Not Enough Learning: Africa’s Twin Deficit in Education

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In “Too Little Access, Not Enough Learning: Africa’s Twin Deficit in Education” educational researcher Kevin Watkins demonstrates the education crisis in the African continent. Watkins uses the town of Bodinga in the region of Sokoto in northwestern Nigeria to illustrate the education crisis in Africa. A majority of primary schools in Bodinga have more than 50 students in a class. Due to a large number of students crammed in a class, textbooks are few. If teachers happen to be there, they are often absent. Watkins supports his assertion by referring to a recent survey which indicates that 80% of Grade 3 pupils in Sokoto cannot read properly. To make it even worse, more than half of primary school-age children in the state do not attend school. Further, just a small number of children in primary schools manage to proceed to secondary education.
Watkins laments that Africa’s education crisis fails to get the attention of the media. He alludes that since the lack of textbooks and good teachers does not amount to hunger, the media does not focus on the issue. Unknown to them, the crisis has long-term adverse effects (Watkins, 2013). Watkins indicates that a failure to focus on the issue is condemning a generation of the children and the youth to future poverty. The firms will lack high-quality skilled labor force which will deprive them of the innovation required to remain successful. It would be impossible to ensure sustained economic growth in some of these regions of the world with abject poverty.
The first solution to the problem, according to Watkins, is for governments to ensure that children access education. Watkins appreciates that school enrollment has increased leading to a decline in school drop-outs in recent years. With more African countries eliminating school fees, increasing spending on school infrastructure and recruiting more teachers, there has been a gradual change. Nonetheless, Watkins helps us understand that still about 30 million children do not attend primary school as the progress towards having a universal primary education has been stalling. The reason for the stalling of enrollment according to Watkins is the failure of governments to offer opportunities in the marginalized regions. With high education inequalities, children from poor families are unable to access the opportunities granted to those from rich families. Moreover, Watkins sees conflict as a major impediment towards access to education. Most of the out-of-school are majorly in conflict zones or refugee camps.
The second solution to the issue is ensuring that children get something meaningful from education. I agree with Watkins that it is not enough to have children attend schools. It is critical to ensure that they are accessing a high-quality education. Watkins indicates that it is challenging to determine how much African’s children are learning in school given that only a few nations in Africa take part in international learning assessments. The data available from the governments is also unreliable (Watkins, 2013). Watkins examines surveys conducted in the region which indicate low levels of achievement. Hence, despite t...