African School for Excellence

What  is  ASE?

The African School for Excellence will be the world’s first chain of truly affordable, self-sustaining private secondary schools. ASE will operate private day schools in low-income African urban neighborhoods, run by experienced administrators through a franchise model. The ASE head office will provide the educational, financial, and operational resources necessary for the headmaster to run a profitable school that achieves world-class academic performance.

Why is ASE Necessary?

An educated populace facilitates a functioning and accountable democracy, drives economic growth, and provides the foundation for social and cultural development. Sub-Saharan Africa fares poorest of any region on virtually all education metrics, including adult literacy, repetition rate, dropout rate, and school enrollment at all levels.

African nations have recognized this problem and have taken enormous strides in the last ten years, improving both the accessibility and the quality of primary education. Reaching the Millennium Development goal of universal primary education by 2015 is now realistic for many countries. As primary education has improved, however, secondary education has stagnated. Secondary education funding today comprises <10% of African education budgets, and has not increased in real terms since the mid-1980s. Apart from the economic elite, few African students enjoy access to a globally-competitive secondary education.

ASE will provide an opportunity for talented, motivated students graduating from Africa’s public and private primary schools to gain the skills that will allow them to succeed both in university and in their careers.