New Seasons Youth Program

AFRICA

Education is widely accepted as a leading instrument for promoting economic growth.  For Africa, where growth is essential if the continent is to climb out of poverty, education is particularly important.

Enrollment rates in higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa are by far the lowest in the world.  Although the gross enrollment ratio has increased in the past 40 years – it was just 1% per cent in 1965 – it still stands at only 5% per cent.  Enrollment rate growth has been slow in Sub-Saharan Africa, and the absolute gap by which it lags behind other regions has increased rapidly.  The region’s present enrollment ratio is in the same range as that of other developing regions 40 years ago.

Many factors contribute to the low enrollment rate of Africans into tertiary education programs.  Africa’s Sub-Saharan governments are inundated with other issues such as the lack of proper infrastructure, the high rate of illiteracy & unemployment, poor healthcare, the growing number of orphans and displaced individuals due to war take precedent over tertiary education.

For several decades, government & development agencies have placed great emphasis on primary and, more recently secondary education.  But they have neglected tertiary education as a means to improve economic growth and mitigate poverty.

For example, from 1985 to 1989, 17-percent of the World Bank’s worldwide education-sector spending was on higher education, but from 1995 to 1999, the proportion dedicated to higher education declined to just 7-percent.

Young people affected by HIV/AIDS often face disrupted schooling due to demands at home for their help, the inability of sick or stressed parents to pay school fees or the death of a parent(s) due to HIV/AIDS can be overwhelming causing many to drop out of school to provide for self or younger siblings.

Many tertiary institutions in Africa are over-crowded and lack adequate educational and boarding facilities. The high cost of tertiary schooling means that many potential students cannot attend, 40% of Sub-Saharan Africans live on less than a dollar a day.  Curriculums that stress theory rather than skill competencies are weakly tailored to the continents labor needs.

With this said, knowledge has become a key driver of growth and development. Countries with higher skill levels are better equipped to face new challenges and master technological discoveries.

Because skills for the knowledge economy are built at the tertiary education level, we must provide these young people with educational opportunities so that they can be competitive in knowledge based economy and help move their respective countries forward.

Higher education graduates are likely to be more aware of and better able to use new technologies.  They are also more likely to develop new tools and skills themselves.  Their knowledge can also improve the skills and understanding of non-graduates co-workers.

As a recent article in Africa Renewal pointed out, the region is lagging behind in the areas of science and technology.

Africa is home to 13.4-percent of the world’s population, but only 1.1-percent of the world’s scientific researchers reside on the continent.  There is one engineer or scientist per 10,000 people in Africa.  In industrialized countries there are 20 to 50 per 10,000 people.  And African countries have among the lowest number of medical doctors per capita. 

A World Bank paper published in 2006 shows that tertiary education can have a significant impact in the area of “technological catch up,” which allows countries to maximize economic output and close the gap between developing countries and those that are more technologically advanced.  This may in turn have a profound affect on economic growth in coming decades. 

New Seasons believes that empowering young people through tertiary education will provide Africa with a pool of educated skilled Christian leaders.  By providing positive education we will have helped to develop business, political and social leaders.  These will go on to lead and develop churches, programs, schools and businesses that will speak to the needs of the people in their communities.

Higher education can produce both public and private benefit:

Private

• Better Employment Prospects.
• Higher Salaries & greater ability to save and invest.
• Better health & Improved quality of life.

Public

• Development of better schools, churches, work force and community.
• Enhancement of Economic Development through technological catch-up.
• Trained health care professionlas can improve a society's health, raising productivity at work.
• Can nurture good governance and leadership skills.

Evidence suggest women who receive
tertiary education are more likely to have less children, to space them further apart, and to see that they attend school, resulting in a better quality of life for all concerned. 

Did you know these African and World leaders received tertiary education in the United States:

Wangari Maathai - 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Winner - Kenya

Mount St. Scholastica College

University of Pittsburgh

 Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf - President -

Liberia

Kofi Annan - Former UN Secretary General - Ghana

Maclaster College MIT

The Late Godwin Olu Partick Obasi -

Secretary General World Meteorological Organization - Nigeria

MIT