Economic policy analysts have cited an emerging learning crisis in developing countries, such as Kenya, as a critical impediment to sustainable growth.
The analysts said school and human capital development are essential to individuals’ livelihoods and country-wide economic growth and development.
The economic policy analysts, in their research presentations delivered at the just concluded two-day African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) 25th Senior Policy Seminar (SPS), noted that a crisis of learning quality had replaced the earlier enrolment crisis faced by developing countries.
The Economic Policy Researchers presented their findings following a collaborative research project on human capital and growth in Africa supported by AERC in conjunction with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).
In a paper titled: Education in Africa: Career Progressions, Gaps in Learning Outcomes, and Responding to the Learning Crisis, University of Delaware Department of Economics chairperson, Prof Adrienne Lucas described the learning crisis and access to quality learning as acute.
In the mid-1990s, sub-Saharan Africa, he said, had a crisis of low enrolment rates, with only 54 per cent of primary school-aged students in school in the lower- and middle-income countries of sub-Saharan Africa now replaced by a crisis of learning quality.
“As barriers to schooling have fallen, the primary school net enrollment rate is now over 80 per cent, yet, in many cases, schools are continuing to fail the children they are supposed to be serving by not imparting them with adequate knowledge to be successful,” Lucas said.
As an example, he said, in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, about three-quarters of grade three students cannot read a simple sentence.
"This “learning crisis” of students being in school but not learning is acute. The scale of this problem was recognised and codified in Goal number 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),'' Lucas said.
University of Nairobi Professor of Economics Germano Mwabu, in his paper: Human Capital Accumulation in Africa: Drivers, Consequences, and Way Forward noted that Foreign Direct investments (FDI) stimulate education achievement in a host country by enabling the youth to acquire on-the-job training.
This is from options such as on-the-job training and the provision of tax revenues that the government can use to construct schools and fund scholarships and research.
“Multinational firms provide incentives for skill acquisition because workers know they must be highly skilled to work for foreign-owned enterprises, which pay higher wages than local firms,” Mwabu said.
He, however, noted that the education stimulus from FDI depends on the host country’s capacity to absorb the investment.
Kenya’s Ministry of Information, Communication and Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo called for strengthening capacity-building efforts at the human capital development level to facilitate economic and social growth.
Owalo challenged delegates at the SPS to move out of their comfort zones by embracing emerging trends in the digital space to advance economic policy.
Referencing the need for regional cohesion for more efficient results, Dan Peters, Advisor, Global Policy & Advocacy BMGF, encouraged African governments to work together as a vital component to accelerate Africa’s growth.
“Africa has enormous potential in this century due to its expansion. Countries need to invest wisely to produce better health, education and skills for human capital,” he said.
AERC senior policy seminars are forums designed specifically to bring together senior policymakers from sub-Saharan African countries to exchange experiences and deliberate on topical issues pertaining to the sustainable development of their economies.