From May 16 to 17, 2023, a workshop was held in Dakar, Senegal, to report on three (3) studies to improve the quality of education in the partner countries of the KIX Africa 21 hub.
As part of the implementation of the KIX Africa 21 hub activities, these studies were carried out by the Conference of Ministers of Education of French-Speaking States and Governments (CONFEMEN), in collaboration with the other members of the consortium, the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) and the Organisation internationale of la Francophonie (OIF) through its Institut de la Francophonie pour l’Éducation et la Formation (IFEF), who are leading the hub. They cover the following:
- Capacity-building strategies for education system stakeholders of sub-Saharan African countries in institutional learning and knowledge management;
- Distance learning practices in response to the COVID-19 crisis. Identification of strengths and weaknesses, and prospects for sustainability through inclusion in the education sector plans of sub-Saharan African countries;
- Analysis of the programs of sub-Saharan African countries and of international benchmarks for lower secondary education in language, mathematics and science, with a view to producing specification tables for a PASEC evaluation.
These studies, commissioned by the KIX Africa 21 hub, are designed to provide factual answers to the challenges facing education systems in a number of countries. They contribute to policy dialogue and decision-making in the field of education.
The reporting workshop, attended by representatives of the countries covered by the KIX Africa 21 hub and educational researchers, provided an opportunity to gather relevant input to improve the scientific quality and, above all, the political relevance of the findings of these studies.
To contextualize the importance of these studies, Dr. Maïmouna SISSOKO-TOURE, Coordinator of the KIX Africa 21 hub, noted that it would be helpful if all the knowledge generated could have a positive impact on the education systems. She added that the findings and recommendations of these studies will be used to develop relevant and effective strategies to support the countries in capacity building, knowledge sharing and innovation.
As for Fatimata Ba Diallo, representing the Secretary General of CONFEMEN, she indicated at the closing ceremony that, with the results obtained, it would be a matter of seeing how States and governments could capitalize on these good practices and reinvest them in education systems to make them more effective.
Annabelle OSTYN and Rémy YAMEOGO, representing the AUF and IFEF-OIF, respectively, stressed the importance of these studies and their added value in transforming education systems.
As a reminder, the KIX Africa 21 hub is led by a consortium comprising the Organisation internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) through its Institut de la Francophonie pour l’Éducation et la Formation (IFEF), 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 educational settings share many similarities.
Watch the infomercial for the workshop (French only): https://youtu.be/TLCNqvlsPIo
