Digital transformation and importance of STEM education: Educating for employment, educating for the future

March 2020 signalled the end of many things as we know it, not least, the way we work and the way we learn! According to a recent post by Microsoft, digital transformation which was already progressing rapidly but fast tracked in the blink of an eye in the last 2 months with digitisation that would ordinarily take 2 years, happening at lightning speed as we were all thrust into the reality of a tech-enabled 21st century. As a social enterprise in the education sector, our vision “of equipping Nigerian students with 21st century skills required for the future workplaceusing Science, Technology, Engineering and maths (S.T.E.M) based program and preparing them for the future workplace” suddenlybecame clearer in real and practical terms. Digital skills as well as soft skills showcased rapidinnovation, adaptability, resilience, creativity, problem solving skills that had to be acquired almost instantaneously in order to be able to suddenly navigate life in a Covid-19 digital economy!

What are 21st century skills? These are skills required to succeed in the 21st century and goes beyond occupation-specific skills. They include:

Learning Skills: Critical thinking, Creative thinking, Communication, Collaboration (4Cs)

Literacy Skills: Information Literacy, Media Literacy, Technology Literacy (IMT)

Life Skills: Flexibility, Leadership, Initiative, Productivity , Social skills (FLIPS)

STEM Education provides problem based, hands on learning for students utilising science, technology, engineering and maths principles and brings real life implication and application to the classroom. It allows for the development of 21st century skills in the education system-skills required for the current and future workplace. Development of these skills set from early childhood lays the foundation for the creativity, innovation and future economic benefits for a nation and its citizens.

The problem

The mismatch between the output of our educational system in Nigeria i.e. the quality of our graduates, and the skills required for the current and future workplace is more glaring than ever. There has been a decline in the quality of our educational system due to outdated curricula, a lack of investment in education and inadequate educational planning and as such, we have a largely underdeveloped workforce and economy.

With 70 percent of our population under the age of 30, Nigeria finds itself with a young, educated but largely “unskilled” labour market with “employment ready” skills such as creativity, critical thinking and problem solving largely absent. These 21st century skills set rank high with employers seeking innovative minds in this knowledge based, technology driven economy and majority of our graduates have fallen behind the rest of the world. One cannot ignore the fall out of the Fourth Industrial Revolution which is upon us with digitalisation and tech advancement changing traditional jobs and skills set demand for high level skills. This certainly creates a problem in the talent pool as less than 6percent of our workforce are employed in high skilled jobs and only 15percent of our working age population have tertiary education, 42percent have secondary education and 18percent have primary school education and 25percent with no formal qualifications- this means majority of our population only have access to low skill, low paying jobs ensuring a lifetime in the poverty cycle.

A solution

There are a number of levers for creating stronger education systems of which ensuring the “future-readiness” of curricula especially through a focus on STEM fields is one.

STEM Education brings a handson, minds-on project based interactive approach both into the classroom and through out of class enrichment programs. Benefits of STEM based programs include: Actively engages students in practical application of knowledge; reinforces the concept of ‘learning by dong’; develops multidisciplinary skills; brings real life environment into the classroom, encouraging practical application of theory being learned, and skills learned are transferable to NON-STEM related careers.

Schools and teachers do not have to carry the whole burden of STEM Education- parents must also encourage their children to pursue STEM activities, increase awareness and interest at home and in extracurricular activities. Many parents became teachers as home schooling and remote learning took over as traditional schools were no longer feasible due to lock down and for many, this was truly the longest and most involved we have been to navigating our children’s educational learning paths and seeing first-hand the importance of a collaborative learning approach inevitably, tech enabled and reliant. Our children need to be encouraged to not to be passive consumers of technology but creators and innovators of products and services

STEM in practical terms: Virtual STEM talks series

So, how can these STEM skills be applied in real work environment? And what are the workplace options available apart of the obvious truly science based career paths? How can employers begin to invest in the ensuring the skills they are seeking in the workplace are aligned with education systems? How can the bridge between future employees and employers be bridged? Over the last two months, as part of our Summertech Camp, we introduced The STEM Talk series- an alternative platform for providing skills development and career guidance information in an engaging and interactive format. Our aim was to relate STEM education to a variety of career options, sectors and perhaps, highlight the seemingly limitless pathways STEM education can present. Open to students, parents, young adults and educators, STEM+ topics included: + Digital Media with Tomiwa Aladekomo, Techcabal; + Biotechnolgy with Dr Abasi EneObong, 54gene; + Health with Fola Laoye, Health Markets Africa; + Professional Service with Ada Irikefe, PWC; + Finance with Femi Oladehin, Argentil Capital Partners; + Design with Remi Dada, Spacefinish

Key takeaways from the talks included:

Be resilient and bounce back from failures. Learn from your failures; prepare to have at least three different careers in your lifetime; the path may not always be straight forward; attitude overrides aptitude; grow into opportunities. Optimise your life; get work experience and acquire new skills in your spare time; lifelong learning is key, and your degree may take you along different paths you haven’t considered- keep an open mind

There needs to be a continuous dialogue between educational service providers, government and industry to align the demand and supply of skills. Additionally, our employers and educators need better tools to enable them to better understand labour markets; new and emerging skills requirementsafter all, the children of today are the employees, entrepreneurs and innovators of tomorrow.

Jadesola Adedeji is the CEO of STEM METS Resources Ltd, a company that provides 21st skills training to children andyouthsinnigeriausingasuiteofworld class, award winning STEM enrichment programs.shecanbereachedatjadedeji@ stem-mets.com | www.stem-mets.com

Reference:worldeconomicforumreport: The Future of Jobs and Skills in Africa