The Africa Federation of Teaching Regulatory Authorities (AFTRA), the apex intergovernmental regulatory authority of the teaching profession in Africa, on Monday, June 14 2021, conferred a Fellowship and Distinguished Teacher Status on Professor Florence Banku Obi, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Calabar in Nigeria. She was the 39th individual in Africa and the 6th and first female Nigerian to receive this Fellowship since the inception of AFTRA eleven years ago.

The event was held in a large audience comprising teachers, education administrators and other stakeholders and virtually via ZOOM with about 100 personalities from the relevant educational authorities in Africa and beyond. The Executive Director (Academics) of AFTRA, Prof Steve Nwokeocha, led the event physically from the University of Calabar Senate Chamber in Calabar, Nigeria. At the same time, the AFTRA President, Mabutho Lucky Goodman Cele, conferred the Fellowship from the AFTRA Headquarters in Centurion, South Africa.

The event was underpinned by the first Strategic Objective of the African Union's Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA), which calls for the revitalization of the Teaching profession, with teacher motivation being an integral part of this initiative. AFTRA and its partners the African Union, Education International, UNESCO-IICBA and other stakeholders honour deserving teachers in various ways, as consistent with the principles of CESA 16-25. The Conferment of Fellowship and Distinguished Teacher status are ways of celebrating and motivating hardworking teachers and thereby promoting excellence in the teaching profession.

AFTRA is an intergovernmental continental umbrella comprising the national agencies regulating teaching in 54 African countries. Inaugurated on October 12, 2010, in Abuja, Nigeria, by the Ministers of Education of Nigeria and South Africa and with an initial fifteen countries as members, AFTRA has grown into a profound continental Federation that leads policy development and implementation for the professionalization of teaching in Africa. AFTRA is also a member of the International Forum of Teaching Regulatory Authorities (IFTRA) which comprising national teaching councils from all the continents of the world. AFTRA is also a member of other continental and global bodies on teachers which include the African Union's Continental Education Strategy for Africa (CESA 2016-2025) Teacher Development Cluster and the International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030. AFTRA also collaborates with UNESCO Regional offices, UNESCO-IICBA, Education International and other national and international bodies.

The national laws that established member organizations of AFTRA empower them to register and license teachers, set standards for pre-service and ongoing teacher professional development, develop and implement professional teacher code of ethics and standards for teachers and school leaders, and generally work to promote the professional status of teachers. AFTRA is working on translating these mandates to continental frameworks to facilitate the exchange of best practices, teacher mobility, and quality teaching and learning throughout Africa to actualize the Sustainable Development Goal 4 (Education) and CESA 2016-2025.

This event has been a significant contribution to the implementation of CESA 16-25 CESA.

For further information, please contact:

Dr Lawalley Cole, Executive Director, Coalition on Media and Education for Development Africa Forum, Department of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, African Union Commission, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, ColeL@africa-union.org, www.au.int
Prof Steve Nwokeocha, Executive Director, AFTRA Email: drsteve44@gmail.com, Tel: + 234 706 448 0579 Website:https://www.africateaching-authorities.org

Media Contact: Mr. Michael Awonon, The Coalition on Media and Education for Development Africa Forum (CAFOR): info@cafor.org; https://www.cafor.org