Mastercard Foundation held a virtual summit to launch their report on Secondary Education in Africa on Thursday 13th August. The virtual summit was live-streamed on Facebook and YouTube and featured prominent African political leaders, policy makers, youth ambassadors, secondary education teachers and others. The key topic in discussion focused on how the youth can be prepared for the future of work and each speaker highlighted projects being done towards this.

Reeta Roy President & CEO of Mastercard Foundation in her opening remarks stressed on three main areas to align Secondary education with the current and future needs of African economies; Inclusion, Teacher Workforce and Digital Skills.

African leaders like Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Her Excellency President Ellen Sirleaf Johnson former President of Liberia shared the impact of covid-19 on education and the financial support being input towards secondary education in their various countries.

President Paul Kagame stressed the importance of extracurricular activities towards building skills such as teamwork, leadership and communication skills.

Ghana’s Minister of Education, Hon. Matthew Opoku Prempeh was part of the virtual panel and he shared the commitment the government has towards reimagining secondary education in the post-pandemic era. He mentioned the impact of the Free Education on the lives of the average Ghanaian youth and how it’s reduced the numbers of youth on the streets.

Kenyan secondary education experts also shared their needs as teachers in the secondary education system.

The full report is here .

Watch the full summit here.