Six decades after their independence, except for a few countries (in Northern or Southern Africa), the education system of many African countries remains marked by a decline in quality and a lack of vision for the development needs of countries. Several factors are contributing to this situation:

First, the lack of investment from the countries. In Africa generally, most governments prefer to invest heavily in security services (armies, secret services, praetorian guards for the security of heads of state, etc.) than in social fields (education, health, basic infrastructure, etc.). With soaring population rates and a young demography, it is not rare to have classrooms with 80 to 100 students, of which some sit on the floor or anywhere they can find a space that would accommodate them. In bad weather, classroom floors are wet, and rooms are flooded with water. In 2016, according to UNESCO figures, Guinea-Conakry for example spent 2.57% of its GDP on education, 2.12% for the DRC, 2.65% for Cameroon, 5.39% for Côte d’Ivoire or another 2.06% for the Gambia, compared to 6.90 for Finland, 4.80 for Germany or 5.27% for Australia.

Second, under-equipped schools are another major issue. Despite figures suggesting great investment in education in Africa, few schools have classrooms with adequate teaching materials. Textbooks are rarely offered to students, always needing to be bought out of pocket, something not within the reach of many families. For instance, many students in science programs obtain bachelor’s degrees without ever having seen a microscope or a computer. Educational field trips, though very educational and can be used to arouse the intellectual curiosity of students do not exist or are only offered at private schools in big cities, and often require hefty financial resources.

Third, school systems remain ill equipped to the developmental needs of countries, where diplomas are favored over professional training. Due to students’ lack of orientation in the first years of secondary school, coupled with the lack of forecasting / planning in the countries which do not adjust their development needs to the courses of study put in place, students often study without really knowing where they are going; nor do they know what they will do with the diploma obtained (for the lucky ones who will succeed in going to the end of their studies). As a result, many graduates end up unemployed after many years of schooling due to the lack of practical training in line with the needs of the country. Thus, it is not unusual to encounter a taxi driver in the streets of Yaoundé, Kinshasa, or Harare with two master’s degrees: or a fruit or clothes vendor in the streets with a bachelor’s in biochemistry.

Fourth, unqualified and unmotivated teachers. Many in the profession complain that being an educator does not pay enough. Teachers are disillusioned, perceive that same profession they chose as a failure on their parts, having tried and failed at everything else. In addition, low wages, and a lack of adequate working environments leave many teachers forced to work in several schools on a part-time basis to make ends meet. With the system of temporary workers or contract workers, many teachers have never set foot in a teacher training college where educators are trained. Rural schools abound with many of these unqualified teachers. How can students expect to have a decent education when those they look up to are simply not right for the job? In addition, the quality of education, if it exists, remains limited to the urban centers where the “best teachers” prefer to live and teach, to the detriment of rural schools where children sit on the floor, with 60, 80 or even 150 per class.

Another scourge that paralyzes this sector remains systemic corruption. As in almost all areas of African society, corruption is pervasive in the education sector. Promotions are non-existent unless one bows down to the regime by resorting to dirty tricks. Not playing the game often means having a stagnant career where one may need to wait five to ten years or even never being given already scarce opportunities.

In Cameroon for instance, to have a place in an elite school where students are trained to become engineers, doctors, lawyers…etc., fees generally range from 3 million to 5 million FFCA (about CDN $8,000 -$15,000) for those who can afford it, regardless of  skills or abilities of the student.  For the less fortunate/wealthy, prayers for a miracle is the only hope to score a place in one of those schools. How can we hope to train our future leaders if every child is not given an equal opportunity to succeed?

In Cameroon, to study in a public school, it is often necessary to “buy” one’s place. This ranges from 50,000 FCFA (125 Canadian dollars) to 100,000 (250 dollars). The “wealthy”, feeling high and mighty prefer to send their offspring abroad, Europe in the lead, the United States, Canada, or the new trend, in China and India. But how many can afford this? There is also the question of textbooks which, in the name of “nationalization of education”, contributes to enriching certain authors generally well introduced into circles of power.

In the system described above, gender also plays a crucial role. Girls pay a heavy price. They remain the main victims of a system where boys’ education is prioritized. In addition, because of the poverty that afflicts families, many girls are “sacrificed” by their parents for the benefit of boys. The norm in some communities remains that a young girl is mainly intended for marriage, farming, and procreation.

When these girls do manage to go to school, many are victims of the “sexually transmitted points” phenomenon. In other words, sex for points and therefore to advance to the next class, one must sleep with their teacher. Others are victims of sexual harassment by their teachers, bullying and humiliation, because they dare to reject the advances of their supervisors. Studies carried out in certain countries (Senegal, DRC, etc.) have highlighted this phenomenon, despite the denials of officials from these countries. However, in Cameroon, Gabon, Chad, it is a sad reality that is very well known to many.

Last but not least, while many other factors contribute to the worrying state of schools in Africa, not much is needed, just a global vision of what Africa wants to be, and substantial resources to give young people (especially girls) a chance at better prospects. The system of scholarships (domestic or abroad) to reward the most deserving and encourage competition remains one avenue to explore. This is one of the modest objectives of this Foundation. Without one of these scholarships for Belgium, I, the Founder of this Foundation, would probably not be where I am today. Therefore, it is the natural order of things for me to give back to the not so lucky ones who have big dreams of furthering their education. I was once that kid after all.

 If you are interested to learn more on this topic, please visit http://data.uis.unesco.org/index.aspx?queryid=181&lang=fr