Regional Bureau for Education in Africa
© UNESCO
The advances towards Education for All in Africa have been immense but many challenges remain.
UNESCO's Regional Bureau for Education in Africa works to improve education through technical assistance, policy advice, capacity-building and advocacy.
Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have registered extraordinary advances in achieving Education for All.
Since 2000, the region has:
- increased primary net enrolment ratios by almost one-third, despite a large rise in the school-age population;
- narrowed the gender gap at the primary level; and
- ensured that more children are moving from primary school to secondary education.
Yet major challenges remain. Sub-Saharan Africa is home to 43% of the world’s out-of-school children, levels of learning achievement are very low, gender disparities are still large, and the learning needs of young children, adolescents and adults continue to suffer from widespread neglect.
UNESCO's role
UNESCO's action focuses on the following areas:
- developing the regional agenda in education;
- providing expertise and capacity building;
- coordinating, analyze and monitoring UNESCO's education programmes; and
- implementing regional activities.
The Office focuses on building partnerships to address the multiple gaps that prevent African countries from achieving a quality education from early childhood development to higher education.
These gaps include:
- quality data to inform policy analysis and monitoring;
- appropriate policies that are based on data and research;
- appropriate national and international financing to implement policies; and
- the capacity in terms of skills and technology to properly plan, implement, and monitor education policies.