Reinventing education in Africa

It’s neither an illusion nor a dream. The school of tomorrow already exists in Africa.

A six-article series in Le Monde Afrique, the digital platform dedicated to the African continent of the French daily Le Monde, published in partnership with Cartier Philanthropy, looks at innovative learning models that are challenging the dominant ideas of education - and not just in places replete with resources, but in particularly difficult environments too.

Whether in Ethiopia or Mali, Ivory Coast or Madagascar, passionate educators are reinventing education systems - often encouraged by bold and passionate NGOs - enhancing and adapting teaching methods to support the citizen of the XXI century: a creative, connected and fiercely independent human being equipped to propel Africa “beyond aid” and into the 4th Industrial revolution.

Although there is still a long way to go before these grassroots “exceptions to the rule” can scale up, they are already breaking the barriers of the conservative status quo that still permeates education, proving that other solutions are already a viable option.

While no single innovation is ever a silver bullet, sharing knowledge about what works and scaling successful interventions can accelerate improvements in learning.

The articles are available in French on the Le Monde Afrique website and here below.

Episode 1-2-3 and 4 feature some present and past partner organisations:

• Introduction to the series : L’école africaine réinventée
• Episode 2: Au Rwanda, l’entrepreneuriat enseigné au lycée
• Episode 3: En Afrique du Sud, des livres à portée d’élèves
• Episode 4: Sésame, le programme qui ouvre les portes de l’université à Madagascar
• Episode 5: Kabakoo, l’école qui complète les cursus universitaires classiques au Mali
• Episode 6: En Côte d’Ivoire, devenir autonome en codant à 4 ans comme à 40