From May 22-23, 2023, an inception meeting was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to discuss the future of the KIX Africa 19 Hub following an extension of the program up to 2027. The meeting was attended by focal points from eighteen Global Partnership for Education (GPE) partner countries in Eastern, Western, and Southern Africa, as well as project advisors from Education International, Regional Economic Communities such as the East Africa Community, VVOB, and the Africa Federation of Teaching Regulatory Authorities.
The goals of the meeting were to develop and agree upon common objectives of the Hub’s extension work plan and to co-create collaboration opportunities and an action plan transitioning to the next phase within the partner countries. The meeting, which marked the official addition of Eswatini as a Hub country member, began with a review of the gains, success, and key lessons learnt during the implementation of the first phase of the KIX Africa 19 Hub. This was followed by a discussion of the newly proposed project activities and milestones for the extension.
For example, more than 90% of focal points identified that implementing policies and translating policies into practice was a key skill area in which their Ministries are interested in receiving continued capacity strengthening support in the extension. Other areas in which focal points expressed further capacity support included generating evidence as well as analyzing and synthesizing data.
The participants also discussed how to improve the role and engagement of country partners in Hub activities to strengthen national education systems and accelerate educational progress. Looking towards integrating the KIX model at a more grassroots level, Alpha Ba, focal point from The Gambia, noted the opportunity to “create more local based knowledge that is locally driven and where teachers and administrators can exchange and share knowledge with each other.”
The inception was followed by an Executive Education and Policy Academy, organized by UNESCO IICBA, which sought to equip focal points with the knowledge needed to improve teacher policies and education systems in Africa.
For further information or inquiries, please contact the KIX Africa 19 Hub Secretariat at kix.iicba@unesco.org and follow us on Twitter.
