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How can schools in Sub-Saharan Africa help students and teachers receive and provide good education?

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Sustainable Development Goal 4 focuses on ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all. It aims to provide free primary and secondary education, expand access to early childhood programs, and make higher and vocational education affordable. The goal emphasizes eliminating discrimination, improving literacy and numeracy, and training more qualified teachers.

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Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the world was already off-track to achieve its education targets. If no additional measures are taken, only one in six countries will meet SDG4 and achieve universal access to quality education by 2030. An estimated 84 million children and young people will still be out of school and an estimated 300 million student will still not have the basic numeracy and literacy skills they need to succeed in life. To deliver SDG4, education systems must be re-imagined, and education financing must become a priority national investment.

Target 4.1: Between 2015 and 2021, the school completion rate increased from 85% to 87% in primary, from 74% to 77% in lower secondary and from 54% in 2015 to 58% in upper secondary education. Even before the onset of COVID19, these rates had slowed down relative to progress in 2010-15. Looking closely at reading levels at the end of primary school, for which trend data cover 34% of the world's children, the analysis shows that global learning levels showed no progress between 2015-2019. Furthermore, learning losses due to COVID-related school closures have been documented in 4 out of 5 of the 104 countries that have carried out such studies.

Target 4.2: Participation rate in organized learning one year before the official primary entry age has stagnated at around 75% since 2015, still far from the target of ensuring that all girls and boys have access to quality pre-primary education by 2030.

Target 4.3: Among 131 countries with data from 2017 onwards, on average approximately one in six youth and adults aged 15-64 recently participated in formal or non-formal education and training. Participation is substantially higher among youth aged 15-24 (40%-50%), compared to those aged 25-55 (only 5% for most regions).

Target 4.a: Basic school infrastructure is far from universal. In 2020, approximately a quarter of primary schools globally do not have access to basic services such as electricity, drinking water and basic sanitation facilities. For other facilities such as computer facilities and the provision of disability adapted infrastructure, figures are substantially lower, with around 50% of primary schools with access.

Target 4.c: Globally, in 2020, over 14% of teachers are still not qualified according to national norms, with little improvement since 2015.

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Goal 4 | Department of Economic and Social Affairs

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Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all

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Sub-Saharan Africa continues to fall short of achieving SDG 4—universal, inclusive, and equitable quality education—due to a complex mix of systemic challenges, including misaligned policies, insufficient funding, limited access, gender inequalities, infrastructure obstacles, outdated curricula, and inadequate teacher training

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Barriers and Challenges Affecting Quality Education (Sustainable Development Goal #4) in Sub-Saharan Africa by 2030

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Education is a fundamental human right and a crucial tool for sustainable human capacity development, which can advance the economic growth of a country. Yet for many children in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), quality education remains out of reach. This study aimed to identify the barriers and challenges to enacting Sustainable Development Goal 4: “Ensuring Inclusive, Equitable, and Quality Education and the Promotion of Lifelong Learning Opportunities for All”. Through a content analysis of the relevant literature, we identified three themes: funding constraints, access and inclusion, and teacher education. Regarding funding, issues of resource allocation, technical capacity, and accountability were identified as primary factors requiring intervention strategies to become fully realized in SSA. When exploring access and inclusion, we found that incorporating students with disabilities, gender disparities, physical barriers, and inadequate curriculum are essential factors limiting quality education in SSA. Finally, teachers’ conditions and training emerged as crucial challenges to reach quality pedagogy. Some SSA countries have improved their efforts for quality education, but these barriers and challenges continue to impact education for all children. A new perspective on mitigating these impediments can address several factors responsible for the exclusion of diverse groups from accessing quality education in the SSA region.

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Sub-Saharan Africa Health and Health care

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Sub-Saharan Africa Health and Health care

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Sub-Saharan Africans report the lowest levels of well-being and health-care satisfaction globally, with average ratings on the Cantril ladder and perceived availability of quality care trailing behind all other regions. This low well-being is closely tied to low incomes, as there's a nearly linear relationship between average life evaluation scores

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✉Contact info: deatonprinceton.edu Robert Tortora: ICF International, Rockville, MD (current)

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People In Sub-Saharan Africa Rate Their Health And Health Care Among Lowest In World

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The health of people in sub-Saharan Africa is a major global concern. However, data are weak, and little is known about how people in the region perceive their health or their health care. We used data from the Gallup World Poll in 2012 to document…

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Iteoluwakishi talks about what we truly mean when we say "every child deserves quality education," making sure "quality education" has a meaning. She uses examples of her own academic experiences such as community service, and stepping out her comfort zone. It should not just focus on academics, but also the creativity, critical thinking, drive, and the ability to contribute to society.

