The World Bank has advised African countries to find ways to deliver more, and better secondary school graduates. The continent is to do this while simultaneously achieving significant efficiency gains to realise economic growth. African countries will need to rapidly adapt their education system to develop the skills and talents of their young people across the full range of abilities, said Jacob Bregman, a lead education specialist of the World Bank's Africa Region Human Development section.



Addressing the 3rd Secondary Education In Africa (SEIA) conference, Mr Bregman explained this would need to be done in order to improve economic competitiveness and to promote social justice. South Africa's Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor is one of 38 ministers of education from the continent who have joined civil society stakeholders and experts for the event. A large number of studies, said Mr Bregman, have investigated the link between education and economic growth. He noted that on balance, the evidence clearly suggests that secondary education is associated with an acceleration of economic growth and can make a significant contribution to a country's economic performance. He emphasised that African youths like their counterparts elsewhere, have the right to be challenged to reach their full potential.



For African youths, he said, the price of disengagement from learning often creates serious problems and impacts negatively on the rest of their lives. He however noted that improving and expanding secondary education and training systems in Africa raises complex problems, among them resource and quality constraints. The World Bank Lead Education Specialist pointed out that without ensuring the quality of opportunities for learning, expansion of access to secondary education is a meaningless waste of resources. The 3rd SEIA three day conference is being held under the theme ' Secondary Education in Africa- Passport to the Future' and is organised by the Africa Region Human Development, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa- ADEA and the World Bank Institute.



Compared to Asia, Africa's relatively high unit cost for secondary education would currently inhibit any significant expansion of access. Another concern raised by the SEIA synthesis report is the fact that most secondary education in African countries continues to benefit the better off in urban areas but remains largely inaccessible for the rural population especially girls. South Africa has prioritised education by dedicating the largest share of its national budget towards the sector.



The Department of Education will receive R105.5 billion over the next three years. Tabling the national budget for 2007/2008 in Parliament in February, Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said the government would set aside R8.1 billion for improvement of educators' salaries, teaching assistants and support staff in schools across the country. "Our teachers are always on the frontline of our education system. It is in their hands that we place our 11 million children every day. We must pay tribute to them and ask no more than that they continue to serve with dedication and integrity," he said.


Mr Manuel said Minister Pandor would lead the process of determining how the resources would be used, focusing on the need to reward good teachers, provide support to poor schools and improve the general quality of schooling. The government, he said, had also set aside about R700 million for bursaries to encourage young people to train as teachers and pursue careers in the public schooling system. The bursary scheme is expected to benefit about 13 000 teachers over the next three years.