The State of Education in Africa conference, held on September 9 at the Ford Foundation in New York City, will present two of the top winning research papers on bold and innovative solutions to improving the quality of education in Africa.

Education innovators submitted proposals for individual papers that aimed to go beyond the current thinking and models on education by offering innovative approaches and strong findings to support their position.

The two winning papers will be presented for 15-minutes, followed by a Q&A. The papers to be presented are:

• “Social Accountability in Education Sector: Empowering Parents and Communities in Africa to Move Beyond Focus on ‘Access’ to Ensuring Everyday Quality Learning in the Classrooms”, submitted by Herine Otieno, Founder Trustee and Program Coordinator of Africa Math Science Technology Research and Education Foundation (AMSTREF).
• “Primary and Secondary Education: Where Do We Go From Here to Improve Educational Outcomes?”, submitted by George Harris, CEO of  Royal Bafokeng Institute,

The three research papers to be featured on the AAI website include:

•  “Pathways to Employment: Secondary Education, IT Skills and Employability”, submitted by Wambui Munge of Results for Development Institute (R4D).
• “An Innovative Approach to Improving STEM Education Among Young African Women”, submitted by Kwadwo Sarapong, of The African Research Academies For Women (ARA-W).
• “Can We Improve Educational Outcomes in Poor, Government-supported Primary and Secondary Schools in Kenya?: An approach that Works”, submitted by Wayne Silver, President of American Friends of Kenya.

Visit the State of Education in Africa online forum beginning September 10 to learn more about new perspectives and approaches to education on the continent. From September 10 – November 10, AAI will provide visitors full access to the papers.