This Afrobarometer publication (Dispatch No. 511, March 2022), authored by Kelechi Amakoh, examines African citizens' perceptions of their education systems, drawing on Round 8 (2019/2021) surveys conducted in 34 countries and based on 48,084 interviews.

For the first time in more than two decades of surveys, a majority of respondents (53%) say their government is doing a poor job on education. Across 29 countries tracked since 2011/2013, approval of government performance on education has fallen by 12 percentage points over the decade, including an 8-point drop since 2016/2018 — a decline that, according to the data, occurred independently of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On average, one in five African adults (20%) has no formal education, 27% attended primary school, 37% secondary, and 17% higher education — proportions that have changed little over the past decade. Women, rural residents and the poor face persistent disadvantages: a lack of formal schooling is three times as common in rural areas as in cities (29% vs. 9%).

For Angola, the data place the country close to the continental average: around 20% of adults with no formal education, 31% primary, 37% secondary and 10% post-secondary. The publication calls for greater public attention and investment in the quality and equity of education, in line with Sustainable Development Goal 4.