Education in sub-Saharan Africa

Millions of children in sub-Saharan Africa are now enrolled in primary school thanks to prioritization of education by African governments, debt relief and development assistance.

FAST FACTS:

• In sub-Saharan Africa, the proportion of primary school age children enrolled in school increased from 56% in 1999 to 70% in 2006, the fastest increase of any region.
• Gross enrollments in primary school in sub-Saharan Africa jumped by 34 million children between 1999 and 2006 thanks in large part to debt relief and development assistance.
• Fifteen African countries have achieved gender parity in primary education, meaning they have an equal number of boys and girls enrolling.

Debt relief increases resources for education

Many African governments have directed their savings from debt relief towards the education sector. Mali, for example, has annually allocated almost half its debt relief savings towards education, leading to a 14% annual increase in education expenditure between 2001 and 2006. In Nigeria, debt savings were used to hire 40,000 teachers. Debt relief has also enabled many African governments to abolish primary school fees, opening school doors for millions of the poorest children. The abolition of school fees resulted in an additional 1.3 million children in school in Kenya and 3.1 million more children in school in Tanzania.

Fast Track Initiative puts more children in school

The Fast Track Initiative (FTI) started in 2002 as a partnership between donor countries and developing countries to accelerate progress towards achieving universal primary education (UPE). Developing countries create a national education plan that is endorsed by technical experts and then donors in turn provide technical expertise and additional funding to support the plan. In the 36 countries that have had their national education plans endorsed by FTI, some impressive progress has been made. 26 out of 35 FTI-endorsed countries have met an important target of getting almost all children into the first grade of primary school by 2010 - a vital step towards universal primary education. And at present rates, 27 FTI countries will achieve a primary completion rate of 80% by 2015. In the 22 African FTI countries, 15.2 million additional children enrolled in school between 2000 and 2006.

Tanzania: Access to quality education improves

In 2001 Tanzania used its savings from debt cancellation to abolish primary school fees, enabling an estimated 3 million more children to enroll in primary school but the existing system wasn't equipped to handle the influx of new students. The Tanzanian government launched a Primary Education Development Program to improve the primary education system with help from donors. Between 2002 and 2004, Tanzania hired 32,000 new primary school teachers, and built 30,000 new classrooms. By 2006, nearly all primary school aged children were enrolled in school (a 98% enrollment ratio), up from only 50% up from only 50% in 1999. The quality of education is improving across Tanzania- performance in learning, measured through Primary School Leaving Examinations, improved from a pass rate of 28.6% in 2001 to 61.8% in 2006.

Ethiopia: Progress towards universal primary education

Ethiopia has made great strides towards achieving universal primary enrollment. Thanks to increased budget commitments and increases in development assistance, Ethiopia's education budget grew from 3.6% to 6% of GNP between 1999 and 2006. Beginning in 1997, the Ethiopian government emphasized increased access, greater equity and improved quality of national education. This focus helped increase the percentage of primary school age children who are enrolled in school from 34% in 1999 to 71% in 2007 - one of the fastest increases in sub-Saharan Africa. Also, the number of out-of-school children fell by more than 3.3 million between 1999 and 2007.

Ethiopia is targeting public spending on education in rural areas. Since 1997, nearly 6,000 schools have been built - of these, 85% are in rural areas. This move has had a marked impact on demand for and access to education, as distance to school is a significant barrier for many children, especially for girls.