Africa’s future, in education and the direction it is taking has been the concern of many African stakeholders in education.
And many of these stakeholders believe to ensure a brighter future for Africa, investing in the education of the youth on the continent must be prioritized.
It is in light of this that the Pro Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Prof. Rosemond Boohene is urging Education Researchers in Africa to consider how they can train the youth to become agents of transformation in the 21st Century.
She made this appeal at the opening of the 3rd International Conference on Education Research for Development in Africa (ICERDA) which is currently underway at the University of Cape Coast (UCC).
The 2023 ICERDA is on the theme “Repurposing the Global Development Education Agenda for Africa’s Future”
Prof Rosemond Boohene maintains that if participants of the 2023 ICERDA make the youth the centre of their deliberations at the conference and efforts are intensified to provide quality education to the youth, it can help address the unresolved youth unemployment issue on the continent.
She emphasized saying “We have the issue of us churning out students who even find it difficult to get jobs, adding that “as we deliberate let’s look at how we can train our young ones because they are the future of Africa, our continent and the world”
Meanwhile, speaking to ATLFMNEWS after a breakout session, a lecturer at the Institute for Educational Planning and Administration (IEPA), Dr. Clara Araba Mills who presented a paper on “Challenges for Early Childhood Education Centers re-opening after Covid-19 closures: Implications for Early Childhood Development,” stressed the need to promote Early Childhood Education in the various public schools across Ghana.
“It’s more of what is available, then the whole essence of the early childhood education is a first point of socializing children, babies, before they enrol into the mainstream education. So, it’s the first point of socializing, getting to meet other people before they enter KG. The government free basic education actually covers KG to JHS, it does not include the early childhood class.”
The three-day conference which started on Tuesday, September 19 is being held under the auspices of UCC’s College of Education Studies and College of Distance Education in collaboration with the Centre for Global Development (CSGD) at the Open University, UK.
The goal of the conference is to create a unique space for new and established education researchers to meet regularly to disseminate research that addresses and develops research to inspire policymakers to take action to improve the quality of education for all Africans, especially the disadvantaged and marginalized.
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Source: Rosemond Asmah & Linda Afful/ATLFMNEWS
