EAC states push for harmonised education systems to deepen integration
State Department for Higher Education and Research PS Beatrice Inyangala when she appeared before the National Assembly Committee on Education on June 4, 2024.
Education stakeholders in the East African Community are pushing for harmonised education systems to ease the movement of learners, teachers, skills and qualifications and deepen regional integration.
More than 600 delegates from across the East African Community are meeting in Nairobi to take stock of progress since the inaugural Arusha Conference in 2024 and turn regional education commitments into action.
Education has been identified by EAC partner states as a critical pillar of regional integration, with stakeholders sharing experiences, lessons and successful approaches that could be adopted or strengthened across the region.
Kenya’s East African Community Affairs Cabinet Secretary Beatrice Askul Moe said the discussions seek to promote cross-border learning and remove barriers that hinder learners from accessing education across partner states.
“Education has been seen by partner states as a critical pillar in transforming the bloc, so we are clearing any barrier that would make students not access education from whatever country within the member states,” she said.
During the inaugural regional conference on education, partner states made commitments including increasing budgetary allocations to education to 20 per cent of national budgets and expanding access, particularly for refugees.
Principal Secretary Inyangala said the latest conference is an opportunity for countries to assess the progress made and learn from one another how to overcome challenges that have slowed implementation.
“The emphasis is how can we collectively move from commitments to impact because together we can transform education in the EAC,” she said.
The Deputy Secretary-General of the EAC, Andrea Aguer Ariik Malueth, said education is central to the bloc's efforts to achieve social integration, alongside other areas such as health.
The EAC Common Education Area seeks to ease the movement of learners and teachers across borders, while harmonised education systems and curricula are set to boost regional labour mobility.
The bloc has also been developing mechanisms to make qualifications more portable. In November 2024, the EAC Heads of State approved and signed an annex to the Common Market Protocol on the mutual recognition of academic and professional qualifications, a move intended to facilitate the free movement of labour within the region.
At the level of higher education, the EAC is promoting the development of the East African Common Higher Education and Research Area. The focus is on harmonisation, innovation, partnerships, and the mobility of knowledge and skills.
The region is also working towards an EAC TVET Qualifications Framework, which is awaiting approval by the relevant Sector Council. The framework is expected to support the mutual recognition of qualifications and skills and improve alignment between training and the needs of the regional labour market.
President William Ruto addresses participants during the flagging off of vehicles for education officials at the Kenya Institute of Special Education.
President William Ruto said the reforms should ensure that children do not lose access to education when they cross borders within the region.
“A child moving between partner states should not have the education interrupted because they crossed the border. Qualifications must become more portable,” President Ruto said in a speech read by CS Askul.
He said universities should also become centres for research into shared regional challenges, including food security, climate resilience, health and employment.
Mr Ruto further challenged East African countries to ensure that emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, help reduce rather than deepen existing inequalities.
“AI is not waiting for our education systems to catch up,” he said, calling for collective investment in digital infrastructure and literacy.
Unicef said the focus should ultimately shift from school enrolment to whether children are acquiring the knowledge and skills they need.
The agency noted that Africa's child population is projected to reach 950 million by 2050, with 261 million of those children expected to be in East Africa. It also warned that climate change had disrupted the education of 130 million children across East and Southern Africa between 2005 and 2014.
Unicef said East African countries should use available evidence and data to guide education investments and measure progress.
The Regional Education Learning Initiative (RELI) executive director Mary Goreti said turning commitments into impact would require resilient systems and partnerships involving governments, schools, families and other stakeholders.
“Ensuring that every child in this region learns is not an issue of only the ministries of education or government. Everybody needs to be involved,” Ms Goreti said.
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