.
The KIX Africa 21 hub’s second participation in the PAQUET-EF sector review is a testimony to the quality of the close collaboration with the Senegalese Ministry of Education in co-creating relevant solutions for Senegal’s education system.
The KIX Africa 21 hub is led by a consortium comprising the Institut de la Francophonie pour l’Éducation et la Formation (IFEF-OIF), the Conference of Ministers of Education of French-Speaking States and Governments (CONFEMEN) and the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF). It brings together 21 countries of West Africa, Central Africa and the Indian Ocean, whose education landscapes share many similarities.
