News

From 14 to 17 March 2017, Africa’s education policy-makers, representatives of development agencies, civil society and other stakeholders in education convened for the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) triennial conference in Dakar, Senegal.

The Conference, whose theme was Revitalising education towards the 2030 global agenda and Africa’s Agenda 2063, is deemed the most important global event on education and training in Africa. According to the organisers, keynote addresses and presentations at the Conference were based on practical evidence through a systematic and careful analysis of best practices, innovations and case studies that have been successful in African countries and can be replicated and/or scaled up.

AFIDEP’s Executive Director, Dr Eliya Zulu spoke on transferable skills in the context of implementing education and lifelong learning for sustainable development. Specifically, Dr Zulu shared study findings on how governments in sub-Saharan Africa are undertaking reforms of their formal secondary as well as technical and vocational education and training (TVET) systems to better incorporate training in transferable skills.

Education Ministers from various countries engaged in dialogues in order to provide a roadmap as to how African countries can effectively achieve the 2030 sustainable development goals (SDGs) and Africa’s Agenda 2063 on education on the continent.

Ultimately, the Conference sought to provide a platform where the various stakeholders could share their experiences and collectively develop the strategies and define conditions and factors critical for the operationalisation and successful implementation of the framework of action to reposition and revitalise education and training in Africa for the 2030 Agenda and Africa’s Agenda 2063.

The Republic of Senegal hosted the Conference under the high patronage of H.E. Macky Sall, President of the Republic of Senegal, and Lead Champion for the Committee of Ten Champion African Heads of State on Education, Science and Technology. H.E. Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank Group moderated the presidential roundtable on financing education in Africa.