ESSA 2024 Highlights and Year-End Wishes
Dear Friends,
Thank you for joining us in what has been a remarkable year for ESSA. In 2024, we focused on strengthening our existing partnerships and developing new ones that increase the impact of evidence and data from Africa on education. This approach proved successful in delivering our highest impact year to date, most notably in our work providing direct support to education researchers in Africa. I am excited to share the highlights with you.
At ESSA, we believe that how we work is just as important for achieving impact as what we do. Guided by our core values—Evidence-based, Solutions-focused, Strengthening Trust, and Always Learning—we have made tangible progress alongside our partners, here are just a few examples:
Evidence-based
At the heart of our work is a commitment to evidence-informed change. In 2024, our efforts in Enhancing Education Research in Africa (EERA), in partnership with Southern Hemisphere, produced eight evidence-based intervention solutions that promise to make a lasting impact. Shaped by the voices of over 200 African education researchers, these ideas aim to strengthen the field of education research in Africa.
Thank you to the Association of African Universities, the African Research Universities Alliance, the International Conference on Education Research for Development in Africa, Education Evidence for Action (EE4A), Kisii University, and our brilliant Steering Committee—all of whom were critical in making this process a success.
We were also excited to disseminate rarely-seen data on faculty numbers as part of our work on the Demographics of Faculty in East Africa. Working with the East African Community consortium (ESSA, the Inter-University Council for East Africa, the Population Reference Bureau, and the Association of African Universities), we released policy briefs highlighting key statistics and providing recommendations to address critical faculty challenges, including gender parity, staffing, and funding in higher education.
For example, the policy briefs reveal that by 2030, Kenya will require an additional 25,961 faculty members to meet student-teacher ratio (STR) goals considering population growth. Similarly, Tanzania will need 33,291 additional faculty to achieve its policy norms for STR within the same timeframe. In Rwanda, an estimated 12,573 additional faculty members will be necessary to align with projected STR requirements by 2030. A clear pattern across the region is that education courses have particularly high student-faculty ratios: a clear challenges for all of us thinking about teacher quality.
Strengthening Trust
Trust is critical to ensuring that evidence is used, and throughout 2024, we worked to connect more and strengthen trust with our partners and stakeholders. Colleagues actively found platforms to amplify African voices and reaffirmed the importance of local research in shaping policy. These included the Foundational Learning Exchange Summit in Rwanda to conferences in Ghana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Senegal and beyond.
One standout moment was our participation in the African Centre for School Leadership’s (ACSL) Summit in September in Rwanda, which emphasised the critical role of strong leadership in addressing Africa's educational challenges and driving sustainable reforms. This summit perfectly exemplified the trusted relationships that underpin the ACSL partnership. Our focus on strengthening these relationships will be critical for the next phase of the ACSL that will kick off next year, scaling up work to develop leadership capacity in schools across Africa.
Through these collaborations—with educators, researchers, partners, funders, and ministries—we continue to build ESSA’s reputation as a trusted partner in advancing education across Africa.
Solutions-focused
Building on the evidence we have gathered and the trust we have built with education researchers, 2024 saw the implementation of practical solutions. In collaboration with the Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre and with support from INASP and the African Health Population and Health Research Centre we hosted two successful Grant Proposal Writing Workshops in Nairobi and Accra, where 46 researchers from 19 African countries honed their skills to secure funding. By empowering researchers with these tools, we are unlocking the potential for sustainable, locally led educational change.
In partnership with the REAL Centre, we further supported ten researchers to attend the Early Childhood Development Conference in Tanzania and highlighted an ever-growing evidence-base in the African Education Research Database, which now features over 6,000 publications in multiple languages.
We are excited to keep the momentum going with renewed funding for our work with researchers in Early Childhood Development and Foundational Learning, supported by the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation and the Gates Foundation. This continued support will enable us to offer small catalytic grants to help researchers transform their ideas into action, fully embodying the spirit of our solutions-focused approach. Watch this space for what is coming in January.
Always Learning
We are proud of our impact but always restless to get better and achieve more. This year, we embraced the Always Learning mindset by restructuring our research team to focus more on policy and advocacy, ensuring that research translates into action.
We also invested in nurturing our emerging leaders, who have been vital in managing partnerships and ensuring that our work continues to make a difference. Our ability to adapt, evolve, and respond to emerging challenges ensures that we are Always Learning and continuously improving the way we drive impact.
Our Team's Growth
Our achievements would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of our incredible team. This year, we welcomed new colleagues in Ghana, Kenya, and Uganda, all bringing their unique perspectives, energy, and enthusiasm to our work. We were also delighted to welcome two outstanding new trustees: Professor Hellen Inyega, a leading expert in literacy, early childhood education, and resource mobilisation, and Abdelrahman Hassan, an expert in social impact investment. Their wealth of experience will be invaluable as we continue to create lasting impact.
Looking Forward to 2025!
We are eagerly looking forward to 2025 with all the new opportunities it brings. With our values guiding us, we will champion data and evidence from Africa to strengthen education systems with renewed purpose and passion. I have no doubt that we will build on this year’s success, deepening and growing our impact.
Thank you for your support, your belief in our mission, and your commitment to our shared vision.
As we head into the end of the year, I hope you can take a well-deserved break and spend quality time with loved ones. I look forward to continuing our work together in 2025.
Best wishes,
Lucy Heady
CEO, ESSA