Africa’s prosperity, and any
claim to greatness is inextricably bound to its children. Despite significant
progress over the past decade, the flourishing of the African child is still
staggered by poverty, malnutrition, disease and premature death.
Africa’s most valuable yet
untapped potential is its children. It is not the vast reserves of oil or gas
or gold or diamonds that will curve Africa’s place in the league table of great
nations. Neither is it the abundance of farmland nor the growing consumer
classes nor the new kilometers of road or railway that will make the 21st
century Africa’s moment. What is happening to Africa’s children today will
shape the continent’s future for many decades to come.
Consider that 16 of the 20
countries UNESCO judged to be least likely to meet the Education for All (EFA)
targets are in sub-Saharan Africa. According to UNESCO, no African country
attained the most important goal of universal primary education, defined as all
children completing primary education. It is estimated that 30 million African children
of primary school age were out of school in 2012. Here in Kenya, it is
estimated that 2 million primary-age children were out of school in 2014.
More than 40 percent
of Africa’s children are stunted. This means that they suffer significant, and
often irreversible cognitive impairment. Such children are highly likley to
repeat grades and to drop out of school. The psycho-socil and economic effects
of stunting and cognitive impairment endure into adulthood and can be
transmitted from parents to children. Stunted children will earn less and will
most likely not to live out their full potential and contribute less to their
communities.
Education is no longer about the
African child. Education is now about the reputation of the school and the
school head teachers. From very early in their lives the African child is
taught not to think but to learn by rote and commit meaningless facts to memory
to excel in national standardized test scores. We have transformed our schools
into grade factories. And guess what, this is not about to change.
More than anything else, children
must learn how to learn, unlearn and re-learn. Our education is about the curriculum
and content. It is not about the child. One of my professors told me many years
ago that half of what he was teaching would be out of date before I graduated.
The problem is that he did not know which half it was.
The over-crowded, natural
resource-poor East Asian economies have succeeded so spectacularly well on the
economic front. For example, Singapore’s GDP per capita soared from USD516 in
1965 to about USD 55,000 in 2013. In the same period Kenya’s GDP per capita has
increased from USD 104 to USD 1,240. Singapore’s miracle is largely attributed,
among other factors, to sustained levels of investment in human capital over many
decades.
Investment in education, especially for children leads to the formation
of human capital and is in my view the ultimate engine of economic growth. Human capital drives
to economic growth in two ways. First, the human capital enhances an individual’s
capability, leading to an increase in productivity and to economic growth.
Second, a well educated population will also contribute to strengthening
democracy and protecting civil liberties.
Moreover, the
benefits of education are not confined to service and manufactuing sectors.
Significant benefits of education on agricultral productivity were observed in
East Asia in the 1970s. The contribution of education to agricultural
productivity was high in South Korea. One
year of additional education was estimated to increase productivity by 2
percent Moreover, Education also influenced
the selection of technologies in farming. Better-educated farmers chose superior
technology compared to less-educated farmers. This is especially relevant to
Africa considering that our continent has vast but untapped agricultural land.
The miracle of the
Asian Tigers – Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan – is something
Africa can and must learn from. In the long-term, enduring and equitable
prosperity comes from investing in human capital. And we must start by ensuring
that our children are well fed, clothed and educated.
The African
Development Bank must invest in Africa’s most crucial bridge to the future, its
children, more than fancy highways. The Lion economies of Africa will not roar until
every African child has a fair chance in life, unshackeld by poverty, hunger
and disease.
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