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I. Natatou: Address to Summit 2022, Session IXa
Written by Hon. Ibrahim Natatou, minister of education, Niger
Saturday, August 13, 2022
Address to Summit 2022 and Leadership Conference,
Seoul, Korea, August 11-15, 2022
“Current Educational Environment in Niger and Africa and a Vision for Character Education in the Next Century”
Your Excellency, Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, co-founder of the Universal Peace Federation;
Your Excellency Samdech Techo Hun Sen, prime minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia, co-organizer of this conference;
Your Excellency, Mr. Ban Ki Moon, former secretary-general of the United Nations;
Dear lecturers, ladies and gentlemen, in your titles, ranks and capacities:
Niger, my country, is very honored to take part, alongside delegations from more than 157 nations around the world, in this important conference dedicated to the value of peace.
My pride is even greater, as the Government of Niger co-organized, in cooperation with the Universal Peace Federation, the Africa Continental Summit in November 2019 in Niamey, Niger, which was the second summit of its kind organized in Africa, with the first Africa Summit held in January 2018 in Dakar, Senegal.
The resounding success of the Niamey conference, which focused on the theme, “Building a Peaceful and Prosperous Africa Centered on Universal Values,” and saw the participation of more than 2,000 personalities from all over the world, testifies to the aspiration of our peoples and leaders to the values of peace, security, reconciliation, interdependence and mutual prosperity.
It is therefore the place to express my compliments and thanks to the organizers of this conference for hosting this year's event of global significance and the South Korean government.
Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
It should be recalled that the resolutions of the Niamey summit focused on several important points, including the education of youth.
Thus, at the end of a meeting he had on May 20, 2022 with H.E. Bazoum Mohamed, president and head of state of the Republic of Niger, the director general of UPF, Dr. Yun Young-Ho declared, very appropriately: "We had a good discussion on this subject. We are going to start the implementation of a project and Niger can become a model for Africa and the whole world."
Indeed, the education system of Niger currently faces four major challenges that are hindering its development. These are:
- First, a demographic challenge, because 70% of the population of Niger, which is estimated to be more than 25 million as of 2022, is made up of young people under 25 years of age. About 17% are of the legal school age (7 to 12 years old), and with an annual population growth rate of 3.9%, the population will double every 18 years.
- Second, a security shock, because Niger, a Sahelian country surrounded by three major areas of tension, Libya in the northeast, Mali in the northwest and Nigeria in the south, is subject to almost daily terrorist attacks. These terrorist attacks, which hardly spare schools, have caused, among other things, the closure of 855 schools in 2022, depriving more than 68,552 children of their right to education.
- Third, the health challenge with the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020, which led to the closure of schools for several months, disrupted the learning of millions of children and their lives and exacerbated inequalities to the detriment of vulnerable groups, notably girls in rural areas, nomadic children and children with disabilities. In addition, the COVID-19 crisis has exposed the weak resilience of the education system of Niger to ensure educational continuity in situations of crisis and disaster.
- Fourth, the climatic challenge affecting agriculture and livestock, which provide a living for more than 80% of the population, exposes the latter to the climatic hazards and recurrent drought episodes that characterize the Sahel region. This explains the numerous cases of absenteeism from and dropping out of school, particularly in nomadic areas.
Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
The analysis of the current situation of our education system is presented in terms of major challenges and issues.
While the implementation of certain reforms has led to remarkable progress in terms of access to and quality of services, many challenges remain. These include:
Primary school coverage still far from being universal, with about one-third of entrants dropping out before reaching the last grade, resulting in a primary school completion rate of about 53.9%.
Difficulties in school construction, with more than 40% of primary school classrooms built in straw huts inadequate to provide favorable teaching conditions. This lack of comfort for students and teachers is accentuated by the notorious lack of desks, which forces many students, especially in rural areas, to attend classes seated on the floor.
The low level of qualification of teachers in view of the large number of teachers without adequate initial training and the central place of the teacher in teaching/learning.
Significant social and geographic disparities to the disadvantage of girls, rural people and people living in poverty, both in terms of educational conditions and school careers.
