Ei-iE

In a pivotal webinar discussing the new Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA) 2026-35, African education leaders emphasized the critical need for investment in teachers. The theme of the forum, "Invest in Teachers, Invest in the Africa We Want," resonated throughout the discussions. Speakers also highlighted the African Union's Agenda 2063 for continental development and Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), as well as the need to push governments to do their outmost to achieve CESA targets.

A call to action

Education International (EI) Vice-President for Africa, Marième Sakho Dansokho, opened the forum with a stark reminder: "Colleagues, we know fully well from UNESCO data that Africa is the region furthest away from achieving Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) on quality education. One of the primary reasons is simply because we don't have enough teachers in Africa."

The new strategy, adopted by the African Union, aims to address these challenges by focusing on teacher recruitment, training, and professional development. "We commend the African Union for developing this very important new blueprint or strategy for education," Sakho Dansokho added. "We are delighted that many of our recommendations found their way into the final document."

Union advocacy

For EI Africa (EIA) Regional Committee Chairperson, Mariama Chipkaou, the role of education unions is clear: “As education unions, we advocate for every child's right to a quality education through state-funded and regulated education systems. We believe it is the responsibility of public authorities to ensure that all children, youth, and adults have access to quality education adapted to their needs."

Chipkaou noted that EI Africa participated in the AU Continental Conference on Education, Youth and Employability, held in Nouakchott, Mauritania, from 9 to 11 December 2024. The Conference noted with concern that Africa needed 15 million more teachers to achieve its education goals.

She also stressed that “the newly adopted CESA for the period 2026-35 was developed based on lessons learned from the implementation of the CESA 2016-25 objectives. These lessons include the need to adequately fund education and recruit well-trained, motivated, and supported teachers.”

The importance of teachers to achieve global goals

Dr Dennis Sinyolo, Director of the EIA regional office, also emphasized the importance of investing in teachers to achieve Africa's educational goals. “The African Union’s Agenda 2063: The Africa we Want cannot be achieved without adequate investment in education and teachers. We know fully well from UNESCO data and EI’s own research that Africa is furthest away from achieving SDG4."

“We know the reasons why: our governments are not investing sufficiently in education, teachers and infrastructure. It is therefore paramount that we put pressure on our governments to redouble efforts to accelerate progress towards the achievement of SDG4 by the 2030 deadline,” he added.

Transforming the education sector

Sophia Ndemutila Ashipala, Head of the Education Division at the African Union Commission, presented the new CESA strategy, explaining that it aims to transform Africa's education sector by enhancing access, quality, and relevance across all levels. She outlined the strategy's key components, including its vision for inclusive education, lessons learned from the previous strategy, and main challenges like teacher shortages and funding gaps.

“CESA is a long-term strategic framework aimed at transforming Africa’s education sector. The strategy is designed to enhance access, quality, and relevance of education across all levels in African Union (AU) Member States. The strategy just endorsed at the last Summit of the African Union in February 2025 aligns with Agenda 2063, which is the African Union’s vision for a prosperous and integrated Africa. It also aligns with SDG4, which focuses on ensuring inclusive and quality education for all and promoting lifelong learning.”

Ashipala also explained that CESA 2026-35 has six strategic areas, with 20 objectives within these areas.

“There is an action area focusing on teachers, educators, and caregivers, whose objective is to improve teacher policies, training, and professional development. Its implementation implies the following: Strengthen teacher recruitment, provide continuous training, improve working conditions, and promote leadership opportunities for female educators.”

She also mentioned CESA implementation mechanisms, involving the African Union (AU) – providing overall leadership, policy guidance, and coordination –; Member States – adapting and integrating CESA 2026-35 into national education policies, mobilizing resources, and implementing reforms –; and Regional Economic Communities (RECs) – acting as intermediaries between the AU and Member States, facilitating collaboration, monitoring progress, and promoting best practices at the regional level.

Links between CESA 2026-35 and EI’s Go Public! Fund Education campaign

EIA Regional Coordinator Pedi Anawi highlighted the connections between CESA 2026-35 and the EI Go Public! Fund Education campaign.

“For EI, teachers are the most central component to achieve quality education,” Anawi said. He went on acknowledging “the dramatic shortage of teachers in Africa and the need for continued professional development to meet the demands of a rapidly changing education environment.”

He also noted that the EI Go Public! Fund Education campaign and CESA 2026-35 both highlight that African countries are falling short of targets for public education expenditure. “They also recognize the urgent need to address the teacher shortage as a sine qua none condition to achieve quality education for all, the importance of evidence-based policies, funding, governance, and partnerships, as well as the need for adequate funding in line with international benchmarks, to make policy implementation possible.”

Panel Discussion: Ensuring the Implementation of CESA 2026-35

The panel discussion titled “What can your organisation do to ensure that your government effectively implements CESA 26-35?” brought together various education union leaders.

Béatrice Agnès Bikoko from the Fédération Camerounaise des Syndicats de l’Éducation (FECASE) in Cameroon stated: “Education unionists in Cameroon addressed a memorandum to the Education ministry and sent a brief to local teachers underlining the importance to fund public education and invest in education personnel.”

Zadock Tumuhimbise, Uganda National Teachers Union (UNATU) National Chairman, shared that “in February 2023, UNATU launched activities to fight privatization and commercialization and increase funding in education. The time is now for the government to devise strategies to make the profession more attractive and motivate teachers or the shortage will remain. UNATU met with MPs and policymakers in Kampala to talk about planned reduction of funds to education in February 2024. We went to the media with a trend-setting role in favor of quality public education.”

Herminia Maria da Conceicao Ferreira do Nascimento, President of the Sindicato Nacional dos Professores (SINPROF) in Angola, added: “The government wants to invest in human capital in increasing the capacity-building of teachers. We will launch the Go Public! campaign in 2025, coinciding with the anniversary of SINPROF.”

Forum Statement: A Call to Invest in Teachers

The forum adopted a statement introduced by Richard Gundane, EIA Regional Committee Vice-Chairperson calling for substantial investment in teachers to achieve the educational goals outlined in CESA 2026-35. The statement highlights the need for educators and their unions to participate in social and policy dialogue to improve the quality of education, the professional status, and working conditions of teachers and education support personnel.

It stresses that African governments need to invest a substantial proportion of the state budget in education in line with internationally agreed benchmarks of allocating at least 20% of their national budget or 6% of their Gross Domestic Product to education.

Dr Dennis Sinyolo concluded the webinar by emphasizing the importance of developing strategies to pressure governments to implement CESA 2026-35 effectively: “We heard during this important webinar of the need to develop strategies to put pressure on our governments to implement the CESA 2026-35. What is next? We will officially send the statement adopted during this webinar to the African Union and write to it to ask that its important recommendations are pursued."

In addition, the EIA regional office will develop a toolkit to help members implement and advocate for CESA.

"We do not want to repeat mistakes of the past, with a CESA not fully integrated into national policies. We must find ways for governments to integrate CESA 2026-35 into national education policies. Also, we must implement the important United Nations recommendations to elevate the teaching profession. Let us work together towards it. We are stronger together!” Sinyolo concluded.