THE African Union (AU) has appealed to the international community to work on the urgent need for long-term commitment to education in regions facing severe crises.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, the chairman of the African Union Commission, made this appeal when opening the African Union and global partnership for education summit here yesterday.

He said that data shows that in Africa, nine out of ten children cannot read with understanding or perform basic math when aged ten years, hence the need for a long-term focus on education.

An annual education summit needs to be convened at the AU mission during the United Nations General Assembly series of meetings, he said, insisting that the global community must acknowledge that the formulation of annual themes is not enough. “The journey is long and we need longer term, innovative and bold responses. We have unacceptable levels of education poverty at a time when more than 80 percent of our workforce in 20 years will be youthful,” he emphasized.

African leaders, the African Union, and global development partners gathered for the UN General Assembly annual plenary session yesterday met in a side-line summit to showcase the transformational impact of prioritising foundational learning in the continent.

 The AU chief executive stated that the World Bank estimates that the learning crisis will result in $21trn of lost productivity globally if urgent action is not taken, apparently on the basis of the end of decade sustainable development goals framework.

However, if addressed, ensuring that children are learning can add $6.5trn of additional global value by 2030, he stated, while Prof Mohammed Belhocine, the AU commissioner for Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (ESTI) urged bold investments, an international effort to support Africa’s children and deliver global returns.

 “Foundational learning is an enabler for Africa’s long-term development and the key to unlocking the potential of millions of African children, the changemakers of tomorrow,” he stated.

The AU is committed to making foundational learning a key part of its agenda beyond 2024 and to tracking progress, provide support where needed and advocate for comprehensive reforms, he further noted.

Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema said that on the basis of current trends, by 2050 at least one-third of all young people worldwide aged 15 to 24 years old will be living in Africa.

“At present, four in five children are unable to read and understand simple text by the age of ten. This is unacceptable and we must urgently prioritise investments in education. Collectively, we must set clear milestones beyond 2024 as the year of education, ensuring that no child in Africa is left behind,” he told the gathering.

Dr Joyce Banda, the former Malawian president, said that a continental crisis requires a continental response, stressing that more Heads of State need to become champions for foundational learning.

“We need accountability mechanisms and a robust peer review process to help us hold ourselves accountable for the promises we make to our children,” she said, elaborating that the prosperity Africa dreams of will be built from the classroom, with a child learning to read and count.

“Let us commit today to make that dream a reality and unlock the potential of our continent,” she emphatically appealed, while Jakaya Kikwete, a former Tanzanian president and chairman of the Global Partnership for Education said that Africa is the world’s youngest and fastest growing continent.

“By 2050 one in every four people will be an African. Our workforce will be bigger than China. We must equip them. If we fail to act we risk further disenfranchising them,” he stated.

Dr Obiageli Ezekwesili, the founder of Human Capital Africa, moderated a panel of African ministers of education implementing African-owned solutions to enhance learning outcomes. She urged the gathered ministers to highlight the two most critical investments required to deliver results, focusing on education and youth-level human capital investments.