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Quality Education for All | Iteoluwakishi Adebayo | TEDxYouth@MeadowHallLekki

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I think that I want to research about quality education which must be addressed to reach SDG #4. I will focus on Sub- Saharan Africa and the approach to solving help teachers get training, and allowing students to access to technology since technology does help with school and investing in early childhood learning.

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Sub-Saharan Africa's population is projected to double to 2 billion by 2050, with the working-age population (ages 15–64) driving nearly all of this increase. However, the region faces significant educational challenges, including a primary school completion rate of approximately 65% and a literacy rate of 75% among 15–24-year-olds, both below global averages. Government spending on education in the region is also insufficient, with the median education budget at about 3.5% of GDP, below the recommended 4%.

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Sub-Saharan Africa’s Growth Requires Quality Education for Growing Population

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Despite government budget strains, countries should prioritize investment in schools with the help of the international community

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Sub-Saharan Africa faces major challenges in education, health, and well-being that keep many children, especially girls, out of school. Less than half of schools have access to clean water, and over 20% of children aged 6–11, one-third of those aged 12–14, and nearly 60% of youth aged 15–17 are not enrolled. Poverty, school fees, and long distances to school make education unaffordable and unsafe, while water scarcity and inadequate sanitation add further barriers, particularly for girls during menstruation.

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Why Becoming Educated is Hard in Sub-Saharan Africa – Especially for Girls - The Water Project

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Here in the United States, late summer is the time of year when kids and parents alike start thinking about heading back to school. In the U.S., the process involves kids getting supplies, meeting teachers, and maybe even scouting the trendiest outfits. It’s unlikely that any U.S. parents are worried about whether the kids will

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How can schools in Sub-Saharan Africa be able to help the children learn with the proper tools?

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The AFL-CIO defines high-quality public education as a system that builds essential skills, fosters critical thinking, and prepares students for success in the global economy. They emphasize the need for equitable access to resources such as computers, smaller class sizes, and support staff, ensuring all students have the opportunity to reach their full potential. The AFL-CIO criticizes the diversion of funds from public schools to private school voucher programs and charter schools, arguing that these alternatives often lack public accountability and fail to meet the educational needs of vulnerable children. They advocate for investing in public education as a means to strengthen democracy and support the middle class.

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A high-quality public education builds skills and knowledge and helps children reach their greatest potential. It fosters teamwork, critical thinking and problem-solving skills needed to land good jobs and help the United States compete in the global economy. We need to make sure all kids have access to equal resources, including computers, smaller class sizes, nurses, counselors and support staff.

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Many African nations are making significant strides toward achieving quality education, yet sub-Saharan Africa still hosts the world’s largest out-of-school population. Approximately 20% of primary school-age children and over 50% of upper secondary school-age adolescents are not attending school. In about half of African countries, the out-of-school rate among primary school-age children is less than 10%, while it exceeds 50% for upper secondary school. This disparity is increasing in several countries.

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Q&A: How are African countries improving the quality of their

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Many countries in Africa are taking important and significant steps as they strive to achieve their education goals, and some have made impressive progress is certain areas. However, much remains to

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Concern USA defines quality education as more than just access to school, it is an inclusive, equitable, and effective learning experience that empowers children to thrive. This aligns with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 4, which promotes lifelong learning opportunities for all. Quality education includes safe, child-friendly, and gender-sensitive environments that support both academic and personal growth. It emphasizes building relevant skills for future success, creating inclusive schools, and fostering safe, nonviolent spaces for learning. Ultimately, quality education is a fundamental human right and a key factor in ending poverty, requiring a holistic approach that ensures all children can learn, grow, and succeed.

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Why quality education matters

Education can help young people break an intergenerational cycle of poverty. But this is only possible if education is approached in a meaningful way. In 2012, the UN's former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said:

"Education is about more than literacy and numeracy - it is also about citizenry. Education must fully assume its central role in helping people to forge more just, peaceful and tolerant societies."

This is what we mean by "quality" education: We need a standard to measure how effective an education is in order to set students up for success in the rest of their lives.

Concern Worldwide's CRAAIN (Collective Responsibility, Action and Accountability for Improved Nutrition) program is a community-based initiative designed to build the resilience of communities, including educational projects. Through CRAAIN, schools have multiple committees to encourage young people to become more active in their communities. (Photo: Gavin Douglas / Concern Worldwide)

How we measure Quality Education

The UN has outlined several targets within their larger education-related SDG that help us to set a standard of quality.

