The Blue DOT Issue 13

Reimagining education:
OPINION
Perspectives From Africa
on the Issue of Access
PATRICK MAKOKORO
Patrick Makokoro is an educational
researcher and development
practitioner with extensive
experience working in community
and international development. He is
a dedicated child rights activist and
passionate about social justice issues
around the world. Among other
social entrepreneurship initiatives,
he founded the Nhaka Foundation, a
charitable organization that provides
education, meals, health care,
psycho-social support, and other
essential services to orphaned and
vulnerable children in Africa. He is
currently a Doctoral Candidate in the
Faculty of Education at the University
of Victoria, Canada.
The impact of COVID-19 in Africa
has been devastating and the real
costs are still to be fully quantified.
The pandemic revealed inadequacies
and inequalities in social and economic
institutions, including access to education.
What we have learned has brought into
clear focus the need for evaluation and
transformation.
At a macro-level, a number of factors have
determined how governments address the
educational needs of children and their
families during this crisis. Countries in the
Global North have provided relief support
to the citizens and businesses through
stimulus packages. In these economies,
taxes have been waived or deferred and
this has brought much-needed relief to
individuals and businesses.
In Africa, the governments have
worked together through the
continental political bloc, the
African Union, to provide a strategic
response, but implementation and
coordination have been seriously
restricted due to lack of funding.
Therefore, the African Union launched
In Africa, the governments
have worked together
through the continental
political bloc, the African
Union, to provide a
strategic response, but
implementation and
coordination have been
seriously restricted due to
lack of funding.
a fundraising campaign in order to raise funds that would be
distributed to African countries through the African Center for
Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC). The funds raised
were to be directed towards mitigating the economic, humanitarian,
and social impact of COVID-19 in African countries; these efforts
included enhancing the capacity of the Africa CDC to respond
to public health emergencies due to COVID-19 and for the
distribution of personal protection equipment (PPE) and other
essential supplies.
At a country level, endemic corruption in the distribution of PPE
and food supplies, as well as poor leadership, exposed communities
to the deadly reality of the pandemic. In health institutions, fear
of contracting the virus because of insufficient PPE led to reduced
service. This hampered the roll out of national-level public health
responses. With policy measures to restrict COVID-19 infections
in play, it also meant that other regularly deployed community
health measures to contain spread of diseases were affected.
Routine immunizations and child health monitoring assessments
were stopped in most communities, increasing the risks for
already challenged families. Quality of life for the most vulnerable
segments in society, especially women and children, was gravely
compromised.
Globally, schools were shut down as part of the COVID-19
lockdown measures governments introduced to protect their
citizenry. In many African countries, schools being closed also
meant that children’s access to adequate nutrition through school
ISSUE • 13
2 9