Building Capacity in Statistics Education in Africa
Abstract
The introduction of development programs in statistics education in Africa is an ongoing process. Hence, a review of prior research into the development of statistics education at secondary and tertiary levels is of importance. We seek to provide an overview of different approaches to statistics, challenges faced, and lessons learned, which can inform future research directions in Africa. We aim to highlight the gaps between statistics at the secondary and tertiary levels. At the school level, statistics forms an insignificantly small part of the Mathematics subject curriculum, and as a consequence, learners move from school to higher institutions of learning with no knowledge of statistics as a career. This proposal then looks forward to outlining major challenges school educators and learners face, gaps in the knowledge base from the school level, and important directions for future research in the development of statistics in Africa. We seek to outline a vision for the future of statistics development that focuses on building capacity through a strongly integrated focus on practice and content.