Statement by His Excellency, Dr. Ernest Bai Koroma
President of the Republic of Sierra Leone
On the topic 1 Goal: Education For All
at the 14th African Union
Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
February 1, 2010
Chairman of the African Union,
Your Excellencies and Heads of Governments,
Ministers of Governments,
Ambassadors and Members of the Diplomatic and Consular Community,
Representatives of International and Multilateral Agencies,
Distinguished Delegates.
I feel highly honored to be given the singular opportunity to introduce the agenda item – 1 Goal: Education For All, a unique and innovative opportunity to create a lasting legacy of the FIFA World Cup in Africa
Four months from now, the people of Africa would be cheering the six teams representing the continent in the first ever world cup to be held on African soil. Every goal scored by any of the African teams would reverberate around the continent, bringing joy to our people, creating hopes for more goals, and re-affirming a fundamental belief amongst Africans that this continent will rise up to its full potentials.
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, the first ever World Cup at the senior level to be held in Africa offers us a great opportunity to highlight and re-dedicate ourselves to scoring a great goal for Africa. It is a goal we will score through greater team work, creativity, energy and dedication. It is a goal that will unleash the energies, skills, and capabilities of our people. It is a goal that is etched in the dreams of every African girl and boy; it is a goal to which many citizens of the continent aspire. This is the winning goal. This goal is education for all.
All of us gathered here today are already convinced that this goal must be scored. The strategy has been worked out. The referee has blown the whistle, the game has started, the crowds are anxious for a goal, Team Africa needs to score this goal. Let us get on to the ball, let us implement the strategies for education for all with the sense of urgency displayed by a team that needs a goal to ensure victory in a vital game. Education is vital to the development of the continent. By making all children attend school, we will be bringing smiles to many faces; by making all children attend school, we will be ensuring that our people have the knowledge, skills and confidence to make informed choices to sustain our achievement and secure the future of this continent. Getting all our children to school is a moral and developmental imperative. It must be met. It can be met. It will be met.
I know the challenges are huge; my country Sierra Leone exemplifies many of these challenges. Though our primary school enrollment is currently over 1.2 million pupils, representing a 100% increase in comparison with the late 1990s, 30% of children of school going age still remain out of school. But we are not relenting. We have significantly increased girls’ enrollment, bringing the ratio of boys and girls to almost 1:1. This rapid increase in enrolment is partly due to Government’s implementation of the Free Education policy at the primary school level and the payment of examination fees for candidates attempting national and international exams by government.
Many other countries in the continent face similar challenges. But we should continue to emphasize and support universal education. The fact that 46 million of the 75 million children who are out of school worldwide are in Africa should galvanize us to action. Let all those who care about the development of our continent support this great venture. Let us increase domestic financing of universal education. Let the agencies that have pledged resources to the campaign make good on their financial and other commitments. Education is the greatest resource in the emerging knowledge economy. Education unleashes the full potential of a people, education is a fundamental right we must uphold, protect and promote.
Your Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, permit me at this point to acknowledge the laudable strides being made by the AU in promoting Education at the continental and regional levels. The Action Plan for the Second Decade of the AU (2006 – 2015) prioritizes education as a core sector for investment on the Continent. The endeavors of our Union has led to increasing awareness of the important role that education plays in developing the human resources and building a solid foundation for sustainable economic growth, peace, good governance and international security. We must sustain this awareness; the greatest football show on earth offers us great opportunities to do this.
Today, all over Africa, we see our children glued to football matches hoping for goals. All over the continent, goals are celebrated with verve, passion, and great joy. Let us use the greatest football show on earth, the very first to be held in Africa, to score the goal for education in Africa. Let the stadiums of Africa be places for highlighting the relevance of education, let our schools be places for scoring goals against ignorance, let the FIFA world cup in Africa be remembered for the great goal Team Africa scored for education for all. We must do it; we can do it; we will do it.
I thank you for your attention.