Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng wins inaugural Africa Education Medal
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Loading... - Florent Ateba
- 04 Oct 2022
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New award, founded this year by T4 Education and HP, recognises University of Cape Town Vice-Chancellor for her impact, leadership, and advocacy in the field of African education.
Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, South Africa, has been named the winner of the inaugural Africa Education Medal, launched this year by T4 Education and HP in collaboration with Intel and Microsoft.
Professor Phakeng was chosen as the winner from among 10 finalists for the Africa Education Medal from across the continent including H.E. Jakaya Kikwete, former President of Tanzania.
The Africa Education Medal was founded to recognise the work of those changemakers who are transforming African education. UNESCO data show sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of education exclusion in the world. Over one-fifth of children between the ages of 6 and 11 are out of school, with girls particularly disadvantaged. However, tireless international efforts have seen Africa make great strides in boosting enrollment in the decades leading up to the pandemic. By celebrating the stories of those working every day to expand upon these vital gains, the Africa Education Medal aims to inspire others to follow in their footsteps and bring lasting change in African education.
Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng is Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and among the world’s leading scholars in mathematics education. Growing up in rural and township South Africa during Apartheid, she became the first black female South African to achieve a PhD in Mathematics Education in 2002 and she is determined not to be the last. In the two decades since she has published more than 80 research papers and five edited volumes that continue to shape mathematics education in classrooms across Africa and far beyond. Her research focuses on language practices in multilingual mathematics classrooms and has proved influential in post-colonial Africa and post-Apartheid South Africa in particular.
Her research and community work have won her many prestigious awards, not least the Order of the Baobab (Silver) conferred on her by the President of South Africa in April 2016. She was named the most influential woman academic in Africa by CEO magazine in 2014, and in 2020 she was included in Forbes’ inaugural list of the 50 Most Powerful Women in Africa. This year she became the first African to be elected chair of the International Alliance of Research Universities, succeeding Professor Stephen J Toope, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge. Read More...
