This Call to Action was delivered by Gloria Anderson (Tanzania) at the 2022 ECOSOC Youth Forum on behalf of the Africa Youth Partnership to Advocate an Equitable Recovery from the Global COVID-19 Pandemic.
Education systems in Africa have not been spared the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic. With very little warning, the whole approach to education through classroom teaching became unviable, with little planned to replace it.
As we launch the Africa Youth Partnership:
- We call on African governments, working with international and private sector partners, to take the lead in developing the infrastructure for 21st century education for all. They should see the experience of COVID-19 as an opportunity to stimulate technology-assisted learning across the education sectors;
- We also call on governments, local authorities and education institutions in Africa to urgently build an appropriate distance and technology-enabled component into the curriculum, integrating a blended, self-paced element into all learning, without disadvantaging any child. African governments should also prioritise the training of teachers in the use of technology and in conducting lessons online.
- We further call on governments in Africa to develop, through fiscal measures and other incentives, an enabling environment and to encourage the private sector to contribute to a firm technological basis for education systems.
Thank you!
