AAU Marks 2024 African Universities' Day Celebrations

The Association of African Universities (AAU) is calling on all higher education institutions across the continent to join the commemoration of this year’s Africa Universities’ Day. A week-long schedule of activities, slated from Monday November 11, through to Friday November 15, 2024, have been lined up for the celebrations, which also marks 57 years of the AAU’s existence and service to Africa’s higher education sector. This year’s theme, “Educate an African fit for the 21st Century: Building resilient education systems for increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality, and relevant learning in Africa”, is aligned to recognizing the year 2024 as the African Year of Education. The theme for this year was carefully selected to highlight activities in recognition of 2024 as the Year of Education, focusing on this important subject. For the first time, the African Union Commission has emphasized education as a central theme. The decision to prioritize education in 2024 was inspired by the global summit on transforming education, hosted by the United Nations Secretary-General in September 2022. The Africa Universities’ Day is a key statutory event on the AAU’s calendar, observed annually to commemorate the founding of the Association on November 12, 1967, in Rabat, Morocco, as well as to highlight the contributions of the higher education sector to the development of the African continent. In 1994, and to coincide with the inaugural anniversary of the AAU, the Organisation of African Unity declared 12th November of every year as African Universities Day in pursuant to Resolution CM/Res.1534 passed by the OAU Council of Ministers in June of that year. The African University Day has been observed and celebrated by AAU member institutions since then. It also seeks to bring together academic leaders, policymakers, students, and industry experts to deliberate on key challenges and opportunities facing African universities. READ MORE: https://blog.aau.org/press-release-2024-africa-universities-day-celebrations/