Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA: Aug. 26 (EI) – The African Union (AU) has urged African countries and pan African institutions to exert concerted efforts so as to make education more accessible in line with the changing global environments.
“There is need to take advantage of the digital revolution to make education more accessible,” the 55-member pan African bloc said in a statement on Wednesday, as it urged African countries to “urgently” develop new and innovative approaches in transforming the continent’s education platform.
“The education systems have to develop new and innovative approaches at all levels from government policies to classroom teaching methods and informal learning, with the aim of empowering learners and teachers to adapt to their changing environments,” the AU said.
“This must be done urgently to achieve the goals set out in Agenda 2063 and SDGs, as well as the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA),” the statement read.
The Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA), among other things, emphasized the role of ICT as a “major tool for ensuring universal access, quality provision and delivery, and empowerment of school graduates for meaningful personal lives, and contribution to social economic development.”
The AU also stressed that the ICT sector “opens up possibilities for innovation, entrepreneurship and employability, flexibility in pedagogies, beating the limitation of time and space for varied learner needs, and simply enhancing confidence and dignity of graduates at all levels.”
The AU’s call came ahead of the upcoming Innovating Education in Africa Expo 2019, which will be held this week under the theme “Harness the Capacity of ICT to Ensure Inclusion, Quality and Impact in Education and Training in Africa.”
“The education expo contributes to the Pan-African E-university, an Agenda 2063 flagship project that aims to accelerate the development of human capital, science, technology and innovation through increasing access to high quality information across the continent from anywhere in the world at any time,” the AU said.
