Teaching the watershed generation: How educators can shape the continent’s future

Over the next 25 years, Africa’s population is projected to double to 2.5 billion people – around a quarter of the world’s total. This is a projection that promises many benefits, not least market expansion, innovation and improved productivity.  

But will this demographic transformation be commensurate with economic growth?             
        

The answer to this question will depend on the continent’s ability to harness its human capital while addressing structural constraints. Policymakers across our region are grappling with the issues of under-employment, urbanisation without industrialisation, and a widening digital divide. These challenges, inherited from colonial patterns of under-development, limit the effectiveness of educational reforms, constrain job creation, and hinder industrialisation – problems faced by many countries across the continent.

The East African Community exemplifies this dynamic. The regional economic bloc has rapidly growing youthful populations, signalling a substantial expansion of the labour force in the coming decades. In this context, East Africa’s schools may well be its most critical institutions. But are their education systems keeping pace? And how well positioned are their teachers to positively influence a demographic dividend?

In Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, an awareness of this coming wave is driving transformation. With the shift to a ‘Competency-Based Curriculum’ (CBC) – whose goal is the transition from knowledge acquisition to application – learning has become more skills-oriented, and teachers are recognised as being central to the success of this reform. 

Kenya’s example provides a good case-study in how to position teachers as agents of reform. Since the introduction of the CBC in 2017, more than 300,000 teachers have undergone training to shift away from rote learning toward more inquiry-based, learner-centred approaches. The Teachers Service Commission has also introduced a Teacher Professional Development programme, aimed at continuous upskilling. 

Under this programme, teacher training workshops focus on developing innovative pedagogy, fostering inclusivity and focussing on the learner-centred needs of students.  As Anne Gachoya, Deputy Director of Education in the Kenyan Education Ministry puts it: “better-trained teachers mean improved learning outcomes”.

Tanzania offers another instructive example. Following the introduction of free basic education in 2016, enrolment surged – putting immense pressure on classrooms and teachers alike. In response, and in pursuit of improved teacher training, the government launched the National Framework for Teacher Continuous Professional Development, popularly known as MEWAKA (Mafunzo Endelevu kwa Walimu Kazini). 

The programme, backed by the World Bank and other partners, equips teachers with school-based training, mentorship opportunities and access to digital learning resources. By prioritising peer-led learning and practical support, MEWAKA aims to transform how teachers collaborate and solve real-time classroom challenges. Early evidence suggests it is improving both teacher morale and student engagement.

Uganda, too, is making good strides. Faced with persistently low literacy outcomes, the country invested in retraining early-grade teachers in phonics-based instruction, with an emphasis on local languages. In some districts, student reading fluency has more than doubled. Like its neighbours, Uganda too has had to contend with deeper systemic issues such as large class sizes, inadequate infrastructure and teacher absenteeism.  A World Bank study estimates that teacher absence rates in Uganda average between 27–30%. 

Yet, although each country is facing a unique set of classroom challenges and opportunities, a shared insight has emerged across East Africa: that successful curriculum reform depends not only on policy documents, but on the people - the educators - delivering them. Teachers’ ability to apply reforms in diverse classrooms is what will determine whether the region’s demographic wave can deliver a dividend.  

This is where initiatives like Schools2030 come in. As a ten-year initiative spanning ten countries (including Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda), and spearheaded by the Aga Khan Foundation in partnership with collaborators, Schools2030 is committed to empowering educators and communities in their specific local contexts.

“At the heart of Schools2030 is a focus on teacher agency – recognising educators as leaders, innovators, and active agents in education reform,” says Halima Shabaan, the regional Coordinator for Schools2030. Through partnerships with governments, Schools2030 has provided a platform for teachers to be heard and celebrated as they share their stories of change and transformation. 

With this support, teachers across East Africa are diagnosing learning gaps, designing solutions and measuring impact. One teacher in Kenya, for example, has created the “Speak-up Spot” – a box where learners can anonymously share their concerns via written notes. These are then discussed with parents, creating a feedback loop addressing both academic and emotional needs, and enhancing parental engagement.

Other innovations are spreading across borders. A Tanzanian-designed literacy tool, the “T-Learning” model, has been adopted and adapted in other parts of the region. For example, teachers in Kenyan classrooms have made iterations of the model to teach other subjects, including the sciences. Remarkably, a teacher at a school for the visually impaired has added braille to the “T-Learning” letter tiles, making the innovation truly inclusive. 

While East Africa is already proving what is possible when educators are positioned as key participants in educational reform, much work remains to be done. 

The performance of education systems today is a key driver of future economic and social outcomes. A large, educated workforce could attract investment and drive economic growth – realising a demographic dividend. Conversely, if education falls short, the risks of increased poverty, youth unemployment and political instability are equally profound. The aspiration is to ensure that Africa’s coming influence is shaped not just by its numbers, but by the quality of its classrooms and the creativity of those who lead them.

As education leaders, practitioners and policymakers prepare to gather in Nairobi for the annual Schools2030 Global Forum next month, the discussion around Africa’s rising population – and how our education systems can help deliver a demographic dividend – is especially timely today.

Amin Mawji OBE is the Diplomatic Representative of the Aga Khan Development Network.