The celebration commenced with a warm welcome address delivered by the Chair, Bilkisu Labaran, a veteran BBC journalist, who greeted guests and university representatives.
The keynote address was delivered by Joyce, Co-founder of UKAPES, who reflected on the organisation’s origins and highlighted its achievements over the past decade. These accomplishments include improving the quality of education across Africa, facilitating skills transfer and professional development, influencing education and curriculum reforms, building strategic partnerships, and advocating for educational advancement across the continent. Joyce illustrated each of these achievements with practical examples and concluded by sharing a vision for expanding the organisation’s reach and impact in the years ahead.
This was followed by remarks from Co-founder, Isatu Bangura, who recounted the memorable Continuing Professional Development (CPD) session held in Freetown in 2018. She emphasised the challenges faced by teachers, including limited professional development opportunities, inadequate resources, poor infrastructure, and significant educational gaps that could be addressed through regular professional development programmes. Similar observations from Makeni revealed the same challenges, highlighting a nationwide need for education policy reforms that prioritise teacher development, regular CPD sessions, and relevant conferences to strengthen existing educational systems.
In her presentation, Bilkisu Labaran reflected on the importance of skills transfer through her role as Editorial Lead in establishing the BBC’s first fully digital language services in Pidgin Englosh, Yoruba, and Igbo. She explained that a funding allocation of up to £289 million had been designated to support the BBC’s global service expansion. As an experienced journalist, broadcaster, and member of the African diaspora, she was uniquely positioned to transfer her expertise effectively, ensuring that the initiative reflected local cultural values while maintaining the BBC’s high editorial standards.
The special keynote lecture, titled “Bridging Education and Industry in Africa: Aligning Education with Market Development,” was delivered by Professor Adewole Adebisi. He highlighted the significant costs associated with the disconnect between education and industry and identified several outdated practices that continue to hinder progress:
- Excessive theoretical focus
- Use of outdated tools and methodologies
- Brain drain
- Dependence on talent importation
- Traditional educational blueprints instead of market-led curricula
Professor Adebisi advocated for the transformation of educational and commercial systems through the integration of digital literacy, data analytics, and artificial intelligence into curricula. Addressing the social stigma that often places university graduates above apprentices, he urged African governments to prioritise soft skills training, curriculum review consultations, accessible internships and apprenticeships, and funded research opportunities. As a distinguished academic, he also recommended introducing incentive frameworks, including tax relief for training providers offering youth apprenticeship programmes, reintroducing compulsory work-based learning, and strengthening experiential learning initiatives to stimulate economic growth.
Another keynote presentation, titled “From Africa to the UK: The Potential Transformational Impact of African Teachers in British Classrooms,” was delivered by Professor Gordon. He began by emphasising the critical role African teachers can play in shaping the future of the British education system and economy. He noted that the diversity of learners is not reflected in the teaching workforce, with approximately 83% of teachers being White. Furthermore, 46% of schools have no minority ethnic teachers, contributing to the underrepresentation and undervaluing of Black cultures and experiences within education.
Professor Gordon highlighted the strong correlation between a diverse teaching workforce and improved learner aspirations and academic outcomes. He outlined the evidence-based strengths that African educators bring to British classrooms, including culturally rich pedagogical approaches, meaningful connections to learners’ lived experiences, enhanced learner engagement, and the promotion of higher academic aspirations.
However, he also acknowledged the barriers faced by African teachers, including lower retention rates, slower career progression, workplace discrimination, and disproportionate representation in leadership positions. To address these challenges, he recommended:
- Leveraging cultural capital and contributions
- Building strong professional relationships
- Demonstrating excellence in teaching and learning
- Pursuing leadership opportunities intentionally
- Shaping curriculum and school culture through culturally responsive approaches that validate identity and diversity
In conclusion, Professor Gordon left the audience with a powerful message:
“The UK education system does not simply need more teachers. It needs teachers who can build belonging, raise aspiration, and find strategic ways to challenge inequality. That is what African educators bring. African educators are not just filling roles in UK schools; they are transforming, and must continue to transform, the system from within.”
UKAEA Awards
UKAE awards were issued to following:
Exemplary Early years and Primary teacher of African Heritage – Sarah Biney
Outstanding and Impactful teacher of African Heritage – Ike Olisa
Exceptional and Creative FE/Sixth Form teacher of African Heritage – Michael Armoogum
Outstanding and Exemplary in Teaching and Research HE lecturer of African Heritage – Prof Adebisi Adewole
Highly professional, exceptional SEND professional of African Heritage – Olusola Taiwo
The organising committee wishes to express sincere appreciation to the University of Greenwich for use of the venue which was welcoming, comfortable, and professional environment that contributed significantly to the success of the occasion. We were particularly grateful for the support, cooperation, and assistance provided by the staff, including the Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. We look forward to future engagements.
See media here.