Ahead of the International Education Day 2023 celebrated on 24th January of every year, Tujifunze Africa Foundation joined youth led Organizations to celebrate IED 2023.
On 3rd December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly adopted with consensus a resolution proclaiming 24th January as International Day of Education, in celebration of the role of education for peace and development. This year 2023, the International Education Day was celebrated under the theme; TO INVEST IN PEOPLE; INVEST IN EDUCATION.
On 20th January 2023, Tujifunze Africa Foundation, moderated the discussion on the role of youth in transforming education at the convening. With over 30 youth in presence, the event aimed to;
- create a platform for young people to share their experiences in leading SDG4 at the grassroots;
- brainstorm best practices and actions that can be adopted by stakeholders to transform education and
- build a movement of youth educators to continuously spearhead education projects at the grassroots level.
During the discussions, youth highlighted some of the best practices they are employing at the grassroots to promote access to quality, inclusive and equitable education for all. These included ;
- Fighting Gender Based Violence like child marriage and Female Genital Mutilation
- Providing Scholarships for girls
- Teaching waste management
- Advocacy for expectant girls and child mothers to go to school
- Providing Sexuality Education to children out of school.
- Mentorship sessions to build girls’ agency.
- Working with young people, parents, communities, religious and cultural institutions in promoting education and leveraging social media for advocacy.
Through this session, youth participants learned from one another and committed to replicate some of these practices in their interventions at organizational level. Furthermore, the youth in attendance shared challenges faced by the education sector. These included; limited capacity and access to resources to implement education projects, lack of funding for projects, lack of learning and teaching materials, the teacher -student ratio, poor pay to mention a few.
Solutions to these challenges and more were generated and calls to action on transforming education presented. These included;
- the need to increase funding for education, investment in the teaching profession by improving working conditions, address discrimination against children with disabilities in school, designing interventions targeting parents to change mindsets,
- the need for government to invest in public education, train teachers on the effective implementation of the new curriculum, strengthen the referral pathways for Gender Based Survivors and for government to regulate both private and public schools when it comes to school fees. To conclude the discussions, Youth called on decision makers to;
- increase funding for education and set up strong accountability mechanisms, work and collaborate with youth in all their diversity in designing, implementing and monitoring and evaluating education policies and projects, invest and implement Gender Transformative Education, Invest in informal education, Enhance partnerships between governments and civil society organizations and strengthen multi-sectoral coordination.
Tujifunze Africa Foundation will continue to design and implement education projects aimed at increasing access, retention and completion of school by all children in Uganda as well as partner with youth led organizations, government and development partners to create lasting impact in the communities.
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