AMMAN / DAKAR / JOHANNESBURG / NAIROBI, 13 June 2024 – Ahead of Sunday’s Day of the African Child, this year’s theme is “Education for all children in Africa: the time is now’UNICEF publishes new education funding analyzes that show most African countries are not meeting their commitments to allocate 20 percent of their national budget benchmark to education, as recommended by the Sustainable Development Goal framework for action on education .
Nine of the 49 African countries – fewer than 1 in 5 – devoted 20 percent or more of their public spending to education, while 24 devoted at least 15 percent and six countries directed less than 10 percent.
Education is key to building human capital for prosperity on the continent. Funding is an important issue across Africa, enabling millions of children to acquire the fundamental skills needed for them and their countries to thrive in the future. Despite significant progress made by African governments in boosting enrollment in primary and lower secondary education over the past decade, schools are underfunded, classrooms overcrowded and there are insufficient teachers, many without adequate training and skills.
Low learning outcomes remain a major concern, with four out of five 10-year-olds in Africa unable to read and understand a simple story. As the African Union celebrates 2024 as the Year of Education, evidence shows that:
- About US$183 billion is needed annually to educate children in African countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals for education, while available resources amount to US$106 billion, leaving a funding gap of over 40%.
- Governments in Africa spend about two percent of their education budgets on pre-primary education, while 20 percent goes to tertiary education on average. 13 of the 40 governments with available data did not invest resources in early childhood education, while higher education continues to be a top priority.
- As of 2022, education spending is on average lower than pre-pandemic levels and on par with levels a decade ago. COVID-19 has caused a significant reduction in education spending across the continent, with real per capita spending on education in 2022 equaling the levels seen in 2012/13.
The need for investment will only escalate to meet the demands of a rapidly growing school-age population, as the continent is estimated to be home to 1 billion children by 2050. Without urgent attention, the massive lack of funding for education will be devastating for a generation students and the future economic growth and stability of the region.
“Children have a right to a quality education, but education systems are failing too many of them. To ensure prosperity in Africa, we urgently need to see a continental revolution where commitments are translated into concrete action so that children acquire the vital foundational skills necessary to progress to higher education and reach their full potential.” , says Etleva Kadilli, UNICEF. Regional Director Eastern and Southern Africa.
One of the most effective and cost-effective ways forward is to increase public investment in the early years, as studies confirm that pre-primary investment is among the most powerful governments can support. And yet preschool education continues to have the smallest share of the budget. Children between the ages of 3 and 6 may seem like they are just starting their life’s journey, but by this time more than 85 percent of their brain development is already almost formed. Hence the importance of investing early, to give them the opportunity for the best start in life.
“More than 100 million primary and secondary school children are out of school in Africa. Every child should receive the support they need – in learning, building relevant skills and accessing work and other opportunities – to reach their full potential and contribute to building an inclusive, productive and peaceful continent. Achieving such progress requires investing in human capital and promoting affordable, inclusive, accessible and relevant learning opportunities for all African children and youth,” adds Gilles Fagninou, UNICEF Regional Director for West and Central Africa.
“Across Africa children, youth and their school communities are affected by emergencies, both natural and man-made. It is important for leaders, decision makers and communities themselves to focus on building resilient and inclusive education systems at every level that can effectively support the continuum of learning, even in emergency situations and especially for the most vulnerable students. The continent and its children cannot afford further learning loss,” notes Adele Khodr, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa.
Tomorrow, Friday 14 June, the African Union Commission is organizing an event on education to mark the Day of the African Child 2024. During this event, UNICEF will call on African Union member states to prioritize pre-school and foundational learning for each child and quickly implement the following key actions:
- Recommit to making education a fiscal priority and reach the recommended benchmark of 20 percent annual expenditure on education by 2025.
- Increase fiscal attention to early learning and commit to allocate at least 10% of education budgets to pre-school education.
- Leverage international public and private resources, including soft loans and grants from international financial institutions, innovative financing mechanisms and public-private partnerships. Converting and spending Special Drawing Rights and negotiating debt relief that directly benefits education or other avenues for debt restructuring could free up large resources for education.
- Strengthening transparency and accountability in the planning, budgeting and management of educational systems.
- Improving the efficiency of budget funds including addressing inefficiencies across the education spending chain.
- Invest more in teachers and develop clear schemes to fund recruitment, retention and professional development.
- Improving equity in education spending and service delivery and ensure that no child is left behind in accessing quality learning.
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