Facing the technology revolution: New Education Model for Africa (NEMA)

Corbin Michel Guedegbe, Chief Education Analyst

AfDB Partnership Forum April 2012

(speaker / department)

Access to Education improving...but skills do not match labor market needs

Quality issue? Or Mismatch between demand and supply?

Education level 20002009

or LYA%

change

Preschool Gross Enrolment rate (GER, %)

17.5 27.2 +55%

Primary Completion rate (%)

54.3 70.2 +29%

Lower secondary (GER, %)

42.3 56.4 +33%

Upper secondary (GER, %)

20.1 28.0 +40%

Technical and Vocational Education

N.b. of Students per 100,000 inhabitants

406.8 450.0 +11%

Parity Index (general secondary = 100)

10.8 8.8 -18%

Higher educationN.b. of Students per

100,000 inhabitants509.2 793.3 +56%

The parity index (in %) represents the number of enrolled students in TVET per 100 students in general secondary education. Source AfDB data 2011

Evolving context: oportunities… Demographic dividend Immense natural resources ICT revolution

But Africa is laggingbehing in the broadbandrace …

New skills profiles required

Evolving skills context: Challenges facing youth

Rates of youth and adult unemployment in selected African countries.

Source: ILO, Key Indicators of the Labor Market, Seventh edition (forthcoming)

 

Education not relevant to the needs of the job market…

In Tunisia, almost 30% of higher education graduates in 2004 were still unemployed 3 years after graduation(twice the national average);

Although increasing, the employment rate of vocational training schools leavers was only 61% in Morocco in 2008, nine months after graduation;

In Gabon in 2010, almost 90% of unemployed youths (16-24 years old) would have preferred to obtain a job in the modern sector; less than 2% were ready to engage in self-employment;

In Tanzania, Vocational Education capacity is far from meeting current needs. The current annual flow of students into vocational education is less than five percent of the potential demand for VET skills.

The most educated are more likely to be unemployed or underemployed

Between 1999 and 2009, the number of university graduates in Sub-Saharan Africa more than tripled, rising from 1.6 mio. to 4.9 mio.

Unemployment rate among individuals aged 25-34

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

No formaleducation

Primary LowerSecodnary

UpperSecondary

Technical andVocationalTraining

Highereducation

Source: Mingat (2006) African Development Bank, 2011

2008: A shift towards higher education science and technology (HEST)

New Model for Higher Education in Africa (NEMA)

• ICT-based

• Linkages with the labor market

• PPPs

• Develop critical thinking

• Participatory

• Evidence-based

• The African Virtual University has established the largest network of Open Distance and eLearning institutions in over 30 Sub Saharan African countries and won the 2011 ‘Education-Portal.com’ prize.

• The regional center of excellence Carnegie Mellon in Rwanda will be the first highly ranked American university to operate a fully-fledged campus in Africa

Implementing NEMA: - in progress Several projects in the pipeline targeting human capital

development Ghana: Development of Skills for Industry

Project (building human capital for MIC economy)

Pan African University (PAU) Support project – Network of Centers of excellence Building human capital for 5 priority areas: Basic sciences

& Engineering; Life & Earth Sciences; Governance & Social Sciences; Water & Environment; Space Sciences

PAU-NET (PAU Network) Partnerships: Role of the Lead Thematic Partner

Other Projects in the pipeline (HEST/TVET): PPP Technical equipment IT platform Teacher & student exchange

For further enquiries:

Agnès SOUCAT, Director, Human Development Department, AfDB (a.soucat@afdb,org)

Boukary SAVADOGO, Manager, Education, Science and Technology Division (b.savadogo@afdb.org)

Corbin Michel GUEDEGBE, Chief Education Specialist, Education, Science and Technology Division (c.guedegbe@afdb.org)