Africa needs to ramp up girl child education

I WAS elated to read that Kenya and the United Kingdom will jointly host the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) summit next year.

Kenya has been a member of the GPE since 2005, while the UK is the single largest donor to the initiative. The purpose of the summit will be to raise more funds for the partnership to continue its essential work.

Africa needs such developmental partnerships if we are to move forward as a continent.

An educated population is a country’s most valuable resource. GPE should be a key partner in helping us to invest in innovative solutions to get all our children, especially girls, learning.

Education should be a central pillar of the continent’s strategy to achieve newly industrialised economy status by 2030.

We should achieve universal primary education and have as many girls as boys enrolling in school.

We must use the opportunity of GPE’s financing conference to make ambitious pledges to invest in quality education so our children and young people have the skills and knowledge they need to seize the opportunities of the 21st century.

The COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted education worldwide.

At the height of educational shutdowns, 1,3 billion children (650 million of them girls) were out of school.

It is feared that many of them will not return to school, with many countries suffering economic downturns as a result of the pandemic.

This would inflict long-term damage on both individuals and communities.

Girls are especially at risk. Educating girls transforms their lives for the better and brings multigenerational benefits.

A child with a literate mother has a 50% higher chance of living more than five years and 100% greater chance to going to school.

Education also increases women’s earning power. A single additional school year can increase a woman’s earnings by 20%.

Education unlocks doors to opportunity and prosperity.

It offers girls a ticket out of poverty and exploitation to chart their own futures.