Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, former Vice President of the World Bank’s Africa Region, has voiced serious concerns about the exploitation of disadvantaged children by politicians in African countries.
She strongly denounced the unnecessary politicization of children’s education in certain parts of Africa.
Speaking with Bernard Avle on The Point of View on Channel One TV, Dr. Ezekwesili emphasized that African children aspire to compete globally and are primarily focused on accessing better educational opportunities, rather than which political party governs their schooling.
According to Dr. Ezekwesili, it is unfair for the political class to manipulate children from poorer backgrounds for political gain, especially in matters concerning education.
“You need to find voices of reason that will make up a constituency for education. They are not getting themselves wrapped around politics. Because, frankly, these children don’t care what political party you belong to. They just want to have a fighting chance like their counterparts in the rest of the world.
“So, it’s unfair for the political class to just double victimise children of the poor. By turning education into a duel between Mohammed Ali and George Foreman. So, you don’t need that, what you need is to have sensible evidence that will support whatever direction a government wants to follow.”
She expressed concern over the lack of reliable data to guide policy decisions, underscoring the importance of robust evidence for informed educational discussions and advocacy.
“A lot of what creates the problems that we say in the conversation on education and what policy direction to follow is because we don’t support policy action with evidence. A lot of public debates are debated without evidence. People just scratch their heads and say I think I think, don’t think. Let’s follow the data, let’s just work with the data.
“Let’s find out what will be the best in terms of how we’re allocating resources to solving problems…We found that money that is invested in raising the quality and standards of teaching is actually more beneficial than saying you are building 5-star classrooms for the children,” she stated.
