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Founded by T4 Education and HP, the Africa Education Medal is Africa’s most prestigious education accolade
Zimbabwe’s Angeline Murimirwa, CEO of CAMFED, has been named among the ten Finalists for the Africa Education Medal 2024. Founded by T4 Education and HP, the Africa Education Medal is Africa’s most prestigious education accolade.
The Africa Education Medal recognises the tireless work of those who are transforming education across the continent – celebrating the stories of those who have lit the spark of change so others will be inspired to take up the torch. It is given to an outstanding individual who has demonstrated impact, leadership, and advocacy in the field of education.
The winner of this year’s Africa Education Medal (announced in October) will be invited to attend the World Schools Summit in Dubai on 23-24 November. In recognition of the urgent need to solve the teacher recruitment and retention crisis to tackle learning gaps, the winner will be entitled to nominate a school of their choice to receive membership of T4 Education’s Best School to Work programme – an independent, evidence-based mechanism to certify schools for their culture and help them transform their working environment to attract and retain the best teachers.
Angeline (Angie) Murimirwa is CEO of CAMFED, a pan-African, grassroots-led NGO that tackles poverty, inequality, and injustice through girls’ education and women’s leadership. Murimirwa herself was one of the first girls supported by CAMFED to go to secondary school in Zimbabwe, and understands from first-hand experience the hurdles girls face in accessing education. Now CAMFED’s CEO, she is uniquely positioned to bring the expertise of girls and women once excluded from education to inform policy and strategy at every level.
The vast majority of girls in rural Africa never complete secondary school. Their exclusion from education plays out at every stage of a young woman’s life and is passed on to future generations.
Murimirwa is leading CAMFED in the delivery of a proven solution that enables marginalised girls to enroll and thrive in secondary school, and then graduate into secure livelihoods and positions of leadership. She was a founding member and first elected Chair of the CAMFED Association — the pan-African network of 279,000 women leaders educated with CAMFED support, and united in their determination to secure every girl’s right to quality education. Each member of the Association is financially supporting at least three other girls in their community to help them stay in school, multiplying the investment in their education.
Murimirwa has represented CAMFED on Zimbabwe’s Education Coordination Group. She has served on the Board of the Zimbabwe National Youth Council and on the UNAIDS Gender Task Force. In 2006, she was awarded the Prize for Women’s Creativity by the Women’s World Summit Foundation and in 2017, she was presented with the Diamond Ball Honours Award by Rihanna’s Clara Lionel Foundation. In 2020, she was awarded the Yidan Prize for Education Development alongside Lucy Lake. She has also been recognised as one of the 100 most influential women by the BBC, in tribute to her role in supporting young women to step forward as leaders to drive support for girls’ education.
The Hon. Julia Gillard AC, 27th Prime Minister of Australia, Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, and former Chair of the Global Partnership for Education, said:
“Congratulations to my friend Angie, the CEO of CAMFED. You embody the power and expertise inherent in every young person who has lived through disadvantage and exclusion and for whom education has changed everything. Now you are unlocking doors to opportunity for millions more.
Angie, I salute you and the wider CAMFED movement for providing a blueprint for a better tomorrow – this couldn´t be more urgent or important.”
Vikas Pota, Founder and CEO of T4 Education, said:
“The Africa Education Medal honours changemakers where change is needed most. Where learning gaps remain stubbornly persistent and where deep inequalities remain.
“If we are to tackle these colossal challenges, and unlock the continent’s future, we must build a community of leaders from every sphere of society committed to educational transformation. Leaders like Angeline Murimirwa. Africa, and the world, has so much to learn from your inspirational story and your vital contribution to the next generation.”
Mayank Dhingra, Senior Education Business Leader at HP, said:
“Congratulations to Zimbabwe’s Angeline Murimirwa on being named Finalist for the Africa Education Medal 2024. Her passion and dedication to transforming education will inspire countless others to follow in her footsteps in building a world where quality education is enjoyed by all.
“HP has a bold goal to accelerate digital equity for 150 million people globally by 2030. Only by joining forces and aligning with NGOs, government, educators and businesses can we truly improve the education environment. The Africa Education Medal brings together all those who are changing the face of African education, whose work we must all learn from if the world is to meet the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.”
The Finalists for the Africa Education Medal 2024 are:
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Ahmed Kura, Co-Executive Director, Kenya Drylands Education Fund, Kenya
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Angeline (Angie) Murimirwa, CEO, CAMFED, Zimbabwe
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Christopher Khaemba, Co-Founder & Director, Nova Pioneer, Kenya
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Hakeem Subair, CEO, 1 Million Teachers, Nigeria
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Josiah Olusegun Ajiboye, Registrar & Chief Executive, Teachers Registration Council of Nigeria, Nigeria
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Julian Hewitt, Outgoing CEO, The Jakes Gerwel Fellowship, South Africa
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Mohammed Haroon, Principal Education Consultant, Ghana
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Nankunda Hope Mwijuka, Executive Director, Raising Teenagers Uganda, Uganda
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Olanrewaju Oniyitan, Founder & Executive Director, SEED Care & Support Foundation, Nigeria
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Taddy Blecher CEO & Co-Founder, Maharishi Invincibility Institute, South Africa
Nominations for the Africa Education Medal opened in February 2024 for individuals working to improve pre-kindergarten, K-12, vocational and university education who are either educators or school leaders, civil society leaders, public servants, government officials, political leaders, entrepreneurs, business leaders, or technologists.
In its third year, the Africa Education Medal is the oldest of the three World Education Medals established by T4 Education and HP.
The winner will be announced in October. They will be chosen by a Jury comprising prominent individuals based on rigorous criteria.
