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Africa
Education Initiative
Recognizing that the education of African children is vital
to Africa’s future economic growth and lasting democracy,
USAID’s Africa Education Initiative (AEI) is designed
to improve educational opportunities for Africa’s children
so that they may lead happier, healthier lives, and become
more productive members of society.
Currently, there are many challenges facing education in
Africa: lack of funds, teachers, classrooms, learning materials,
and transparency. More specifically:
- African primary school enrollment and literacy rates are
among the lowest in the world;
- 42 million school children in sub-Saharan Africa are
not enrolled in school. Of those that do have access to
school, the schooling they receive is often of such poor
quality that they are not able to acquire even the most
basic skills of reading and writing;
- In 1999, more than 860,000 children in sub-Saharan Africa
lost teachers to AIDS. In fact, it is predicted that by
2005, 15 to 20 percent of teachers in sub-Saharan Africa
will have died from AIDS.
Building on USAID Basic Education programs and the Education
for Development and Democracy Initiative, the AEI is a $200
million multi-year initiative that focuses on increasing
access to quality basic educational opportunities in Africa
through three main programs:
- Ambassador’s Girls Scholarship Program
– In Africa, girls account for 60 percent of the approximately
42 million children who are not enrolled in school. The
AEI will work to bridge this gender gap by providing 250,000
scholarships for African girls at the primary and secondary
levels so that they can grow up to assume greater participation
in the educational, political, and economic sectors of their
countries. Financial support may include tuition, books,
uniforms, and other essential expenses needed to ensure
girls’ access to education opportunities. Scholarship
recipients will also benefit from mentoring activities that
promote self-development and provide positive female role
models.
- Teacher Training – Competent teachers
are critical to effectively delivering quality education.
The AEI will train more than 160,000 new teachers and provide
in-service training for 260,000 existing teachers in order
to improve teacher-to-pupil ratios and enhance education
quality. Training activities will emphasize innovative and
interactive teaching practices and improved learning outcomes.
In addition, many training programs will support training
in “life skills” HIV/AIDS prevention curriculum.
- Textbooks and Other Learning Tools –
Because textbooks and other learning materials are scarce,
outdated, or nonexistent in many African schools, the AEI
will provide 4.5 million textbooks and other learning tools
for African children through a partnership with Historically
Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) in the United States.
The HBCU consortium will work collaboratively with USAID
Missions and African education institutions to develop,
publish, and distribute high-quality, low-cost learning
materials while developing strengthened, sustainable partnerships
between African schools and American institutions. Initially,
South Africa, Senegal, Ethiopia, Mali, Guinea, and Benin
have been identified to participate in this partnership
with Hampton University, Elizabeth City State University,
Alabama A&M University, Albany State University, Dillard
University, and St. Augustine’s College. As the Initiative
expands, new HBCU and African partnerships will be established.
Cross-Cutting Themes
Support will be provided across each of these objectives to:
- Strengthen focus on HIV/AIDS mitigation and prevention
– HIV/AIDS undermines the capacity of educational
institutions to deliver quality education, as it drains
the material and human resources of the system as well as
makes it far more difficult for students to attend school
regularly. Indeed, the goal of quality education cannot
be met until the challenges posed by the AIDS pandemic on
education are addressed. Thus, the AEI will increase the
capacity of African education ministries to strengthen their
focus on prevention and mitigation to help reduce and compensate
for the loss of skilled teachers to HIV/AIDS.
- Increase and strengthen parent and community involvement
in children’s education – Poor rural students, particularly girls, can be brought into the education
system through the active involvement
of parents and communities in the delivery of quality education.
The AEI encourages parent and community participation
through such activities as sponsoring reading programs,
building parent associations, and inquiring about school
finances, which in turn, will help schools and school systems
become more transparent and responsive to the needs of civil
society.
To implement the initiative, USAID will work closely with
host country ministries of education and higher education
institutions, local and international NGOs, and the private
sector. The Initiative will also strengthen and extend vital
development partnerships between the United States and Africa
by beneficially engaging African leaders and educators, the
international development community, and U.S. interest groups.
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