By Funmilayo Adeyemi
Abuja, Oct. 25, 2021 (NAN) Human Capital Africa (HCA) on Monday in Abuja sought to collaborate with stakeholders to leverage on evidence-based advocacy to mobilise governments and policy makers on early learning outcomes by children.
HCA is an accountability and advocacy initiative spearheaded by former Minister of Education and ex-World Bank Vice-President for Africa, Dr Obiageli Ezekwesil.
It seeks to drive the accountability needed to deliver change across sub-Sahara Africa.
Quoting a 2019 World Bank report, HCA’s Senior Media Consultant, Mr Ozioma Ubabukoh, said nine out of 10 children in sub-Sahara Africa did not achieve basic reading and numeracy skills by the age of 10.
“This is an alarming statistics, especially when compared with developed economies where only one out of 10 children did not achieve basic literacy and numeracy skills at the same age.
“To fix this, HCA will help policymakers with the right will, to gain access and understanding of globally proven interventions which can easily be adapted to address their country’s specific situations,” he said.
He said that HCA would hold a launch at the Nigeria Economic Summit on Oct. 26 to mark the beginning of pan-continental collaborations.
The collaborations seek to bridge the gap between evidence and action to improve learning outcomes for children under the age of 10 across sub-Sahara Africa, he said.
He added that HCA would work to foster collaboration and cooperation across public and private sector leadership with civil society and the public to move human capital, starting with fixing foundational literacy and numeracy at the center of Africa’s development strategy.
Ubabukoh quoted Dr Ezekwesili to have said that this year’s theme for the Nigerian Economic Summit would resonate strongly with HCA’s vision to ensure that all boys and girls in sub-Sahara Africa have the necessary education and tools to live productive and meaningful lives.
He also quoted Ezekwesili to have said that Africa’s growing youth population made the intervention necessary, if Africa was to reverse the downward learning trend and unlock the dividends that could only come when children could read for meaning and understand basic mathematics.
“We do not want the children of the poor to continue to be left behind in failing public school systems and in turn growing into poverty in their adult lives.
“We consider this as a call to action for all policymakers, donor organisations, civil society organisations, teachers and parents,’’ she said.
Ubabukoh also quoted Dr Modupe Adefeso-Olateju, Leadership Team Member of HCA and Managing Director of the Education Partnership Centre, on the need to urgently secure Africa’s children’s future.
“Africa will soon be home to more than 50 per cent of the world’s youth. We owe them the opportunity to be productive members of the workforce and contributors to the global economy and to society.
“This will not happen if nine out of 10 of them do not achieve basic literacy and numeracy,” she said. (NAN