1. Building relevant skills for financial success

Participants listen during a Life Skills session as part of the IAPF integrated program in Sierra Leone. IAPF is an integrated livelihoods, education, and health/nutrition program with a Safe Learning Model component. It aims to achieve sustainable improvements in children's literacy and well-being and gender equality in schools and local communities. (Photo: Conor O'Donovan / Concern Worldwide)

Extreme poverty is a lack of assets or a lack of return on those assets. One of these assets are skills, including technical and vocational skills. The more relevant these skills are in the 21st Century, the more likely they are to generate a return. This not only means understanding how relevant skills have changed against the digital revolution and automation, but also against climate change, shifting societal norms, and political realities.

2. Eliminating discrimination in education

Aminata (15) attneds Benevolent Islamic PRI School in Yele Town, Sierra Leone. (Photo: Gavin Douglas / Concern Worldwide)

Education is a fundamental human right. However, there are 244 million children around the world who aren't in the classroom. Many of them are excluded due to some form of discrimination. Girls' education is particularly under threat here, with over 129 million girls missing out on a basic human right. Quality Education means equality in education - at all levels.

3. Universal literacy and numeracy

Amida Tuyishimire (14), daughter of Violette Bukeyeneza with her school books and pens for the education she is now able to receive because of the Graduation Program at her home in Bukinanyana, Cibitoke, Burundi. (Photo: Abbie Trayler-Smith / Concern Worldwide)

According to UNESCO, if all adults had just literacy and numeracy skills, an estimated 171 million people could escape extreme poverty. However, UNESCO also estimates that there are 781 million illiterate adults around the globe. Many of these adults have completed several years of education but remain unable to read or count due to different barriers.

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What does Quality Education mean? Breaking down SDG #4

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Quality Education is the UN's fourth Sustainable Development Goal, and a phrase we use a lot in development work. But what does "quality" mean in this context?

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How can the schools in Sub-Saharan Africa ensure that kids are learning in good enviornments?

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The Global Partnership for Education (GPE) emphasizes the urgent need to transform African education systems to equip current and future generations with 21st-century skills. Despite significant progress over the past 60 years, including increased school completion rates, these gains are insufficient to prepare Africans for the rapidly changing professional landscape. By 2030, approximately 230 million jobs in Africa will demand digital skills, necessitating a shift in classroom practices to foster creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. The African Union’s Year of Education 2024 serves as a historic opportunity to prioritize education on the policy agenda.

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Making education in Africa fit for the 21st century | Global Partnership for Education

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Transforming African education systems to equip the current and future generations with 21st century skills is critical. The African Union’s Year of Education 2024 is therefore a historic moment to put education at the forefront of the policy agenda.

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Quality Education data in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Quality Education data in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Education in Africa has the power to change millions of lives, but the continent is still struggling to deliver on its promise. If quality schooling were accessible to all, 47 million people could escape poverty by 2043, and economies could grow by hundreds of billions of dollars. Yet, progress remains slow, with over 20% of young children, a third of early teens, and nearly 60% of older teens out of school, and almost 90% of kids unable to read with understanding by age 10.

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Quality education delivers growth – but Africa’s scorecard remains poor | ISS Africa

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The African Union has dedicated 2024 to improving education, a task requiring new thinking and rapid technological adoption.

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In Sub-Saharan Africa quality education is low funded and has low quality teaching. The way we can change this is by increase funding to the schools, those children are their future and not having the right knowledge or understanding of certain topics will make it hard for them to learn and develop. The teachers need training they know as much as the children do which ultimately causes confusion to students since they need to have a clear understanding of the problems and work they are doing and facing in class.

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ProFuturo - Programa de educación digital impulsado por Fundación Telefónica y Fundación "la Caixa"

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Education in Africa: Placing Equity at the Heart of Policy - ProFuturo

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In Sub-Saharan Africa, the quality of education faces numerous challenges: inadequate funding, poor infrastructure, low-quality teaching, outdated curricula... On the occasion of World Africa Day, we will analyze the challenges and opportunities facing education in Africa, focusing on equity as a fundamental value. We do this with the help of the report “Education in Africa: Placing Equity at the Heart of Policy,” prepared by UNESCO in collaboration with the African Union.

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Teachers education in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Teachers education in Sub-Saharan Africa

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Sub-Saharan Africa faces deep challenges in education, health, and opportunity, and millions of children are being left behind. Many schools lack clean water and safe sanitation, forcing students to miss class, while poverty and long, unsafe journeys to school make learning even harder. Health and well-being in the region remain low, tied to poverty and weak infrastructure, and families often prioritize basic survival over education.

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The new projections released last week by the Teacher Task Force reveal that more and smarter investment in teachers and teaching is needed to enable Africa's children and youth to access quality education. According to new calculations, to reach education goals by 2030, sub-Saharan Africa will need to recruit a 15 million teachers.

