The African Union (AU), in partnership with the Association for Educational Assessment in Africa (AEAA), together with the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS) and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), is preparing to validate a continent-wide framework aimed at transforming how children’s learning outcomes are measured […] The post The African Union moves to harmonize learning assessments in a new continental framework appeared first on World Education Blog.
The African Union (AU), in partnership with the Association for Educational Assessment in Africa (AEAA), together with the Global Education Monitoring (GEM) Report, UNESCO Institute of Statistics (UIS) and the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), is preparing to validate a continent-wide framework aimed at transforming how children’s learning outcomes are measured and addressed across member states.
With four in five children in Africa completing primary school but at most two in ten of those attaining minimum proficiency in reading and mathematics at the end of primary, urgent reforms are needed to tackle a learning crisis that risks undermining progress toward both continental and global education goals.
The validation workshop which began on July 29th for the Continental Assessment Framework for Africa (CAF-Africa) marks a critical step in operationalizing a shared, technically sound approach to assessing learning. The Framework is designed to support AU Member States in developing harmonized benchmarks for reading and mathematics proficiency in line with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Indicator 4.1.1 and the Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 2026–2035).
“We are committed to closing Africa’s learning data gaps and ensuring every child’s learning is visible, measurable, and acted upon,” said Mr. Adoumtar Noubatour, coordinator of the AU Pan African Institute for Education for Development “The Continental Assessment Framework is not just a technical tool; it’s a statement of our collective ambition.”
The Framework responds directly to a 2023 ministerial call to action led by Zambia and supported by Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, and The Gambia at the AU Specialized Technical Committee on Education, Science and Technology (STC-EST 4), emphasizing the need for robust, comparable data on learning across the continent.
“Our goal is to provide national and regional actors with a harmonized, contextually relevant framework to assess the quality of education systems,” said Dr. Michael Chilala, Executive Secretary of the AEAA. “This will enable governments to set realistic learning targets, allocate resources effectively, and ensure no learner is left behind.”
Set to bring together approximately 30 participants, the workshop will convene representatives from AU member states, regional agencies such as PASEC, civil society and academic stakeholders. Key themes will include curriculum and assessment alignment, national assessment frameworks, and institutional capacity building.
The Framework validation process is expected to yield four major outcomes:
- A finalized and technically validated Continental Assessment Framework,
- Increased political and technical commitment to CAF implementation,
- Stronger links between CAF and AU-led education accountability and skills development initiatives,
- A repository of good practices and technical recommendations to guide its rollout.
The workshop also paves the way for two high-level milestones: the official launch of the Framework at the AEAA Annual Conference in August 2025, and a ministerial-level presentation at the ADEA Triennale in Ghana in October 2025.
As Africa enters the AU Decade of Education (2025–2034), the CAF-Africa stands as a cornerstone for building more responsive, evidence-driven education systems. By anchoring policy decisions in reliable learning data, the continent is moving closer to achieving the education vision of Agenda 2063: The Africa We Want.
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