Poor Power Supply Threatening Education – Stakeholders

Stakeholders across the education, energy and development sectors are urging policymakers to rethink strategies and place energy access at the heart of education planning, saying poor electricity supply is currently threatening outcomes in the sector.

They cautioned that unreliable electricity has continued to cripple learning environments, leaving classrooms without light, digital tools or basic infrastructure needed to support effective teaching.

The call came at a virtual event organised by the Temvert Empowerment Foundation on the sidelines of the ECOSOC Youth Forum 2026 in New York, where speakers said the conversation around quality education must move beyond visible classroom needs to confront the structural barriers affecting how children learn and thrive.

The event themed, “Powering Education Equally: Energy Solutions for Girls and Boys”, was held in partnership with the United Nations Major Group for Children and Youth, co-sponsored by Children and Youth International, and listed by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.

In his remarks, executive director of Temvert Empowerment Foundation, Temitayo Olatunde, said the issue was closely tied to live experience, noting that energy access remains one of the quiet factors shaping students’ learning outcomes in Nigeria.

He said while education debates often focus on books, materials, and school facilities, the issue of electricity is still not receiving the level of attention it deserves, adding that recommendations from the session would feed into the organisation’s policy engagement on energy and education.

Speaking on the challenge from the energy sector perspective, the chief executive officer of PAM Africa, Patrick Agese, said many children continue to learn in environments where power shortages affect both classroom instruction and study time at home.

He noted that in several communities, students return from school only to face another layer of disadvantage because there is no reliable electricity to support homework, reading, or access to digital tools.

According to him, the issue is more severe in underserved areas where schools lack both stable grid supply and the resources to sustain alternatives. He maintained that while technology is no longer the primary gap, access to that technology remains constrained by cost and weak support systems.

In his address, the chief executive officer of Vivacity Development, Engr Oluwakemi Ann-Melody Areola, said the solution lies in changing the point at which energy enters the conversation.

She argued that energy has to be built into educational planning from the outset and should not be treated as an afterthought once schools are already established.