Kenya Hosts 17 African Nations for STEM Education Planning
Seventeen African nations are meet in Naivasha, Kenya, for a one week strategic planning meeting on how to implement science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education at the national level and push for an African monitoring and assessment of performance framework.
They will align the performance indicators with STEM education outcomes at the national level.
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Mr. Albert Nsengiyumva from Ivory Coast, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), stated that the purpose of the conference was to determine how member countries can develop curriculums that are market-specific in the face of a rise in youth unemployment in Africa.
Nsengiyumva emphasized that Africa now requires an education system that responds to emerging job market demands and empowers young people with the skills to become job creators instead of relying on employment opportunities.
While emphasizing the importance of technology in imparting this education, Nsengiyumva praised Kenya for the reforms she has implemented in the education sector, stating that they are worthy of emulation, and providing a situational analysis on the status of play-based STEM education in primary schools, demonstrating that it will reduce reliance on imports.
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Nsengiyumva spoke at the ongoing meeting of the Secretariat for the Association for the Development of Education in Africa’s Inter-Country Quality Node on Mathematics and Science Education (ADEA-ICQN-MSE) in Naivasha on Wednesday.
The purpose of this pan-African conference is to promote unilateral development in the member states. The Centre for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education in Africa (CEMASTEA) hosts it.
ADEA aims to equip African nations with the means to create responsive education systems for sustainable development.
Through thematic inter-country quality nodes (ICQNs), such as the one on mathematics and science education (ICQN-MSE), the organization accomplishes its goals.
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The ICQN-MSE conducted several studies on the status of STEM education, including a situational analysis of the status of play-based STEM education in primary schools in Africa (2022–2023) and the status of STEM education in secondary schools in Africa (2020–2021).
Through these investigations, the ICQN-MSE has developed a number of tools to assist nations in designing interventions to promote the national development of STEM education: Drafts of a strategic framework to guide country-based activities in developing STEM education at the fundamental learning level and a STEM toolkit to advance knowledge on the integration of STEM education, play, and technology in Africa.
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This conference or congress aims to bring together delegates from countries that participated in the two studies to review the study reports, develop the strategic framework for the ICQN-MSE, and discuss the STEM toolkit in order to realize a shared vision for the development of STEM education in Africa.
Encourage nations to develop STEM education policies and to take strategic measures to implement STEM education at the national level.
The purpose also includes advocating for the establishment of a continental monitoring and evaluation framework, incorporating indicators that align with the STEM education outcomes at the national level.
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Senior Ministry of Education officials from either the headquarters or regional levels, heads of either primary or secondary schools, teacher trainers, teachers of STEM subjects, national curriculum development officers, national examination officers, commissions for science and technology, and quality assurance officers are among the workshop participants.
Botswana, Rwanda (primary study), South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Uganda, Angola, and Morocco (secondary study) are the participating countries that also took part in the two aforementioned studies.
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Eswatini, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, The Gambia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Senegal, and Malawi are the other participants.
Kenya Hosts 17 African Nations for STEM Education Planning
