𝗦𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 – 𝗨𝗡𝗘𝗦𝗖𝗢 𝗥𝗲𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁

A UNESCO report produced by the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) in partnership with the Association for Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) has revealed that children in most African countries are being taught using outdated materials
The report launched on May 7 by Zambia’s Minister of Education Douglas Syakalima at the 11th Conference of the African Federation of Teaching Regulatory Authorities (AFTRA) in Lusaka found that textbooks are often out-of-date and in the wrong language.
It indicated that learning materials in countries like Uganda arrived eight years after a new lower primary curriculum and nine to 12 years later in South Africa.
The report further disclosed that teachers in Niger and Mauritania use textbooks and teacher guides that are a decade or more older than the new curriculum.
Further, the findings indicate that textbooks were not in the language of instruction for 80% of students in Zambia and in less than half of the classrooms visited for the report in Uganda.
Further, in Niger, textbooks and teacher guides include statistics and probability, but the curriculum does not.
Commenting on the findings, Manos Antoninis, director of the GEM report, stated that teachers are set up to fail if they do not have the right materials to teach what is expected of them.
Antoninis said without the necessary teaching materials, teachers were being turned into interpreters and translators.
“We would not send a doctor without a stethoscope, for instance. Why should we assume teachers can teach without relevant, up-to-date teaching materials in appropriate languages?” Antoninis inquired.
The report has, however, indicated an improvement in completion rates.
In addition, it says learning rates at the end of primary have improved faster in Africa than the rest of the world since 2011, although the challenge remains notable, with at most one in five children attaining minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics at the end of primary school today.
Research from the report found that around three in five teachers in South Africa and Uganda had teaching guides compared to four in five in Mauritania and Zambia, although shortages or delays in provision were often noted.
Included in the GEM report recommendations is ongoing professional training for teachers, cited as important to improve their knowledge and refresh their qualifications, and which the report shows technology is helping with.
Availing all children with textbooks and teachers with guides has also been recommended for effective learning and teaching.
It further suggests giving children an opportunity to first learn to read in a language they understood, and their tutors being trained accordingly in order to support their pupils.
The report has further suggested giving all children minimum learning conditions, including meals, and developing a common continental framework to monitor learning outcomes.
Shift from projects to provision of public goods that support foundational learning at the international level, whilst suggesting the need to reinvigorate mechanisms allowing countries to share experiences on foundational literacy and numeracy at continental level are also proffered.
AFTRA is an intergovernmental organization comprising ministries of education and national agencies regulating teaching in all the African Union member states.
Member states have convened at the five-day conference taking place at the Mulungushi International Conference Center, to deliberate ways of improving educational standards in the continent.