An Irish Adult Learner in Sub-Saharan Africa - A Narrative Account of my Experience of Working with Teacher Educators in Lesotho

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Đào

Narrative reflection on educational attainment in Sub-Saharan Africa through the lens of an Irish adult learner working with teacher educators in Lesotho. The text links low schooling outcomes to malnutrition, poor health, high child mortality, limited early enrollment, gender disparity, and barriers to access and quality education. It discusses weak infrastructure, overcrowded classrooms, teacher shortages, and insufficient funding, while contrasting policy aims such as Universal Primary Education with persistent challenges in literacy, secondary progression, and adult learning.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

The educational context in Sub-Saharan Africa

Health and nutrition barriers

Enrollment, gender disparities, and access

Secondary education limitations

Adult literacy and learning needs

School infrastructure, teacher shortages, and financing

Previous Back to contents Next An Irish Adult Learner in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Narrative Account of my Experience of Working with Teacher Educators in Lesotho rosarii griffin The educational context in Sub-Saharan Africa Within the African context, educational attainment is, on balance, low. There are many reasons for this. Some of them are as follows: first of all, nutrition. Malnutrition affects one in three children under the age offive. It is difficult to learn even everyday things on an empty stomach. Malnutrition is linked to ill health and ill health is linked to child mortality. Child mortality is still high in Sub-Saharan Africa. Although UNICEF reported that infant mortality rates‘were down’ to 9.7 million children (under the age offive) dying in 2006, it was, nevertheless, down from 13 million in 1990. The majority of deaths still occur in Sub-Saharan Africa: 4.8million (BBC, Health Reports, 2009). Already, a proportion of the population never make it to the childhood or adolescent phase, not to mind adulthood. The survivor child might be lucky enough to attend pre-schooling of some kind: but only 14% of children in Sub-Sahara Africa are enrolled in pre-school education. Even if this child were to be enrolled, often the care is more akin to ‘babysitting’ than any educational-oriented activity going on, such as Montessori. Once of school age, the net enrolment ratios receiving Universal Primary Education (UPE) have risen since the Dakar (2000) Educational Goals, the ratio rising in Sub-Saharan Africa from 54% to 70%(and in South and West Asia to 86%). A female child in Sub-Saharan Africa is even less likely to attend school, as 55% of females in Sub-Saharan Africa are not enrolled. Hence, gender is an important determining variable in one’s educational attainment outside of other obstacles, such as the access and availability of education in the first place, and, as aforementioned, good health. Access to education is not the only problem within the southern African context (though access to good qual- Previous Back to contents Next ity education is). The likelihood of a child attending a good quality educational facility is remote, especially if the child lives in the slums or rural areas of SubSaharan Africa. African countries that have shown the political will to improve their education systems through the abolition of fees and the construction of schools, have shown greater progress in respect oftheirUPE enrolment figures. In Sub-Saharan Africa, even if the five year old child survives, and goes to school until the end of primary school, it is unlikely that he–or even she–will progress to secondary school. This is primarily because the secondary school system charges fees which are often too great a financial burden for families to bear. Sub-Saharan Africa shows the lowest rates of secondary school attainment with 75% of the secondary school age cohort of children not enrolled. Therefore, to talk of adult education within the African context, in the sense that we understand it, could be misleading, as most adults – especially in this part of the world – are in need of some kind of basic education in order to attain basic standard levels of literacy and numeracy. Here, adult literacy rates are approximately 55% of the population. Therefore, approximately one in two can read or write. Literacy problems are largely linked to poverty and other forms of disadvantage. In Sub-Saharan Africa, it was noted in the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality Assessment (SACMEC II) that fewer than 25% of grade 6 pupils reached a desirable level of reading, and 10% in six other countries (cited inEFA Monitoring Report, 2009, p.5) . Unfortunately, African governments are not giving priority to youth and adult learning needs. The political will is just not there; nor is the funding allocated to meet their literacy needs. To summarise, the situation in Sub-Saharan Africa is such that

FAQs

What major factors contribute to low educational attainment in Sub-Saharan Africa?

The text highlights malnutrition, ill health, high child mortality, limited early enrollment, poverty-linked literacy problems, and inadequate access to quality education.

How does gender affect schooling in the region?

Gender is presented as a key determinant: female children are less likely to be enrolled, and schooling practices such as biased textbooks and reinforcing teacher attitudes can hinder female performance.

Why is progression from primary to secondary education difficult?

Secondary school charges fees that families often cannot afford, resulting in low secondary enrollment and leaving many adolescents without access to further education.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Đào