In classrooms across Africa, including Nigeria, a quiet crisis is brewing. According to the African Union (AU), over 90 per cent of 10-year-olds on the continent cannot read a simple sentence or solve basic math problems. This troubling revelation came to light during the launch of the AU’s new campaign in Lusaka, Zambia, tagged “Read, Write, Count: Foundation4Life.”
For many, this is more than a statistic, it’s a warning bell. Despite rising school enrolment rates, millions of African children are not learning. Prof. Saidou Madougou, Director at the AU’s Department of Education, Science, Technology, and Innovation, called it “worrisome,” especially since foundational education is meant to set the stage for lifelong learning and productivity.
So, why are our classrooms failing our children?
One major issue is overcrowding. In many public primary schools, teachers face as many as 60 to 80 pupils in a single class, making meaningful instruction nearly impossible. This is worsened by a shortage of trained teachers and outdated teaching materials. In some rural communities, children still learn under trees or in buildings without blackboards.
Then there’s the language barrier. Many children are taught in English or French, which are not their first languages. This disconnect slows comprehension and frustrates both learners and teachers.
Another challenge is the lack of accountability in the education system. Teachers are rarely assessed for quality delivery, and students often pass through grades without mastering the basics.
However, all hope is not lost. Community-level solutions are emerging and can be scaled up with the right support.
In Lagos, a group of volunteer retired teachers run free reading clubs in public schools. In Kano, local NGOs are training parents to support homework at home, even when the parents themselves can barely read.
Zambia, now the first country to launch the AU’s End-Learning-Poverty for All in Africa (ELPAF) campaign, is showing that political will matters. The campaign, backed by UNICEF, sets an ambitious goal to ensure all African children can read and count by age 10 by the year 2035.
The AU has made a call. But real change will come when communities, churches, parents, and local governments begin to treat foundational literacy and numeracy as a shared responsibility.
As Dr Nejmudin Bilal of UNICEF said, “Education is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty.” But to break the cycle, we must first teach the child to read.
And we must begin now.
Why Our Classrooms Are Failing 10-Year-Olds—and What Can Be Done
