West African officials urge investment in resilient education systems

At the 2nd High-Level Conference on Scaling Education Initiatives in Emergencies (ACCELERATE+), West African education officials called for a shift toward proactive investment in resilient education systems. Speaking at the event in Accra, Deputy Minister for Education Dr. Clement Apaak emphasized that investing in preparedness, such as risk analysis, contingency planning, and safe school infrastructure, is more cost-effective than rebuilding systems after crises occur.

Dr. Apaak identified climate shocks, conflicts, health emergencies, and economic pressures as increasing threats to regional learning. He noted that strengthening capacity at local and district levels is essential to ensure national policies are effectively implemented during disruptions.

Minister of Education Haruna Iddrisu also urged policymakers and development partners to adopt evidence-based approaches to address the region's learning crisis. He cautioned that responding to emergencies based solely on urgency without data-driven insights could lead to the waste of scarce resources. The conference, organized by Associates for Change in partnership with several regional research centers, focused on themes including foundational learning, e-learning, social protection, and teacher well-being.