> Literacy Rate [...] This is the biggest reason I am optimistic that Africa's progress will continue.
South Africa is rated as excellent in these slides, yet was placed second-last in a few TIMSS categories[1]. Progress won't happen if we cherry-pick data that makes things look better than they are, the education system in South Africa is in dire need of repair. Notably, all the problems at the universities this year. Additionally, instead of improving the quality of education, the government is lowering the passing mark.
There is no doubt that Africa is rising; the argument is pace of growth on the continent is not fast enough (one must keep in mind that African countries must benchmark their progress against other regions/continents). An interesting feature in my experience of growth in sub-saharan africa is that most of it is private sector rather than government driven- a case where the tail wags the dog.
And politics is the bread and butter of Every.Single.Thing that you do, including your fantasy of a detached parallel-universe "hacker world" that you think you're living in. You're not.
You're either actively doing politics or it is being actively done to you. Nothing that you do makes any sense outside of politics anyway.
South Africa is rated as excellent in these slides, yet was placed second-last in a few TIMSS categories[1]. Progress won't happen if we cherry-pick data that makes things look better than they are, the education system in South Africa is in dire need of repair. Notably, all the problems at the universities this year. Additionally, instead of improving the quality of education, the government is lowering the passing mark.
[1]: https://press-admin.voteda.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1_... https://press-admin.voteda.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1_... https://press-admin.voteda.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/1_...