High-quality education enhances the expertise and skills needed in the job market. It gives both the rich and the poor equal opportunities in society. However, in Africa, the standard of education is a subject that has elicited debates over the years, hence warranting the need for further discussions. Education exclusion is an enormous issue in the continent, making some elites desire to establish private schools for their children (World Bank Group, 2018). Therefore, if the recommendations are implemented, it is possible to overcome the issues.
Some wealthy Africans seek better education abroad since their countries’ public schools are in deplorable conditions. For instance, average class sizes exceed 70 pupils in Malawi, Tanzania, and the Central African Republic (Bowne et al., 2017). According to Tchamyou (2020), the study of school enrollments between 1996 and 2014 revealed that 20% of African children aged 6 to 11 years and 33% aged 12 to 14 are out of school. Ilie and Rose (2016) who conducted a study in 2015 for UNESCO reveal that the number of primary-aged children out of school in Africa accounts for over 50% of the global total. The 2015’s research by Ilie and Rose (2016) further indicates that young men are more likely to attend higher education than young women in Africa. Studies conducted in 2015 and 2017 by Hakura et al. (2016) and Musau (2018) respectively, indicate that the higher education enrolment is 4% in Africa, due to the high cost of education. The main concern is to address how African learners can access education from other regions after going through their basic training, which is paid for by the government and supplemented by parents.
The training of educators is one other issue affecting education quality in Africa. Based on the UNESCO Institute of Statistics of 2020, as conducted by Raikes et al. (2020), only 25% of pre-primary teachers and 50% of secondary school educators are trained. Raikes et al. (2020) further indicate that education exclusion among girls aged 6 to 11 is at 23% compared to 19% among boys and 36% and 32% among adolescent girls and boys. Therefore, through UNESCO records on the percentage of school enrollments, this study will analyze the quality of admission in African schools to examine the reasons for dropouts, including economic factors, early pregnancies, drug use, and political and other social issues. I will make recommendations geared towards overcoming barriers to quality education through policy changes in the region.
References
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