ESSA – Education Sub Saharan Africa

The object of the Charity is for the public benefit to advance education in Sub-Saharan Africa. ESSA will play a vital role in transforming education: boosting the work of others, focusing on impact and outcomes and spreading best practice. In this way we aim to improve the effectiveness of investment in education, especially where systems are most challenged.

Transforming Eduction Together

Education Sub-Saharan Africa was founded in 2016 to bring together a network of young people, educators and decision-makers. Together, we use evidence to improve the tertiary education system: equipping millions of young people in sub-Saharan Africa with the skills for work.

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Continental Education Strategy for Africa set a framework to cope with Africa’s challenges in education. Governments in sub-Saharan Africa typically invest 5% or more of GNP on education and this is boosted by others including development funds, corporate companies and non-profits (NGOs).

The research, data and evaluation of impact, critical to making the right policy and choices for everyone investing in education, is improving considerably. Yet this knowledge is of variable quality, can be hard to access and is often incomplete.

We believe there is an opportunity to increase the effectiveness of spending and to attract additional capital to this fundamentally important area.

By 2050, Africa’s young population will increase by nearly 50 percent and 450 million workers are projected to join the workforce in the next decade. Many African nations already face multiple, complex and systemic challenges in delivering the education their societies need. Colleges, universities, and vocational courses

ESSA sees the Tertiary sector as including all post-secondary education, including universities, colleges, technical training institutes, and vocational schools. This sector plays an important role in building the skills and knowledge of young people for the world of work. It is a gateway to training, development, culture across the continent, and a main driver of socio-economic growth and societal development.

With this context, we strongly believe that:

“Access to quality education and job opportunities will be critical in determining whether the world’s largest youth population becomes an opportunity to lift millions from poverty or a crisis for the region and the world.”

We want to do all we can to help solve the paradox of high youth unemployment, even among graduates, and the skills shortages employers face.

African Education Research Database (AERD)

The online African Education Research Database (AERD) has been developed by the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre at the University of Cambridge, in partnership with ESSA. The database aims to raise the visibility of African research, consolidate the evidence base for policy and practice, and inform future research priorities and partnerships.