Progress Report - Education in Africa | Data.org

Progress Report: Education in Africa

11.26.07

Fast Facts

Across sub-Saharan Africa, gross enrollment in primary school jumped by 29 million children between 1999 and 2005, thanks in part to debt relief and development assistance.
The abolition of school fees resulted in an additional 1 million children in school in Kenya and 3 million more children in school in Tanzania.
The ratio of girls to boys in African primary and secondary schools increased from 78% in 1991 to 87% in 2004.
Botswana and Guinea have allocated more than a quarter of government expenditure towards education.

Niger - Teacher Recruitment Ensures Quality Education

In recent years, Niger has gone from being one of the worst performers in primary
education to one of the best. With increasing development assistance through the Education for All - Fast Track Initiative, between 2002 and 2005 Niger’s teacher recruitment jumped by 1,000% and enrollment nearly doubled, increasing from 530,000 to 1.1 million children. The biggest beneficiaries were rural children, whose enrollment increased from 38% to 51%. After hiring a new cadre of teachers for the burgeoning school population, Niger’s teacher:student ratio came closer to the benchmark of 1:40.

Tanzania - Access to Quality Education Improves

In 2001, Tanzania used its savings from debt cancellation to abolish primary school fees, enabling an estimated 3 million more children to enroll in primary school. Faced with this influx of students, the Tanzanian government launched a Primary Education Development Program to improve the primary education system with help from donors. By 2006, Tanzania’s net primary enrollment rate had reached 96.1%, up from only 58.6% in 2000. The quality of education is improving across Tanzania- performance in learning, measured through Primary School Leaving Examinations, improved from a pass rate of 28.6% in 2001 to 61.8% in 2006.

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