Africa's trajectory hinges on investment in early childhood development — Prof. Dako-Gyeke

The trajectory of Africa's development will not be determined only by macro-economic policies, but by the extent of countries' investments in early childhood Development (ECD), the Dean of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Ghana, Prof. Mavis Dako-Gyeke, has observed.

Moreover, she said the future of ECD in Africa would be determined not only by the quality of research, but also by how effectively evidence shaped systems, policies were implemented, funding was sustained, collaboration was institutionalised, and children and communities remained at the heart of decision-making.

"Our efforts would be more impactful if we become more engaged with implementation realities, policymakers/actors institutionalise evidence use, funders invest beyond short-term projects and communities recognised as co-creators of knowledge and solutions to problems," she said.

Forum

Prof. Dako-Gyeke said this yesterday in a keynote paper at the opening of the ECD Research Dissemination for Policy Influence in Sub-Saharan Africa forum in Accra.

The four-day convening is being organised by ESSA, a not-for-profit, and the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre at the University of Cambridge.

It brings together 31 research grantee awardees of ESSA and REAL Centre’s ECD project, alongside selected policymakers, to share research findings, explore policy implications, and co-create pathways for evidence uptake.

It will also support the establishment of a sustained Community of Learning among ECD researchers and decision-makers in the region.  

Prof. Dako-Gyeke said, “Our research would be relevant to ECD policy and practice in our respective countries and beyond if we theorise or conceptualise from our local contexts and draw on existing knowledge from Africa through peer exchange”.

The ultimate measure of ECD evidence from Africa, she said, should not be publications, but transformative publications.

Transformation

 The Director of Pre-tertiary Education at the Ministry of Education, Nana Baffour-Awuah, said the gathering was taking place at a critical moment in the country's development journey.

“Across the world, evidence continues to show that investments in early childhood development yield some of the highest returns in human capital development.

The experience, care, nutrition, health protection, and learning opportunities that children receive during their early years have profound implications for their cognitive development, school readiness, lifelong learning, productivity, and overall well-being,” he said.

Research

For her part, the Chief Executive Officer of ESSA, Dr Pauline Essah, said the organisation was all about connecting data and evidence from Africa to decision-makers.

The researchers, she said, came from 10 countries in Africa, including Ghana, Kenya, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Africa, Mozambique and Senegal.

“They are here today because we supported them a year ago with funding to conduct evidence generation, and the funding was given out on a competitive basis.

So people applied from all over Africa, and the policymakers and the practitioners were involved in designing the call for funding. 

“So people applied; we had over 800 applications for money that is not small, but it's not huge either. $15,000 per grant award.

We had over 800 applicants, and we gave out 39 of these awards across the different countries in Africa.

So a year on, we are bringing everybody,” she said.