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Primary education is essential for the well-being of all children, as well as for the future of their countries. Children are Africa’s greatest resource and responsibility, yet their access to quality education is a major challenge.
Quality of education goes hand in hand with access. While free primary and secondary education is offered by several Africa countries, the provision of classrooms with desks and chairs is not an automatic guarantee that this goal is being met.
UNICEF’s "State of the World’s Children"(2008) reports that only about 65% of children in West and Central African countries are attending primary schools as compared to an 85% school attendance rate for children in Northern Africa. Only one-third of children in Chad and Equatorial Guinea reach the fifth grade – while in Somalia the percentage drops to 3%, according to UNICEF.
World Vision aims to ensure that opportunities for a quality education will grow and extend to the poorest and most vulnerable communities and children of Sub-Saharan Africa.
For instance, in Kenya, World Vision has worked with the government to ensure the adoption and implementation of a policy to make a basic and quality education available to all children. World Vision also works with teachers, community leaders, parents and pupils to promote the education of marginalised and vulnerable children.
In Somalia, Ghana and Zambia, World Vision participated in the Global Campaign for Education in 2008, where children were mobilized and empowered to hold governments accountable for recognizing and safeguarding their right to education.
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