AU Pan African Institute of Education for Development

On March 30th, during the 2026 Comparative and International Education Society ( ) Conference, AU IPED, through the Africa 19 Hub, presented insights on strengthening Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) across Africa.

AU IPED highlighted the role of the African Union’s EMIS Norms and Standards, peer reviews, and national dialogues in supporting countries to develop costed action plans and strengthen governance of education data systems.

The session also drew on country experiences from the Kingdom of Eswatini, a KIX Africa 19 participating country, which has made significant progress in digitalizing its EMIS, alongside contributions from the University of Oslo’s HISP programme on DHIS2, an open-source platform supporting interoperable and standards-aligned data systems.

Discussions underscored the need to democratize education data - making it accessible, usable, and actionable for decision-making at all levels, while addressing persistent challenges, including fragmented data flows, weak coordination, and limited capacity for data use.

Read more 👉 https://au.int/en/pressreleases/20260328/harmonizing-education-data-africa-insights-iped-and-kix-africa-19-cies

Join us at the Comparative and International Education Society (CIES) 2026 Conference in San Francisco.

How can Africa better harmonize education data systems to drive stronger policy and planning?

The African Union will share practical experiences from countries under the Africa 19 Hub - a regional initiative strengthening education systems through peer learning, knowledge exchange, and evidence use.

The session will also highlight key challenges in education data systems, insights from EMIS strengthening efforts across participating countries, and how the African Union EMIS Norms and Standards are enabling more coordinated, reliable, and decision-ready data across the continent.

Session: Harmonizing Education Data in Africa
📍 Hilton, 4th Floor – Tower 3, Union Square 25
📅 March 30, 2026
⏰ 2:45 – 4:00 PM (San Francisco)
🌍 March 31 | 12:45 – 2:00 AM (EAT)
🌍 March 31 | 10:45 – 12:00 AM (WAT)

🔗 Add to your calendar and join us via Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82899550126

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise cloud communications.

Across many countries, education data exists - but too often in fragmented systems, limiting its use for real decision-making.

From 11–13 March 2026 in Johannesburg, the SADC EMIS–HEMIS Regional Workshop brought together Member States, partners, and data experts to tackle this challenge head-on.

Over three days, countries shared real-world experiences in strengthening EMIS- from system architecture and data governance to learner tracking and integration with national systems. These exchanges were complemented by technical discussions on regional standards, SDG 4 reporting gaps, and the role of higher education data systems (HEMIS) in building more complete education data ecosystems.
The focus: moving from collecting data to using it effectively.

Key outcomes included advancing regional EMIS standards, aligning CESA and SDG 4 reporting, and supporting countries to develop actionable national EMIS plans.

Beyond the technical discussions, this marks a bigger shift.
👉 An opportunity for SADC countries to build integrated, comparable, and policy-responsive education data systems
👉 A step toward better coordination, reduced fragmentation, and stronger evidence-based planning
👉 And ultimately, better education outcomes driven by better data

The conversation is changing from data as a requirement to data as a driver of transformation.

African Union IDRC / CRDI

What does education data look like in practice? 📚

In South Sudan, it looks like handwritten registers, overcrowded classrooms - and teachers who continue showing up, despite prolonged delays in pay.

Here, attendance, enrollment, and performance data are recorded manually each day, often under constrained conditions. During our field visits to public schools in Juba, we saw this firsthand: data captured on paper, with limited infrastructure, high workloads, and minimal digital tools to support data management - yet a clear commitment from teachers and school leaders to keep information flowing through the education system.

From 16–18 March in Juba, through the Africa 19 Hub, African Union Pan-African Institute of Education for Development (IPED) worked with South Sudan's Ministry of General Education and Instruction to assess and strengthen their Education Management Information Systems (EMIS).

Over the three-day workshop, participants engaged in in-depth discussions on data governance, system fragmentation, and capacity gaps, and validated these challenges through field visits to schools - ensuring that priorities were grounded in real implementation contexts and aligned with classroom realities.

The outcome: a costed national EMIS action plan, shaped by the Ministry and designed to move from fragmented efforts to a more coordinated, sustainable system.

