Africa has made education-related progress in leaps and bounds over the past few decades \u2014 an impressive feat when factoring in their explosive population growth over the same period. For example, in sub-Saharan Africa, primary school enrollment has nearly doubled<\/a> between 1975\u20132009, going from 44% to 75%, with the expectation that the numbers might be even better now, or at least pre-COVID-19.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, while a lot has changed for the better, there is still plenty of work to be done:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chido Cleopatra Mpemba, the African Union\u2019s Special Envoy on Youth, together with UNICEF, Goodwall, and other partners, are taking a novel approach to the academic challenges facing the continent. To help transform education and continue to spark positive change in academic quality and enrollment in Africa, the collaboration will take ideas and suggestions on educational priorities directly from young Africans and raise awareness by presenting them to the UN Secretary-General at the Transforming Education Summit (TES) to be held in September at the 77th General Assembly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Transforming Education Program consists of two main components. The first is a U-Report survey that was launched to hear what students and young adults in Africa had to say around the five summit action tracks at the upcoming TES:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The TES survey remains ongoing, but preliminary results show powerful engagement and new insights into the state of education in many African countries as we try to put the coronavirus pandemic in the rearview mirror. Over 600,000 unique users have taken part in the survey thus far, representing 12 participating countries in Africa. After just 1.5 weeks, the U-Report-administered survey finds that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n The second part of the Transforming Education Program is the Youth Ambassador Challenge, also known as the #TransformingEducation Challenge<\/a>, a regional event launched on and hosted by Goodwall where UNICEF Youth Ambassadors will be identified and selected to become advocates for the five summit action tracks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Young people across selected African countries are being invited to share videos, text, or images with stories and other responses prompted by questions related to the 5 UNICEF-designated tracks mentioned above. Winning ideas will help make classrooms around Africa more effective, and winners will win monetary prizes and be selected to become UNICEF Youth Ambassadors. In just the first week alone, more than 1,000 #TransformingEducation video entries were submitted on Goodwall representing 36 African countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While the survey and challenge wrap up soon, UNICEF, the African Union, Goodwall, and their partners will continue to listen to and amplify the needs of young Africans, starting with the TES, but also across national assemblies, schools, and other platforms. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The 77th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA 77) will take place during the second-half of September 2022 in New York City, from the 13th through the 27th. In the middle of the General Assembly, on September 19, the UN Secretary-General will convene the Transforming Education Summit (TES).<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Transforming Education Program<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Transforming Education Summit (TES)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n