Rain, Resilience, and the Right to Learn: Why Collective Action in Education Matters

By Pita Magara (Strategic Plan Development Consultant)

A Rainy Morning and a Dream Deferred

It’s 6:30 a.m. on a rainy Monday morning. Kembabazi is already awake, whispering a silent prayer for the rain to stop. It echoes the playful chants children use to wish away the rain so they can play outside. But today, her prayer is different. If the rain continues, she’ll have to walk two kilometers to school through a muddy swamp, weaving past towering papyrus stalks. She treasures her school uniform and can’t bear the thought of arriving cold, wet, and drenched.

What weighs more heavily on her heart is the fact that English is always the first subject on Monday mornings. The teacher often calls on students at random to read from a textbook—a book she’s grown to dread. At 10 years old, Kembabazi still struggles to read those passages aloud. The thought of the long, wet walk dampens her spirit—but imagining the joy of playing with her friends and the excitement of solving math problems brings a spark of warmth to her heart. It’s enough to keep her moving forward.

The Crisis Behind the Classroom

Kembabazi is one among more than 100 million children in Sub-Saharan Africa enrolled in school but unable to read an age-appropriate text by age 10[1]. These are the learners who are expected to join the global workforce within a decade—yet many school systems are failing to equip them with the 21st-century skills they need to thrive.

It’s often said that education is the great equalizer—when it works. In much of Africa, it is not working. Learning outcomes are in crisis. And no government can solve this alone. Collaborative, evidence-driven action is essential.

Co-Creating the Vision for Transforming Education

In response to this urgent challenge, RELI Africa led a strategic planning process involving over 60 civil society organizations across Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. This was not just a consultation—it was a collective reimagining of how to improve learning outcomes for children who have been furthest left behind.

RELI Africa entered this process with humility and clarity: that while education holds enormous potential, it too often fails the most vulnerable. This conviction shaped a new approach—one rooted in inclusion, collective ambition, and deep listening.

At the heart of this journey was a Common Agenda: a shared belief that every child in Africa deserves equitable, quality education—and the chance to thrive in a rapidly changing world.

“We are going for all children” wasn’t a slogan. It was a reckoning. A refusal to accept exclusion as inevitable.

A Way of Working: Collective Action in Motion

To bring this vision to life, RELI Africa activated the tenets of Collective Impact and embodied shared leadership at every step:

• Shared Measurement became a foundation for collective learning. It helped build alignment around what matters most, defining meaningful learning outcomes, how to measure them, and which learners remain most at risk. This led to the development of practical, context-sensitive frameworks, such as those for life skills and parental engagement. Through thematic groups, RELI Africa members led the co-creation of strategies tailored to national and local realities.
• Mutually Reinforcing Activities brought diverse actors together—researchers, policy advocates, school leaders, teacher trainers, and community organizers—each contributing their strengths in coordinated, complementary ways. Everyone had a role. All moved toward the same goal.
• Continuous Communication was not just logistical—it was a disciplined practice of trust-building. Through cross-country dialogues, reflective learning events, and open reviews, RELI Africa created spaces for alignment, adaptation, and shared ownership.
• RELI Africa also recognised the centrality of institutional capacity, and served as the Backbone to Support Organization, not to command, but to connect—providing coordination, institutional memory, and a steady rhythm that allowed local energies to lead.

The Pulse of Possibility

RELI Africa’s strategy isn’t just a document—it’s a living commitment. At the heart of this strategy are three key result areas, each designed to move the network closer to its vision of equitable, quality education for all:

• Smarter Advocacy: focuses on shifting how RELI Africa engages with education systems—from pushing messages to building deeper, trust-based relationships with actors in the education system. It’s about co-creating change with policymakers, educators, and communities
• Sharper Insights: aims to generate timely, relevant evidence that informs both policy and practice. Through agile, purpose-driven research, RELI Africa ensures that data is not just produced—but actually used.
• Stronger Systems reflects: RELI Africa’s commitment to strengthen national education systems by promoting quality learning for all, deepening engagement with key actors, and scaling tools that build 21st-century skills—driving systemic change through collective impact.

Kembabazi’s story is not just a glimpse into one child’s daily struggle, it is a mirror reflecting the monumental and urgent work ahead. Her resilience, her love for learning, and her dreams deserve more than endurance—they deserve a system that works for her. As RELI Africa steps into this new chapter—one where we advocate smarter, learn deeply, and build stronger systems—we carry children like Kembabazi with us. But we cannot walk this path alone. The future we imagine is co-owned and co-led—by every member, every partner, and every ally—because transforming education in Africa means ensuring that every child, in every village, arrives at school not only dry and safe, but ready to thrive.

Read our Strategic Plan: https://reliafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/RELI-Africa-Strategic-Plan_Final.pdf

[1] UNESCO Institute of Statistics (2021)  uis.unesco.org/sites/default/files/documents/covid-19_interruptions_to_learning_-_final_0.pdf