The plan goes beyond broad priorities to identify targeted actions, including:

🔹 Strengthening data governance frameworks, including clearer roles, standards, and accountability mechanisms

🔹 Developing tools to capture critical gaps, such as reasons for student dropout, to better inform policy responses

🔹 Establishing structured partner coordination mechanisms to reduce duplication and align investments

🔹 Expanding capacity at state level, supporting decentralization of data systems

🔹 Investing in ICT infrastructure and system integration to improve data reliability and accessibility

By linking these actions to indicative costs, the plan provides a practical and sequenced pathway for implementation, ensuring that priorities are not only identified, but can be financed and executed.

The next phase is clear: turning plans into action.

Strong education systems depend on strong education data.
Over the next few days in Juba, South Sudan, AU IPED is leading a workshop focused on strengthening the country’s Education Management Information System (EMIS) and building the capacity of data management officers.

Through technical consultations and capacity-building sessions, the workshop will support efforts to improve the collection, management, and use of education data for evidence-based planning and policy development.

This activity is implemented under the Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange ( ) programme, a joint initiative with IDRC / CRDI.

African Union KIX Africa 19 Hub

An educated woman means an empowered Africa. 🌍

📚 Education enables women to lead, innovate, and transform societies. But to ensure no girl is left behind, we must also invest in gender-disaggregated data that reveals inequalities and guides evidence-based decisions.

Strengthening education data systems helps ensure that every girl is counted, visible, and supported to thrive.

Happy International Women’s Day!

Through — IDRC’s joint initiative with the Global Partnership for Education — Nigeria is complementing continental conversations on rebuilding resilient and future-ready education systems with a national dialogue focused on the core of educational transformation: teacher education and aligning national reforms with the continental vision.

Policymakers, educators, and stakeholders gathered in September to explore how evidence can inform planning, shape reforms, and scale approaches that work.

These conversations reflect growing national ownership of GPE KIX, with countries leading the way in designing and implementing innovations that respond to their own education priorities.

Supported by the KIX Africa 19 Hub, this work demonstrates how collaboration, learning, and locally driven innovation is transforming teacher education systems across the continent.

🔗 Learn more: https://bit.ly/4tFtghD

KIX Africa 19 Hub
Unesco International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa - IICBA

On this International Day of Education, we celebrate the power of quality education data to drive better decisions, stronger systems, and improved learning outcomes for all.

Through , a joint endeauvour between the Global Partnership for Education and IDRC / CRDI, quality education becomes more than a goal - it becomes a shared effort to design solutions, learn from what works, and support countries to scale evidence-based change.

The voices in this video - from KIX focal points to a KIX grantee, reflect this commitment in action. From strengthening national education data systems to generating policy-relevant evidence, we continue to support countries to turn data into impact.

As we mark this day, we reaffirm our collective commitment to learning, collaboration, and evidence as foundations for more equitable and resilient education systems across Africa and beyond.

KIX Africa 19 Hub
African Union

Voices from the Education Data Frontline | Episode 1 In commemoration of the International Day of Education, this first episode of Voices from the Education Data Frontline features perspectives from GPE KIX foc...

We’re back - and focused on a year of continental impact. 🌍

As the year gets underway, the African Union's Pan-African Institute of Education for Development (IPED) extends warm wishes to its partners, Member States, and education stakeholders across Africa and beyond for a productive year ahead.

In 2025, AU-IPED advanced its continental mandate to strengthen education systems across Africa through data, evidence, policy dialogue, and knowledge exchange. Through our work under the Global Partnership for Education (GPE) and IDRC / CRDI–supported KIX Africa 19 Hub, we convened national and regional learning platforms, supported EMIS dialogues and peer reviews, produced policy-relevant evidence, and amplified learning across the continent.

The year was also marked by AU-IPED’s engagement in major continental convenings, including the Pan-African Conference on Teachers’ Education and Development ( ), which provided a platform to advance dialogue on teacher professional development, digital transformation, and evidence-informed education policy.