A very low level of pupil achievement (both in absolute terms and comparison with many countries in the region) at the end of the primary cycle with a very insufficient amount of effective school time during the school year. Indeed, according to the results of the 2019 PASEC (Programme for the Analysis of Education Systems) evaluation, only 31.60% of pupils at the beginning of the primary cycle have reached the sufficient threshold, compared with 30% of pupils at the end of the cycle. This weakness is perceptible through the success rates in the BEPC (lower secondary school) and Baccalaureate (upper secondary school) examinations which in 2021 were, respectively, 20.5% and 22.75%, compared with 30% and 25% in 2019.
Retention rates of students are relatively low in Niger. Out of 100 children who enter the 6th grade, only 54 will have access to the 5th grade, and 40 to the 3rd grade (PSEF 2019 evaluation report). This reflects the low internal efficiency of the system, which particularly affects vulnerable groups, including girls, children from nomadic areas and children with disabilities.
Poor care for out-of-school children, who make up about half of all school-age children; the very limited use of digital technology to facilitate pedagogical continuity in case of emergency and/or to optimize learning; and securing schools in conflict-ridden areas, with more than 855 schools having had to close by 2022 as a result of conflict, are also major challenges and issues.
Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Dear participants,
In terms of perspectives, in view of the poor performance of the education system of Niger, the president and head of state of the Republic, H.E. Mohamed Bazoum, stated in a speech to the nation: “Education is our greatest challenge. Its weaknesses paralyze our possibilities to build up real human capital, capable of taking on the development challenges of our country. Our education system needs to be rethought, and it will be. This will be the translation of the contract that binds me to the Nigerien people.”
To this end, my country's new education policy is based on the following four main axes:
Axis 1: Increase the capacity of schools, vocational training centers and universities through the construction of adapted and less expensive school and university infrastructures; generalization of local colleges; construction of grouping centers in nomadic areas, etc.
Axis 2: Promotion of the schooling of the young girl through the opening of secondary cycle boarding schools for young girls and reinforcement of the participation of girls in the scientific, technical and professional fields.
Axis 3: Development of human capital through the training of teachers, improvement of their working conditions, promotion of their careers, raising of their level of qualifications, etc.
Axis 4: Improving the governance of the system through institutional measures and the management of human, material and financial resources. In line with this education policy and with a view to improving the quality, access and governance of the system, the Ministry of National Education has undertaken important reforms.
These include, but are not limited to:
- The continuation of curricular reform, consecrating the use of our languages as languages of instruction during the first years of learning in elementary school.
- Restructuring teacher training colleges so that they meet the quantitative and qualitative needs of teachers and supervisors in the primary and secondary cycles, in accordance with the recommendations of the various audits carried out in these areas.
- The introduction of digital technology in schools with a view to filling the gap in teaching materials, improving teaching practices and promoting distance learning, thus helping to strengthen the resilience of our education system.
- The improvement of the legal framework of private education and reinforcement of the supervisory and regulatory system to assist this important sub-sector in playing its part better in the service of a broader and better quality educational offering.
- The gradual replacement of straw classrooms with permanent classrooms, which will continue this year. I remind you that Niger has about 36,000 classrooms in straw huts. This unfortunately causes recurrent dramatic fires.
- Accelerating the schooling of girls by implementing a national strategy to increase the education of girls and women. It will be particularly important to continue the construction of boarding schools for girls, in accordance with the commitments of the president of the Republic.
- Improving governance of the sub-sector by instituting performance contracts, from the central to the decentralized levels of the school administration. The aim is to establish a culture of accountability and results.
Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Dear participants,
The implementation of all these reforms obviously requires the support of all our technical and financial partners, including UPF. Indeed, in view of the challenges and important issues of our education system, Niger would like to develop partnerships with UPF, particularly in the area of girls education, whose impact on demographic issues, equity, social justice, security, sustainable development and peace would be obvious.
Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
Dear participants,
Before closing my speech, I would like to reiterate my gratitude to the South Korean authorities and leaders of UPF for this opportunity.
On this note, I wish that this summit will be most beneficial for all those present here and will allow us to lay the foundations of quality education for all in service to achieving a world of solidarity, peace, prosperity and viability.
Thank you for your kind attention.
To go to the World Summit 2022 Schedule page, click here.