STORY: AU official says Africa faces shortage of 15 mln teachers
SHOOTING TIME: July 19, 2024
DATELINE: July 20, 2024
LENGTH: 0:00:39
LOCATION: Accra
CATEGORY: EDUCATION

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the Independence Square in Accra
2. various of the AU Executive Council's 45th Ordinary Session
3. SOUNDBITE (English): MOHAMMED BELHOCINE, AU commissioner for education, science, technology and innovation

STORYLINE:

Africa faces a deficit of 15 million in the supply of teachers, which hinders the continent's development, a senior African Union (AU) official said Friday.

Mohammed Belhocine, the AU commissioner for education, science, technology and innovation, made the remarks at a press briefing at the ongoing 45th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the AU in Accra, the Ghanaian capital.

He warned that this deficit has a negative impact on the continent's ability to meet its education and development aspirations.
   
The commissioner, therefore, called on the continent to take steps to bridge this gap to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in education by 2030 set by the United Nations.

SOUNDBITE (English): MOHAMMED BELHOCINE, AU commissioner for education, science, technology and innovation
"The deficits are huge, and without really strong efforts to make the best use of what we are already investing in our educational systems."

Africa needs an investment of about 90 billion U.S. dollars to bridge the gap, improve infrastructure in education, and meet the SDGs on schedule, observed the commissioner.
   
He urged the rebranding of the teaching profession to motivate more competent people to embrace the profession.

He also called for global support for improving educational systems in Africa to achieve better outcomes, because the entire world might need to depend on African youth in the next 20 years due to the low population growth in other parts of the world.

The AU Executive Council's 45th Ordinary Session, a meeting of foreign ministers of AU members, is a prelude to the 6th Mid-Year Coordination Meetings of the heads of state of AU members.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Accra.
(XHTV)