N Pandor: Conference of Ministers of Education of the African
Union

9 August 2007

Dr Beatrice Njenga, Director of HRST in the AU
Professor Nagia Essayed, Commissioner HRST
Ambassador Dr Musa bin Jaafar Hassan, President of the General Conference of
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco)
Dr Boubekeur Benbouzid, Minister of Education, Algeria
Ministers and Deputy Ministers of Education

Today is Women's Day. It is important to explain what Women's Day is about.
In 1956, black women in our country were required to carry passes.

So South African women across all racial groups came together and decided
that they would march to Pretoria. On 9 August 1956, they organised buses,
secretly, occupied the trains, and marched in thousands to the Union Buildings,
the headquarters of the government to confront Strydom, the prime minister at
the time.

The women sang a song: "Strydom, you have touched the women, you have struck
a rock". It is great pleasure to welcome you all to South Africa. I trust that
our arrangements have been to your satisfaction.

It is a great honour to address you all.

Conference of the Ministers of Education of the African Union (Comedaf) is
an important part of our decade plan. It builds on the important discussions
and deliberations of two previous Comedafs; and I anticipate that the debates
that we will have over the coming two days will be the sharper for the detailed
preparation that our officials have made on all the issues.

The challenge of achieving access to quality educational opportunity
confronts each of our countries. It is imperative that we succeed, because
quality education will give life to strong and vibrant democracies and to
sustained economic success.

Our countries have made real progress in expanding primary education access.
We now need to give effect to access to secondary schooling and to expand our
post-secondary education.

Our improved economies promise higher levels of employment and work. They
will contribute to political and social stability and strengthen the capacity
of citizen to exercise democratic rights and to participate effectively in
decision-making.

The continued success of Africa depends on our success in implementing our
education plan. In particular, higher education has a specific and important
role in national development. It can enhance the achievement of our development
goals through promoting scientific research and intellectual development.

As our second decade plan indicates all facets of education (vocational,
higher education and formal schooling) have a role to play in African
advancement. Comedaf III is focused on elaborating strategies that will support
us in implementing our second decade. It is an opportunity for us to reflect on
progress and to define renewed efforts for pursuing our core objectives.

It may be useful for our meeting to reflect on what we need to do to ensure
we succeed. We must ask ourselves whether this form of meeting every two years
is sufficient to the tasks we face.

Africa is a continent of great diversity in culture and economic
development. There are many countries that need significant support to achieve
the Education For All (EFA) goals, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and
our African goals. All these are linked, but what more should we do to promote
success?

Too many African countries will not meet the target for universal primary
education by 2015, having missed the 2005 MDG targets. Several countries did
not receive the required international support, while others failed to develop
plans or allocate sufficient resources to pursue the goals.

In June this year, under the aegis of the World Economic Forum an African
competitiveness report was released, the latest in a serious of reports. It
looked closely at health and basic education, as two of the most important
pillars on which a society or a country's competitiveness is based.

The report revealed that health and basic education had improved
substantially in north Africa, as it has in other developing regions, but not
in sub-Saharan Africa, where we are falling behind the rest of the world.

To be specific, north Africa has achieved an average net primary enrolment
rate of close to 100%, similar to that in Latin America, a region where
educational attainment has improved remarkably in recent years under a
concerted set of government policies.

At the same time, the net primary enrolment rate also improved significantly
in sub-Saharan Africa. This is something to be proud of, but we still bring up
the rear in the world rankings.

Literacy rates have also improved significantly in all regions since 1990
but once again less quickly in sub-Saharan Africa. This decline calls for more
investment in education; more focused planning and increased expert capacity to
advice and support our systems.

Yet the report tells us that educational spending has actually declined in
sub-Saharan Africa in recent years. In 1990 sub-Saharan and north Africa spent
similar sums on education, but by 2004 the gap had widened.

In sub-Saharan Africa, where access to primary education is low, we need to
give clear attention in resources and political will power to improving access,
retention, and completion in quality primary education, while also improving
access and opportunity at other levels of education. Where resources do not
exist, we must develop strong regional partnerships.

We are moving into a new global phase in which international bodies all seem
to agree that developing countries need to expand investment in secondary
education not only for its own sake, but also to increase the supply of
teachers needed to support universal primary education.

Globally, it is estimated that up to $10 billion a year of additional
external support will be needed to universalise primary education. Another $10
billion will be needed to universalise access to lower secondary schooling. The
money is talked about in many fora, but it has not yet reached our education
departments. Some richer countries have said they are keen to support education
in Africa. In July 2005 the Group of Eight (G8) meeting pledged an additional
$50 billion in aid to the developing world, with half of that sum directed
towards sub-Saharan Africa.

So there seems to be political will in the G8. Where is this money? So the
international commitment to Poverty and Environment Program (UPE) appears to be
backed up by political will and resources. This meeting should ensure that
those commitments become a reality.

Comedaf should be a strong forum for ensuring that such promises are pursued
and acted upon. We should not allow statements to be made and the impression
created in the public domain that the funds have been allocated.

We know that the money is not coming to Africa. And we need to challenge the
kinds of statement that indicate that the funds have been offered and
spent.
Equity is a further objective that we should pursue with vigour.

By equity we mean the belief that all individuals should have access to
learning opportunities of equivalent if not equal standard or quality, and not
be hobbled by disadvantages in health, wealth or birth.

Too often in our histories the pursuit of equity has been at the expense of
quality. Too many policy choices have left too many children without the
attention of inspiring and committed teachers.

Quality in education often comes down to the simple fact that good teachers
produce good pupils. Quality means more than this, but it cannot mean less.
Teachers have to know their subjects and be committed to new teaching
practices.

In conclusion, I return to my question of how we should strengthen Comedaf?
We have the positive development of a soon to be finalised collaboration
between the African Union and Association for the Development of Education in
Africa (ADEA). There is no doubt that this will strengthen Comedaf.

I believe that we should be guided by our heads of state and their debate on
a united African governance structure. Their conclusion that the Regional
Economic Communities (RECs) should play a more direct role in promoting
regional coherence and co-ordination and preparing for unity serves as wise
counsel.

I wish to propose honourable colleagues that we should hold regional
education conferences for monitoring and assessing our progress towards
achieving the goals of our decade plan.

I believe that annual regional consultations will serve a useful organising
purpose for each of our countries, and will assist us in planning focused
interventions and in sharing expertise and institutional resources.

Thank you.

Issued by: Department of Education
9 August 2007
Source: Department of Education (http://www.education.gov.za)