22 April 2008
Lagos — Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, is to host the Biennial on Education in Africa, scheduled to hold from May 5 to 9. The Biennial is the most important meeting in Africa in the field of educational cooperation, organised every two years by the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA).
It brings together all African Ministers of Education and Training, representatives of multilateral and bilateral development cooperation agencies, African and international non-governmental organisations and civil society organisations; foundations, education specialists, academics and practitioners, as well as providers of all types of education. Ministers for sectors other than education are also expected.
No fewer than 600 participants are expected at the Joaquim Chissano International Conference Centre venue of the conference, the first to be hosted by a Lusophone African country.
The opening ceremony on May 5 will include addresses by President Armando Emilio Guebuza of Mozambique; President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of the Republic of Algeria, who is the Guest of Honour; the current Chairperson of the African Union, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete; and the First Lady of Puerto Rico, Luisa Acevedo Vil·
The central theme, "Beyond Primary Education: Challenges and Approaches to Expanding Learning Opportunities in Africaî, will be addressed through three broad sub-themes: extending the duration of mandatory schooling for all to 9 to 10 years; the challenge of skills development, to better prepare young people for integration into social and working life; linkages between senior secondary education and higher education, with a view to building human resources for Africa's development.
The main objective of the 2008 Biennial is to foster the sharing of African and international experience and knowledge on the development of post-primary education, to promote shared understandings of the challenges and priorities and to identify lessons learned, policy options and promising strategies.
The event will provide the African education community with the tools, as well as the latest state of knowledge and practice, that are apt to bring advances in post-primary education throughout the continent, in line with the considerable progress made toward the achievement of universal primary education. Over 120 studies and research papers have been prepared for the Maputo meeting, according to ADEA Executive Secretary Mamadou Ndoye.
The Maputo Biennial will also celebrate ADEA's 20th anniversary. The year 2008 is a highly symbolic one in terms of stronger anchoring in Africa, reflected in the relocation of the ADEA Secretariat to the headquarters of the African Development Bank in Tunis, the strengthening of ADEA's partnership with the African Union in the context of the implementation of the Second Decade of Education for Africa, the upcoming merger of the COMEDAF and ADEA Bureaux of Ministers and the extension of ADEA's scope of activity to cover the entire continent. For the first time, the countries of North Africa will participate in the Biennial. The year will also see the launch of ADEA's first medium-term strategic plan (2008-2012)
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