The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (Adea) last month concluded its yearly policy dialogue on secondary education in Africa.

In partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB), South Africa’s Department of Basic Education and the MasterCard Foundation, the dialogue reached a consensus that it was critical to reform secondary education in Africa by enhancing the teaching profession, quality learning and twenty-first-century skills provision, and by embracing innovation and information and communication technology (ICT).

Opened by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the dialogue brought together education Ministers from across Africa to discuss how to design and transform education systems within secondary education to better prepare African youth for the changing nature of work.

“Africa’s demographic dividend can only be earned through our investment in the continent’s highest-yielding resource: its young people,” said Ramaphosa.

He added that “secondary education empowers young people at a time when they are most hopeful, experimental and flexible in their lives, and we should embrace this life stage as one to empower young people to take charge of their lives and our collective future.”

The MasterCard Foundation’s report ‘Secondary Education in Africa: Preparing Youth for the Future of Work’ is the foundation’s latest collaborative effort between multiple donors, partners and research organisations, including a key partnership with Adea.

The report, to be released in early 2020, focuses on the role of secondary education in ensuring that youth acquire the skills, knowledge and competencies needed to succeed in a dynamic and globalised labour market.

“African countries need to reform secondary education starting from attracting strong applicants in the teaching profession, and training and retraining adequate numbers of teachers, as well as providing work skills for young people to increase their adaptability and resilience,” said Adea executive secretary Albert Nsengiyumva.

He also highlighted the importance of innovative financing mechanisms for sustainability, and giving more priority to technical, vocational and educational training, as well as science, technology, engineering and mathematics and ICT by strengthening public–private partnerships.

The event also provided the opportunity for African education Ministers and other key stakeholders to be informed about the recent workshop to establish the African Education Fund - “the unique African mechanism to address the challenges of education and skills development in Africa”, said AfDB education and skills development manager Hendrina Chalwe Doroba.