Imoke, others mull incentives to drive better learning outcomes
One better way to ensure learning systems delivers optimally in terms of performance outcomes and progressive development is to put in place the right incentives for those driving the process.
This was the submission made by former governor of Cross River State Senator Liyel Imoke and echoed by many others during an interface and discussion in Lagos, recently.
The occasion was the Pan-African Convening on Social and Emotional Learning (PACSEL), hosted by The Learning Craft Foundation as part of efforts to drive social and emotional learning across the continent.
According to Imoke, education systems that neglect social and emotional development ultimately undermine their own goals.
“Educational systems that ignore social and emotional development undermine their own academic and economic growth,” he said.
He warned that progress measured only through access and enrolment figures is incomplete. “We have celebrated enrolment figures, but ignored what happens inside the hearts and minds of children,” Imoke said, noting that youth disengagement and weak life outcomes persist despite expanded schooling.
On governance, Imoke who is the Founder of The Bridge Leadership Institute emphasised the role of incentives and institutional design. “Schools behave exactly as policy incentives encourage them to behave,” he said. “When systems reward examination results alone, schools produce certificates, not citizens.”
He stressed the importance of policy for sustainability. “What is not institutionalised in policy rarely survives,” Imoke said, adding that durable reform requires deliberate system-level backing.
The event which brought together educators, policymakers, development partners, and creative leaders to examine how African education systems can deliver outcomes for life, academics, and wellbeing, also focused on policy alignment, system reform, cultural relevance, measurement, and classroom practice. Speakers emphasised that social and emotional learning (SEL) must move beyond pilot projects into national education frameworks if it is to achieve scale, sustainability, and lasting impact across the continent.
Rhoda Odigboh, Founder of The Learning Craft Foundation and Convener of the Pan-African Convening on Social and Emotional Learning, said the convening was intentionally designed around education outcomes that truly matter.
“The theme of PACSEL is ‘for outcomes that matter’, and those outcomes are life skills, academics, and wellbeing,” she said. “They must be developed together, not in isolation.”
She emphasised the importance of educating the whole child. “When we educate a child, we are educating the whole person, not just cognition,” Odigboh said. “Learning involves the mind, emotions, relationships, values, and lived experiences of every child.”
On implementation, she stressed the importance of systems and policy. “Social and emotional learning cannot remain optional or fragmented,” she said. “It must be embedded in policy, curriculum, teacher development, and accountability structures if we are serious about scale, sustainability, and impact across African education systems.”
Dr Aaliyah A. Samuel, Chief Executive Officer and President of the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL), said decades of global evidence demonstrate the transformative impact of SEL when it is embedded across learning environments.
“For over 30 years, CASEL has helped build the field of social and emotional learning,” she said. “What we consistently see is that when students experience SEL in their schools, homes, and communities, they come to class engaged and curious, develop self-motivation, benefit from strong, caring relationships, and build the persistence they need when learning becomes challenging.”
She added that the outcomes extend well beyond academic performance. “Students experience stronger academic achievement, a love for learning, improved wellbeing, and a deeper sense of belonging and identity,” Samuel said. “These are the skills and mindsets young people carry into adulthood as they pursue meaningful careers and participate positively in society.”
Andreas Schleicher, Director for Education and Skills at the OECD, noted that education systems globally are rethinking how success is defined and measured.
“In PISA, we now report outcomes beyond academic performance,” he said. “These include wellbeing, agency, resilience, and the quality of relationships.”
He explained that assessment must capture more than final results. “Digital technologies allow us to observe the learning process, not just the outcome,” Schleicher said. “When systems make social and emotional learning explicit in curriculum frameworks and measurement, they signal what truly matters.”
Schleicher cautioned against uncritical policy borrowing. “International comparisons should help countries make informed choices,” he said, “not copy models that do not fit their context or values.”
Aly Jetha, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Big Bad Boo Studios, highlighted storytelling as a powerful entry point for social and emotional learning.
“African storytelling traditions already carry values such as empathy, cooperation, courage, and responsibility,” he said. “The opportunity is to use stories intentionally to model specific social and emotional competencies.”
Jetha emphasised that storytelling must be paired with structured practice. “Stories are the starting point, but learning happens through discussion, reflection, role modelling, and repeated practice,” he said. He noted that while developing fully localised SEL curricula can be resource intensive, adaptation offers a viable pathway. “SEL becomes scalable and meaningful when global rigour meets local relevance.”
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Dr Tina Udoji, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Chelis Group, said social and emotional learning reflects the realities children navigate every day.
“Children do not leave their fears, family pressures, trauma, or uncertainty at the school gate,” she said. “Yet our education systems often behave as though they do.”
She noted that schools frequently equate success with grades alone. “We focus heavily on academic performance and infrastructure, and forget the child as a human being,” Udoji said. “Many children are struggling emotionally, and nobody addresses this in school.”
On leadership and governance, she stressed that reform does not begin only at the national level. “Policy also starts at the school level,” Udoji said. “When owners and leaders decide that child development matters as much as examination results, systems begin to change.”
PACSEL was held over two days, combining a virtual first day with an in-person convening on the second day. Sessions spanned early childhood, primary and secondary education, and school leadership, with discussions covering policy integration, teacher practice, culturally responsive approaches, measurement in resource-constrained contexts, digital tools, and practical pathways for translating SEL from theory into classroom and system-level implementation.
Speakers agreed that while access to schooling has expanded across Africa, education systems must now give equal attention to learner wellbeing, citizenship, and long-term life skills in order to deliver outcomes that truly matter.
