EDUCATION - The African Mirror

Mar

25

2021

Securing the education of Kenya’s girls during COVID-19

EDUCATION

THE COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted education in many countries. Similar to other epidemics – such as the Ebola crisis in West Africa which pushed about five million children out of school in 2013 – the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the closure of schools in about 194 countries. BENTA A. ABUYA, Research Scientist, African Population and Health Research Center In Kenya there was a nationwide closure of schools between March 2020 and January 2021. This disrupted the education of about 18 million learners, with a total of about 15 million children in primary and secondary schools. Evidence suggests that the disruptions…

Mar

29

2021

By The African Mirror

Better school quality encourages parents in Ghana to invest more in children

EDUCATION

PRIMARY school enrolment is now almost complete in developing countries and child labour is illegal in almost all countries. But the quality of education – especially in reading and mathematics – has not shown parallel improvement. GHADIR ASADI, Adjunct Professor, Department of Economics , Radford University Low education quality reduces the probability that children stay in school and attain any educational qualification. It also decreases the future return of any qualifications. In other words, low quality of education decreases the years of education and the returns to education. The outcome is inefficient education systems and less incentive for parents to…

Mar

27

2021

By The African Mirror

Education needs a refocus so that all learners reach their full potential

EDUCATION

ONE of the sectors that the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted massively is education. CONRAD HUGHES, Research Associate at the University of Geneva's department of Education and Psychology; Campus and Secondary Principal at the International School of Geneva's La Grande Boissière, Université de Genève ABDELJALIL AKKARI, Professor, Université de Genève The COVID-19 pandemic has widened gaps between countries, systems, institutions and learners. The divide has become more pronounced when it comes to wealthy vs poor; private vs state; technology proficient vs technology deficient; academically inclined and predisposed vs academically fragile and in need of support. In a recent paper, we argue…

Jul

10

2020

By The African Mirror

In Burkina Faso, violence and COVID-19 push children out of school and into harm’s way

EDUCATION

SAM MEDNICK WHEN 13-year-old Martine left her village in northern Burkina Faso for a safer town last year, she hoped to restart an education disrupted by jihadist violence. But, alone without her parents — who stayed behind — new risks soon arose: in December she was dragged from a wedding party and raped by a man three times her age. “If I was living at home, my parents never would have allowed me to go to the wedding alone and this would never have happened,” said Martine, whose surname is being withheld to protect her identity. As jihadist-linked violence surges…

Jul

08

2020

By The African Mirror

With schools closed, child labour on the rise in lockdown Uganda

EDUCATION

SALLY HAYDEN EVERY morning soon after dawn, 10-year-old Moses leaves home carrying trays of hard-boiled eggs and walks for half an hour to sell them outside a petrol station in the Ugandan city of Gulu. With schools closed indefinitely since the nation went into a strict lockdown to fight COVID-19 in March, Moses is among some 15 million Ugandan children at risk of being forced to work as families are pushed towards extreme poverty, charities say. After seven hours hawking his eggs, which sell for 500 Ugandan shillings($0.13) apiece, and doing his best to avoid police enforcing the lockdown, Moses…

Jul

29

2020

By The African Mirror

Why Kenya’s decision to appoint ‘corporate’ chancellors won’t fix universities

EDUCATION

ISHMAEL MUNENE, Professor of Research, Foundations & Higher Education, Northern Arizona University THE choice of chancellors appointed to head universities is a good indicator of the direction in which the state seeks to steer its institutions. It can foster or erode autonomy and shared decision-making. This has been a big issue in Kenya for decades. But the country isn’t alone. The balance between university autonomy and politicisation is relevant everywhere. In the British tradition, which Kenya generally applies, the university chancellor is a ceremonial head of a university. This titular head is usually a prominent citizen, a business or political…

Aug

10

2020

By The African Mirror

Three South African vice-chancellors paint a post-COVID picture for universities

EDUCATION

Mamokgethi Phakeng, Vice-Chancellor, University of Cape Town Adam Habib, Vice-Chancellor and Principal, University of the Witwatersrand Tawana Kupe, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University, University of Pretoria Across the world, the higher education sector is changing because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Conversation Africa’s Nontobeko Mtshali asked vice-chancellors from three South African universities to share their insights about what these changes could mean for the country’s higher education landscape. What long-lasting changes to South Africa’s higher education sector has the pandemic brought? And how will these affect the way universities deliver teaching and research? Mamokgethi Phakeng, University of Cape Town:…

Aug

20

2020

By The African Mirror

COVID-19 disruption could be a chance to lay a firmer school maths foundation in South Africa

EDUCATION

CRAIG POURNARA, Associate Professor of Mathematics Education, University of the Witwatersrand LYNN BOWIE, Visiting associate, University of the Witwatersrand IN South Africa, when Grade 9 learners return to school after the COVID-19 closures, they will have a maximum of 76 teaching days left in 2020. But given the safety requirements and the limited infrastructure in most schools, it’s highly unlikely that they will be able to attend school every day. This means the average Grade 9 learner in 2020 is likely to have less than half of a normal year’s time in class. While learners in schools for the middle…

Aug

30

2020

By The African Mirror

Nigerian university students find online learning painful: here’s why

EDUCATION

ISRAEL OLASUNKANMI, Lecturer, University of Ibadan, University of Ibadan IN response to the compulsory closure of institutions of learning as part of measures aimed at curbing the spread of COVID-19 in Nigeria, efforts were made to keep students busy with academic activities during the lockdown. Thus, schools, especially privately owned universities, engaged students in different kinds of online learning approaches. This was limited to private schools because the government owned universities were on strike. To fully understand how students feel about online learning during COVID-19 pandemic, our study investigated the views of students of Anchor University, a private higher education…

Aug

28

2020

By The African Mirror

‘Education emergency’ as third of world’s children lack remote learning

EDUCATION

NITA BHALLA ONE in three schoolchildren across the world have been unable to access remote learning during coronavirus school closures, the U.N. children's agency said on Thursday, warning of a "global education emergency". Nearly 1.5 billion children were affected by school closures as countries locked down to prevent the disease from spreading, UNICEF said in a report. Yet at least one in three students have had no way of continuing their education at home. "For at least 463 million children whose schools closed due to COVID-19, there was no such a thing as remote learning," said UNICEF's Executive Director Henrietta…