The advocacy brief, Closing the gap - Ensuring there are enough qualified and supported teachers in sub-Saharan Africa , is published by the , hosted by UNESCO. The brief shows that, despite some gains in the past 5 years, progress in recruiting more teachers has been too slow, and many countries need to accelerate the number of teachers they recruit per year. International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030

Of the countries in the region, Central African Republic, Chad, Mali and Niger will need the highest increase in the number of primary teachers in the coming years (6% or more growth annually). In secondary education, even higher annual growth in teacher numbers is needed: a handful of countries need more than 10% annual growth, including Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Mozambique, Niger and the United Republic of Tanzania.

Countries need teachers with the qualifications to provide education of high quality to children and youth. However, due to growth in enrolment in recent decades, a high proportion of teachers are unqualified. In 2000, an average of 84% of primary teachers had the minimum required qualifications, but by 2019, only 65% did.

The pupil-trained teacher ratio has recently improved in primary education sub-Saharan Africa, but remains high. On average, there is one trained teacher per 58 students at primary level, while in secondary the ratio is closer to 43 pupils per trained teacher. Higher pupil-trained teacher ratios imply less face-to-face student-teacher contact time, less individualized teaching and lower levels of quality education.

Sub-Saharan Africa remains the region with the lowest percentage of female teachers in primary education, at just below 50%. In secondary education, 30% of secondary teachers were female in 2018. Within countries, shortages of female teachers are particularly acute in rural areas. This has important implications for girls' enrolment, since female teachers have a positive impact on girls entering and remaining in school.

Resources are needed to recruit large numbers of new teachers, as well as to retain both teachers entering schools for the first time and those already teaching. As the study shows, even when countries cover the lion's share of their education costs, low-income countries will need external financial support to fund essential non-salary costs, which include initial teacher training and continuous professional development, preparation for blended learning, access to ICT, and improved working conditions. For example, Burkina Faso faces a funding gap of US$97 million in its efforts to provide teacher training and other interventions for 2021-2025.

To provide critical initial and continuing professional development for teachers, both domestic finance and international aid will need to increase, and better policies and governance will be needed to ensure effective and efficient spending.

The COVID-19 crisis spotlighted the importance of teachers, but also the difficult working conditions in which many are teaching. Evidence points to heavy workloads and high levels of burn-out, as teachers have been asked to support communities and ensure learning continuity with little or no preparation or support. Countries and the international community are now looking towards the recovery of education systems, with ambitious plans for remedial learning to compensate for learning losses, which means that teacher support and preparation will be more crucial than ever. But without further investments in teacher professional development, governance and accountability, it is unlikely that these ambitions will be realized.

The Teacher Task Force is issuing a call for greater investment in teachers and teaching to ensure that all learners have access to a qualified and supported teacher by 2030. It recommends that governments and partners:

Develop holistic teacher policies and cost them properly, especially in the countries with the most severe shortages. These policies will allow countries to better understand where teachers are needed the most, in particular for disadvantaged areas, as well as to identify the most cost-effective interventions and the policy trade-offs required.

Increase domestic resources available for education and ensure that teachers are paid a living wage. Domestic education budgets need to be increased or maintained to ensure they reach the internationally agreed benchmark of national education expenditure of at least 15%-20% of GDP.

Increase international funding to education with a stronger focus on teachers and teaching, in particular initial and continued professional development.

Improve teacher preparation, support and working conditions to reduce attrition and ensure, in particular, that young teachers remain in the profession. Actions must urgently be taken to protect teachers, whether from attacks on schools or from COVID-19.

Collect more national and internationally comparable data, if better and sounder educational financing and teachers' planning is to be carried out, and to ensure that the investments made have their desired results.

The International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030 is a global network of over 155 members (including countries, UN members and regional organizations, civil society organizations, the teaching profession and foundations) working to promote teachers and teaching issues. Its Secretariat is hosted by UNESCO at its headquarters in Paris.

Consult the advocacy brief Closing the gap - Ensuring there are enough qualified and supported teachers in sub-Saharan Africa

For more information, contact: Anna Ruszkiewicz (ae.ruszkiewicz@unesco.org).

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The persistent teacher gap in sub-Saharan Africa is jeopardizing education recovery

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The new projections released last week by the Teacher Task Force reveal that more and smarter investment in teachers and teaching is needed to enable Africa's children and youth to access quality education. According to new calculations, to reach education goals by 2030, sub-Saharan Africa will need to recruit a 15 million teachers.

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In Sub-Saharan Africa they need to focus on the training for teachers and their curricula. The education starts with the teachers they cannot ensure good education for students if teachers aren't going through training. There is also ways schools can ensure entrepreneurship skills since Africa is growing very quickly.

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Making education in Africa fit for the 21st century | Global Partnership for Education

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Transforming African education systems to equip the current and future generations with 21st century skills is critical. The African Union’s Year of Education 2024 is therefore a historic moment to put education at the forefront of the policy agenda.