The ADEA 2011 Triennale /Towards education and training systems that support Africa’s sustainable development
TUNIS, Tunisia, November 30, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ — Organized by ADEA, the Biennale on Education and Training in Africa (now a Triennale since 2008)
is the most important event on education in Africa worldwide, both in terms of participation – over
600 people attended the last Biennale in Maputo, including some 60 African Ministers of Education–
and the quality of the discussions, which are underpinned by solid research, and consultations and
discussion between actors involved in education and training.
Education and training Ministers from all African countries participate in this major event, together
with bilateral and multilateral development partners, foundations, research networks, NGOs, SCOs,
universities, researchers and practitioners working in this field.
For the 2011 Triennale, which will focus on the theme of education and training for sustainable
development, numerous other stakeholders from outside the education sector will be invited and
involved in the preparatory work: representatives of the private sector (economic, professional and
social organizations), civil society, young people, the health, environment and agriculture sectors,
finance, employment and rural development ministries, etc.
The 2011 Triennale will take place in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, early December 2011. Under the
High Patronage of the President of Burkina Faso, it will be opened by the President of the Republic of
Burkina Faso and another African Head of State. Some 800 participants are expected to attend.
The 2011 Triennale: Education and Training for Sustainable Development
The 2011 Triennale will explore following theme: “Promoting critical knowledge, skills and
qualifications for sustainable development in Africa: how to design and implement an effective
response through education and training systems”
The question the Triennale will address may be framed as follows, “How, in the current and future
context, can African countries design and develop reforms and innovations with the view of
transforming education and training systems so that they efficiently produce a mass of critical skills
for sustainable development?”
To do so, it will be necessary to bring about a paradigm shift in existing systems. For example, there
needs to be a move away from the notion of knowledge towards the notion of skill, from the notion of
teaching to the notion of learning, and from a supply-based system to a demand-led system. It will be
necessary to take a very close look at fundamental questions such as:
- What should be learnt?
- How to learn?
- With a view to doing what?
- For what purpose, use or effect?
The ADEA 2011 Triennale – ADEA, 18 November 2010,
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To address the issues raised by the theme, The Triennale must show how education and training can be
built into a program of social reform by training a critical mass of citizens at three levels:
citizens who are not just informed and trained, but who are above all capable of using
their achievements to bring about the economic, social, cultural and political changes
required for sustainable development;
workers with professional skills that will take advantage of and add value to the potential
and specific development assets of different African countries, raise labor productivity
and boost economic growth, particularly through the use of new technologies;
highly qualified human resources capable of ensuring the home-grown production of
scientific knowledge and technological innovation and offering Africa an opportunity to
develop knowledge-based economies and societies as required by the current process of
globalization.
These three levels constitute the three sub-themes (listed below) that will be explored by the Triennale,
with regards to the corresponding skills to be developed by education and training systems, and in
keeping with their major objectives:
Sub-theme 1 : Common core skills and lifelong learning;
Sub-theme 2: Technical and vocational skills development with a view to economic and
socio-cultural growth and lifelong learning;
Sub-theme 3 : Lifelong technical and vocational skills development for sustainable socioeconomic
growth.
For each of these sub-themes, a set of cross-cutting issues will be examined: the integration of lifelong
learning at all levels; knowledge and skills development in countries’ strategic plans; reforming
education and training systems so as to encourage acquisition of critical skills; using information and
communication technology to build the capacities of all stakeholders in education and training;
promoting the effectiveness and relevance of learning processes; validating and certifying skills in all
sectors and mechanisms; fostering a diverse range of partnerships among stakeholders; establishing
close links between costs and financing, between efficiency and sustainability; effectiveness, equity
and gender should be inextricably linked; educating and training people to live well and in good
health; promoting and building on individual, social and cultural values; developing and strengthening
peace and solidarity in fragile states; regional integration and cooperation in educational, occupational,
scientific and technical development.
The official launch of the 2011 Triennale
The 2011 Triennale will be launched in Tunis on 3 December 2010, on the occasion of the 33rd
session of the ADEA Steering Committee. The official launch ceremony will announce the theme of
the Triennale and kick off the preparatory work, approximately one year before the event is held in
Ouagadougou. The launch aims to mobilize ADEA members and a representative group of key
partners who will be involved in the preparation process. ADEA also hopes to obtain the support of its
financial partners, which will be necessary to ensure the quality of the preparatory work and the
success of the 2011 Triennale.
SOURCE
Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA)
