Sierra Leone’s Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education, Conrad Sackey has joined a community of decision-makers from across the public, private and non-profit sectors across Africa, at One Great George Street, London, to discuss matters concerning the “Innovative Partnerships at Scale to Achieve SDG 4 in Africa”.
The meeting was an important moment to reflect as a community of decision-makers and change-makers, what they can possibly do to ensure that every child has fair access to basic education and is supported in every way to excel in their academic journey.
This inspiring and insightful discussion was attended by Alicia Herbert OBE, Director of Education, Gender and Equality and Gender Envoy for the UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO), Hon. Minister Dr. Jarso Maley Jallah, Minister of Education of the Republic of Liberia, and Hon. Minister Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum (MP), Minister for Education of the Republic of Ghana.
Some takeaways from the meeting include a strong recognition of the role of non-state actors in instigating innovation and working as a complementary force alongside Government. As a result, all panelists agreed on the need for collaboration with non-state actors—from the private and non-state sectors to philanthropy and civil society organisations—and across geographic boundaries to ensure African nations sustain the gains made in the recent years, with highlights of some positive examples of improvements in access to equitable quality education with non-state actors making a strong contribution.
Additionally, there was a strong commitment from all Ministers to particularly increase funding that education receives. The ministers’ statements come as the global financing gap in education continues to widen, which is estimated to be US$1.8 trillion shortfall per annum. Sustainable financing remains a concern for the global community—especially amongst those represented by Global Schools Forum, its foundation partners and the United Nations.
Also, it was clear that education systems need to be “re-imagined”, in the words of the United Nations, and that barriers to partnerships need to be removed so that new sources of finance can be deployed for education and further collaboration can take place. Innovative programs led by philanthropies, NGOs, and civil society groups have proven to be effective in driving positive change in African education systems.
The event was covered by a number of national media outlets: Sierra Leone Telegraph, Liberian Observer, Modern Ghana and Ghananews247 and Liberty for photographs.
