The Research and Learning Community “Nucleus for African Studies: Education and Society”, of the Center for Interdisciplinary Studies in Education and Development, of Lusófona University (CeiED|ULusofona|ReLeCo NEA-ES), held on January 24, 2023, through a zoom platform, the Open Class: “Education in Africa: the importance of information sources and statistical data for studies in Sociology of Education”, delivered by the Coordinating Researcher of NEA-ES/CeiED, Professor Arlinda Cabral.

The Open Class, with the participation of Professor António Teodoro, Director of the Centre for Interdisciplinary Studies in Education and Development (CeiED|ULusofona), is part of the internationalization activities of CeiED and marked the re-dynamization of the activities of NEA-ES.

The ReleCo NEA-ES webpage and the NEA-ES Repository were also presented during the Open Class, including access links to the General History of Africa Collection (UNESCO) and Reports on Education in Africa the CeiED Filmography.

The constitution of ReLeCo NEA-ES is intended to promote a space for academic and scientific dialogue that contributes to the emergence of new perspectives, logics, and theoretical-analytical approaches focusing on African sociocontemporaneity. Likewise, it is intended to create spaces for reflection and joint construction of knowledge about how the social, cultural, political, and economic reality influences educational policies, educational ideals, pedagogical processes, and practices on this continent.

The identification of new theoretical, methodological, and empirical frameworks based on the socio-historical framework of the Lusophone, Anglophone, and Francophone States of Sub-Saharan Africa (Afrique sub-saharienne Africa / Afrique sub-saharienne), and its relationship with education, taking into account public policies and programs, and national development programs, plans and projects, will constitute the main fields of social analysis and study of this Nucleus, with the aim of contributing to the identification of (new) analytical instruments for reading the complex social reality which characterizes the countries of contemporary Sub-Saharan Africa.

This collaborative network is intended to promote:

• The scientific production of knowledge about the African continent, through the definition of concepts, the systematization of theories, and scientific and academic discussions, to identify theoretical, analytical, and interpretative frameworks that are more suitable for a better knowledge of the socio-educational reality of Sub-Saharan African countries.
• Institutional, regional, national, transnational, and international collaboration that contributes to increasing interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary, and multidisciplinary knowledge of the socio-contemporary realities of sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on the relationship between education and society.
• The comparative, interdisciplinary, historical, sociological approach, and considering political science and economics, for a better understanding of contemporary African societies and the challenges they currently face, such as demographic pressure, brain drain, competitiveness, social cleavages and the way education and knowledge interact with these valences.
• Networking, based on the identification of researchers and academics from the Global South and the North, from different contexts, countries, and continents, who are dedicated to studies on societies and education in Sub-Saharan Africa, creating spaces of dialogue for sharing different perspectives on the various Africa.

In the context of the internationalization strategy of CeiED/ULHT, driven by its Director, Professor António Teodoro, through the promotion of research on education and development and the participation of CeiED in regional and global networks, this Open Class follows three Open Classes already held:

• “Education in Africa: a proposed analytical approach from the perspective of Sociology of Education”, Arlinda Cabral (CeiED/ULHT), 19 June 2020.
• “The construction of democratic regimes in Sub-Saharan Africa”, Edalina Sanches (Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, ICS/UL), 11 July 2020.
• “Relevance of educational research in the context of African CPLP Countries”, Nilza Costa (Centre for Research Didactics and Technology in Training of Trainers/University of Aveiro, CIDTFF/UA), 30 October 2020.

Two more Open Classes are planned in the 2nd semester of the 2022/2023 academic year, with academics and researchers who focus on factors and issues of (and associated with) the promotion of education as a factor for sustainable development and social transformation in Sub-Saharan African countries.

The Open Class “Education in Africa: The importance of information sources and statistical data for studies in Sociology of Education”, given by Professor Arlinda Cabral, is available, in open access, to all those interested in issues related to Education in Sub-Saharan Africa.