Development of Country Policy on Provision of Quality STEM Education at the Basic Learning Levels in Africa

Africa is faced with myriad challenges including adverse impact of climate change, manifested in frequent droughts, biodiversity and ecosystem loss, desertification, and food insecurity (Serdeczny, Adams, Baarsch, & et al, 2017). Furthermore, the population in Africa is rapidly increasing, currently estimated at 1.2 billion people, and among them are 400 million or one in every three persons living in extreme poverty (UN Economic Commission for Africa, 2012). One in every five persons or 20% of the population in Africa are youth aged 15-24 years, who are largely unemployed and are forecasted to reach 42% of the population or two in every five persons by 2030 (The World Bank, 2020).Every year, 11 million youth in Africa are joining the labour market and many are not prepared for the demands of the existing jobs  (International Labour Organization, 2020). Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic will lead to the contraction of the Real GDP in Africa by 3.4 percent, down 7.3 percentage points from the growth projected before the outbreak of COVID-19 with dire economic consequences in the years to come (African Development Bank, 2020).