The First Lady Jeannette Kagame joined other FLEX 2024 to discuss the future of Foundational learning.
The second edition of the Africa Foundational Learning Exchange (FLEX 2024) ended Wednesday with African countries making a commitment to end learning poverty and double efforts in funding foundational learning in a bid to boost the quality of education.
The three-day gathering which brought together over 540 education leaders, including more than a dozen ministers of education and ministerial representatives from 34 African countries concluded with a call for Africa to take urgent action to address the challenges holding back foundation learning.
In the draft resolutions which will be forwarded to leaders and governments to “fully own them” recommend that countries make an urgent commitment to improve foundational learning for every child on the continent.
FLEX 2024 hosted by Rwanda came at a critical time as learning poverty rates in sub-Saharan Africa approach 90 percent, according to reports by UNESCO’s Global Education Monitoring Report, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), and the African Union.
Studies by the World Bank highlight that addressing this challenge could unlock an estimated $6.5 trillion in economic opportunities. However, failure to act could result in economic losses of up to $17 trillion across the continent.
The World Bank estimates a $97 billion funding gap in education for Sub-Saharan Africa, underscoring the urgent need for committed and collaborative action among African nations and development partners.
The summit concluded that partners including the Africa Union, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), the World Bank, UNICEF, Hempel Foundation, USAID and all development partners represented at FLEX 2024, will work together to ensure that the target is met by 2035.
More than 540 leaders from across the continent.
“Foundational learning is the basis for all future learning and economic empowerment. It ensures that our children are equipped with the literacy, numeracy and essential skills, such as character-building, problem solving and social and emotional skills to develop, learn and contribute to the social and economic development of the continent,” the resolution reads.
As the meeting in Kigali came to an end, there was a unanimous agreement through the declaration of action that it is about time countries focused on efforts to scale foundation education initiatives across Africa to reverse the learning poverty challenge, which is the inability of children to meet basic literacy and numeracy milestones, bearing in mind the substantial threat to Africa’s future workforce.
“It is therefore critical to position foundational learning as a pivotal strategy for long-term prosperity, peace and security across Africa, thereby contributing to achievement of universal quality education -a key aspect of the continental education strategy for Africa and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 4,” the draft declaration endorsed by the Ministers of Education reads.
Rwanda’s Minister of Education, Joseph Nsengimana, who officiated the closing ceremony, said that as Africa leaves Kigali, the commitment to create a change was real and urgent.
“I think you would all agree with me that we have learnt from each other, we have exchange ideas and we leave here convinced that indeed, it is possible to solve these challenges that are before us,”
“Over these three past three days, we have shared invaluable Insight strategies and vision to tackle foundational learning challenges across Africa. Your active participation has made the dialogue very meaningful and transformative.
Minister Nsengimana called for concerted efforts to address challenges affecting foundational learning.
“In closing, let us remind each other that our work extends beyond these sessions. Together we are laying the foundation for a future in which every African child has access to quality education. I call upon my fellow Ministers to join me in ending learning poverty, in the coming decade,”
“Let us make this our shared priority working together and learning from one another to achieve this goal. It is possible. We are thankful for our partners who have supported this initiative and contribute in making FLEX 2024 a success. Your commitment to the foundational learning is inspiring,”
FLEX 2024 acknowledged the commitments that African countries have made through policy reforms, increased budget allocation and implementation of evidence-based approaches that support foundational learning since 2023.
The 34 African nations that met in Kigali pledged unprecedented decade-long education reform to transform the futures of millions of children, with 22 Ministers of Education, and 12 Heads of Ministerial Delegations from 34 countries in Africa endorsing the African Union’s call to declare a ‘Decade of Education’, aimed at tackling the continent’s learning crisis.
The stakes are unprecedented. The World Bank projects that success could unlock Africa’s contribution to the global economy, to the tune of $6.5 trillion in economic potential by 2030. Conversely, failure to act threatens catastrophic consequences – an estimated $17 trillion in lifetime learning losses across low and middle-income countries globally.
This stark contrast underscores the critical importance of immediate, decisive action to transform Africa’s educational landscape.
These considerations followed the passionate appeal by the First Lady Jeanette Kagame, who was the guest of honour at the opening ceremony, calling on leaders and government to address the challenges that continue to hamper foundational learning in order to raise an educated and informed young population.
Mrs. Kagame said that reading and comprehension of simple texts is still an issue for 9 out of 10 children aged 10 and below, in the majority of African countries, something she said rings serious alarm bells.
The First Lady emphasized the foundational learning is pivotal in shaping the character of a child.
“Should we fail to strengthen Foundational Learning and critical thinking, increase primary education completion rates, and allocate more resources to education, specifically to the more vulnerable learners, what is to be the long-term cost to the youth of this continent, their skills development, employability, and social welfare?” she pondered, pointing out that urgent action is needed.
In a televised message, President Hakainde Hichelima of Zambia, who is also the Africa Champion of Foundational Learning, called on countries to be more intentional on improving foundational learning.
“We need to start thinking more strategically about innovative models of funding education and to use our resources more effectively. We need to implement evidence-based approaches and scale what works to improve foundational learning on the continent and we need robust accountability mechanisms at national, regional, and continental levels for both partners and governments,” President Hichilema said.
The summit, attended by over 540 global education leaders and featuring 25 technical sessions, culminated in a five-point declaration that will transform the landscape of African education.
FLEX 2024 set five core commitments, including setting and achieving a continental target of zero learning poverty by 2035 through concentrated investment in foundational skills and systematic measurement of progress across all participating nations as well as the full endorsement and implementation of the African Union’s Decade of Education initiative, mobilizing resources and political will for sustained educational transformation.
African countries sent themselves a 10 year target to make a change.
The meeting in Rwanda also agreed to establish a robust inter-country collaboration frameworks to facilitate knowledge exchange, share best practices, and create synergistic learning opportunities across African nations. It also resolved to scale evidence-based interventions through efficient resource allocation, focusing on proven methodologies that demonstrably improve foundational learning outcomes at the country level.
Countries agreed to implement comprehensive data and accountability mechanisms to track progress, ensure quality assessment, and coordinate partner initiatives for maximum impact across the continent.
This unprecedented collaboration between governments, and development partners including the World Bank, ADEA, UNICEF, USAID, FCDO, Hempel Foundation, New Globe, and UNESCO, marks a turning point in Africa’s educational journey.