In parallel, AU-IPED supported the development and launch of the Continental Assessment Framework for Africa ( -Africa) in collaboration with partners including GEM Report Unesco, the Association for Educational Assessment in Africa ( ), the , Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), and regional assessment bodies - strengthening harmonised and comparable learning assessment across Member States.

AU-IPED also worked closely with UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) and other partners to strengthen education data governance, benchmarking, and EMIS alignment, while leading and supporting technical processes toward the review and finalisation of the –35 indicators framework, ensuring Africa-led priorities are embedded in education monitoring and reporting for the next decade.

Through participation in regional and global education and statistics fora, African Union's IPED continued to advocate for African-led, evidence-informed approaches to education systems strengthening, reinforcing the role of data as a cornerstone of effective, inclusive education policy.

Building on this momentum, will continue to:

✅ Support Member States to strengthen education data systems and policy use
✅ Facilitate peer learning and south-south knowledge exchange
✅ Generate and share actionable, evidence-informed knowledge
✅ Elevate African-led solutions to continental and global platforms

We look forward to continued collaboration toward more responsive, inclusive, and resilient education systems across Africa.

HAPPENING TODAY!

The 6th Global GPE KIX Symposium - convened under the Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (KIX), a joint endeavour of the Global Partnership for Education and Canada’s IDRC / CRDI comes at a critical moment.

This year’s convening will unpack how governments and partners are leveraging evidence, strategic investment, and innovative financing mechanisms to sustain and scale impactful education innovations, even in resource-constrained and fragile settings.

🔍 Expect practical tools, financing strategies, and policy insights that demonstrate how locally rooted innovations are being expanded sustainably across diverse contexts.

👉 Register now and be part of the dialogue shaping the future of education systems.

🔗 https://lnkd.in/euMQUeAS

Day 1 at the GPE KIX Africa 19 Hub Focal Points’ Meeting (Senegal)

📍 Pointe Sarène, Thiès – Senegal
📅 1 December 2025

Yesterday marked an energising start to the KIX Africa 19 Hub Focal Points’ Meeting - an activity under the Global Partnership for Education's Knowledge and Innovation Exchange ( ), a joint initiative of GPE and Canada’s IDRC / CRDI. The meeting brought together focal points from 19 Ministries of Education (KIX 19 Countries), alongside Unesco International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa - IICBA, UNICEF ESARO, the African Union’s IPED, GPE, and IDRC to take stock of progress, share experiences, and deepen strategies for strengthening evidence use, peer learning, and policy alignment across education systems in Africa.

We opened with a strong call to action: countries need more evidence uptake - not just evidence generation. From strategic funding for hubs to stronger national ownership, partners emphasised that reliable data, inclusive policies, and cross-country learning remain essential for equitable system transformation.

Highlights from Day 1:

🔹 Inclusion & disability education
Kenya and Lesotho shared powerful lessons from their collaboration on curriculum adaptation, teacher training, and assessment for learners with disabilities. Lesotho left Kenya inspired to redesign parts of its curriculum and prioritise teachers with sign language skills.

Sumaya Mohammed from Somalia reminded us: “The more effective inclusive practice is, the more invisible it is.”

🔹 Data & EMIS
IPED presented on the status of EMIS policies in KIX Africa 19 countries, and highlighted growing momentum for coherent regional data systems. We were reminded that several countries still lack EMIS policies - an urgent gap KIX partners aim to address. Without data, meaningful inclusion becomes nearly impossible.

🔹 Cross-country learning supported by KIX making real impact
– Multi-country experiential visits have shaped policy reforms, including Lesotho’s inclusive education roadmap.

– Nigeria’s KIX-supported national dialogues resulted in the Education Data Bank and updates to pre-service teacher training.

– Kenya’s gender research and benchmarking visits have informed several policy shifts.

Across groups, the enablers of evidence uptake were clear: political will, capacity building, adequate funding, and strong engagement with senior leadership.

The barriers: turnover, limited budgets, and technical gaps.

Day 1 reinforced that KIX is more than a project - it is a community of practice built on peer learning, evidence mobilisation, and a shared aspiration for inclusive, gender-responsive education systems across Africa.

Looking forward to Day 2 and the inter-hub symposium that follows. ✨