NAIROBI, April 27 (Xinhua) -- Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta on Friday pledged to rally his counterparts in Africa to support transformation of education sector in the continent in the light of evolving socioeconomic and cultural dynamics.
Kenyatta said at a Pan African High Level Conference on Education held in Nairobi that governments should rally behind a system of learning that addresses contemporary challenges facing the world's second largest continent.
"Education plays a critical role in human development and we must therefore reform it as part of efforts to uplift the living standards of people in this continent," Kenyatta said.
Kenya hosted a three-day Pan African Conference on education attended by ministers, senior policymakers, representatives of multilateral agencies and campaigners.
The conference which was co-hosted by the country's ministry of education, African Union and the UN Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), sought to inject fresh momentum in the quest for universal access to quality and affordable education in Africa.
Kenyatta said African countries have an opportunity to realign their education sectors with a continental vision to eliminate poverty, conflicts, hunger, disease, youth unemployment and ecological disasters.
"Our education systems must provide solution to our perennial challenges. We therefore require a skilled and educated population to confront these challenges effectively," said Kenyatta.
He added that Kenya has supported a continental strategy to re-invent the education sector through capacity building, domestic resources mobilization, teacher training and deployment as well as modernization of learning facilities.
Kenya is among Sub-Saharan African countries that have accelerated progress towards attainment of the fourth Sustainable Development Goal (SDG4) on universal access to quality and affordable education.
Kenyatta said the ongoing curriculum reforms coupled with improved budgetary allocation are geared towards addressing access gaps in basic and post secondary education.
"We are reviewing our curriculum to ensure it is responsive to the needs of the market," Kenyatta remarked, adding that strategic partnerships have boosted access to basic education and vocational training in Kenya.