Ahead of the Day of the African Child, UNICEF says African Governments still not spending what is needed to secure quality education for the continent’s children
Zimbabwe is allocating 15 per cent of its budget in education.
In the lead up to Sunday’s Day of the African Child, themed this year on “Education for all children in Africa: the time is now”, UNICEF is releasing new education financing analyses that show most African countries are not meeting their commitments to allocate the 20 per cent of their national budget benchmark on education, as recommended by the Sustainable Development Goals framework for action for education.
Nine out of 49 African countries – less than 1 in 5 – dedicated 20 per cent or more of their public spending to education, whilst 24 committed at least 15 per cent, and six countries directed less than 10 per cent.
Public school financing matters for student enrolment, retention and achievement. A growing body of evidence shows that increased education and school budgets lead to better student outcomes. A well-financed education sector leads to quality learning outcomes, inclusive quality teaching and learning and increases girls’ participation.
In Zimbabwe, public funding for education has increased in recent years. Nevertheless, further increase is needed, as the Country is investing only 15 per cent of its public expenditure on education.
“Zimbabwe needs to raise its investment in education to the globally agreed target of 20 per cent to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal on universal, inclusive and equitable basic education for all school-age children by 2030 and to ensure access to education for all Zimbabwean children, including the poorest children and the children living with disabilities”, says Dr Nicholas Alipui, UNICEF Representative ai in Zimbabwe. “UNICEF stands ready to support the Government of Zimbabwe to fully execute the budget available for education.”
Education is key for building human capital for prosperity on the continent. Financing is a major issue across Africa, leaving millions of children unable to acquire the foundational skills needed for them and their countries to thrive in the future.
Despite considerable progress made by African Governments in boosting primary and lower secondary enrolment over the past decade, schools are underfunded and under-resourced, classrooms overcrowded and there are insufficient teachers, many without adequate training and competencies.
Low learning outcomes remain a great concern with four in every five children aged 10 years old in Africa unable to read and understand a simple story. As the African Union celebrates 2024 as the Year of Education, evidence shows that:
Approximately US $183 billion is needed for children’s education in African countries annually to reach Sustainable Development Goals on education, while available resources stand at $106 billion, leaving a financing gap of over 40 per cent.
Governments in Africa spend around two per cent of their education budgets on pre-primary education, while 20 per cent goes to tertiary on average. 13 out of 40 African Governments with available data invested no resources in pre-primary education while tertiary education continues to be overprioritized.
As of 2022, spending on education is on average below pre-pandemic levels and on par with levels from a decade ago. COVID-19 caused a significant decline in education spending across the continent with real per capita education expenditure in 2022 equalling levels seen in 2012/13.
The need for investment will only escalate to meet the requirements of a fast-growing, school-aged population, as it is estimated that the continent will be home to 1 billion children by 2050.
Without urgent attention, the huge lack of financing for education will be catastrophic for a generation of students and the future economic growth and stability of the region.
“Children have the right to quality education, but education systems are failing far too many of them. To ensure prosperity in Africa we urgently need to see a continental revolution where commitments are turned into concrete action so children can attain the vital foundational skills necessary for them to progress to higher forms of education and realize their full potential,” says Etleva Kadilli, UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa.
One of the most impactful and cost-effective ways forward is to increase public investment in the early years, as studies confirm that pre-primary investments are among the most powerful governments can support. And yet early childhood education continues to see the smallest budget share.
Children between the ages of three and six years might seem like they are only just beginning life’s journey, but by this time more than 85 per cent of their brain development is already nearly taking place. Hence the importance of investing early, to give them a chance of the best start in life.
Today – Friday 14 June – the African Union Commission is holding an event on education to commemorate the Day of the African Child 2024. During this event, UNICEF is launching a call on African Union Member States to prioritize pre-primary and foundational learning for every child and swiftly implement the following key actions:
- Re-commit to making education a budget priority and reach the recommended benchmark of 20 per cent annual spending on education by 2025.
- Increase budgetary attention to early learning and commit to allocating at least 10 per cent of education budgets to pre-primary education.
- Leverage international public and private resources, including concessional loans and grants from international financial institutions, innovative financing mechanisms and public-private partnerships. Converting and spending Special Drawing Rights and negotiating for debt relief that directly benefits education or other avenues for restructuring debt could free up large resources for education.
- Enhance transparency and accountability in planning, budgeting and management of education systems.
- Enhance the effectiveness of budget allocations including addressing inefficiencies throughout the spending chain on education.
- Invest more in teachers and develop clear plans for funding recruitment, retention and professional development.
- Improve equity of education spending and service delivery and ensure no child is left behind in accessing quality learning.
About the Day of the African Child
The Day of the African Child is a commemoration of the Soweto Uprising in 1976, when students protested against education injustice and inequality in the apartheid regime. Initiated by the Organisation of African Unity (now African Union) it is celebrated on June 16 every year since 1991.
The theme for the Day of the African Child in 2024 is “Education for all children in Africa: the time is now”, aligning with the African Union’s Year of Education which focuses on building resilient education systems to ensure increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality and relevant learning in Africa.