How ready are young South Africans for the fourth industrial revolution?
Kagiso Trust, in partnership with the faculty of education at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), held its Education Conversations on July 24. The Education Conversations encourage our nation to talk and creates a space for an ongoing debate through which diverse voices can be heard.
This year’s Conversations series has been unpacking the fourth industrial revolution as a theme.
The second of the three-part Education Conversations series focused on the “Connections and disconnections within the education value chain which will influence success during the time for the fourth industrial revolution”.
A key part of the fourth industrial revolution in the context of Africa is that inclusive growth should receive attention, ensuring that everyone receives an equal opportunity to be active participants in the economy.
The vast and growing potential of the fourth industrial revolution is yet to be fully grasped. The ICT sector, industry and governments have the responsibility to unlock its potential for citizen service delivery, customer experience and innovative solutions, for a better life for all.
The “Future of Jobs and Skills in Africa” report suggests that, to prepare for the future of work, Africa must expand its high-skilled talent pool by developing future-ready curriculums, with a large portion of that focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) education and an interdisciplinary approach to learning where rigorous academic concepts are coupled with the real world.
More importantly, these skills are critical for the development and sustainability of entrepreneurs, who are central to the future of SA and the rest of Africa.
The vice-chancellor and principal of UJ, Professor Tshilidzi Marwala, in a speech delivered at the third annual Eric Molobi Memorial Lecture, said: “Africa cannot afford to be spectators, we must actively participate, we must be activists of the fourth industrial revolution.”
What we need are active citizens who are driven and demographically diverse, to make a difference in society and ensure that the education of Africans becomes the new form of activism. The panel at the Education Conversations explored the topic further:
What have we done right so far in terms of preparing our education system for the fourth industrial revolution?
Andile Mtotywa, MD of the Business and Social Research Institute:
The government has begun to talk about the fourth industrial revolution. At the end of May, parliament held its conversation about the fourth industrial revolution. We all hope that their discussions will now culminate in the development of policy and legislation that enables citizens to effectively participate in the fourth industrial revolution — for example, focusing on which critical skills our economy needs, and access to mobile or internet data, which is the heartbeat for the fourth industrial revolution to function. Data is very expensive.
Research shows that citizens who cannot afford data have the least knowledge about the fourth industrial revolution. So, we hope this start of policy discussions will ensure that citizens are enabled to take advantage of the opportunities.
Furthermore, minister of higher education and training Naledi Pandor promised to set up a multisectoral task team to advise the higher education sector on how it should take up opportunities associated with the fourth industrial revolution.
The department of basic education is driving to prioritise Stem in schools and is creating schools that specialise in science and technology. Two of these schools were recently launched in Atteridgeville, and 25 more are planned for Gauteng. These are all critical initiatives that are preparing our education system for the fourth industrial revolution.
We must acknowledge that it is still in its infancy, but we must compliment the government for piloting these specialised science and technology schools.
When people are empowered with knowledge they are able to change their behaviour and act on it.
Therefore, the government must continue to pursue the fourth industrial revolution by fast-tracking policy and creating an enabling environment, and make equal participation top of the national agenda.
What can we do to ensure that the education value chain thrives during the fourth industrial revolution?
Sonqoba Maseko, former COO of Sifiso Learning Group:
Things I think need to be done to prepare the education value chain include reviewing and assessing what we can do differently and asking ourselves what is aligned or disconnected.
We also need to critically ask ourselves what is going to make us successful as a country and as a continent and integrate those assessments into the education value chain.
The curriculum is also an area we need to start reviewing.
The school environments need to be assessed in relation to infrastructure appropriateness; an environment needs to be created that is conducive for collaboration, creativity and critical thinking.
Having a global view and implementing best practice will enable us to prepare and equip the education value chain for the fourth industrial revolution.
To what extent is our curriculum in basic education ready for the fourth industrial revolution?
Sizakele Mphatsoe, Education and Civil Society Head, Kagiso Trust: We need to
ensure that children, especially those in rural areas, are not left behind. This can be done by connecting them to technology in the classroom and by training and empowering teachers to use technology as part of curriculum delivery so they are equipped to impart content and skills to pupils. In rural or peri-urban communities all households have access to cellphones and we can start by using the available technology and align it to teacher content.
Collaboration with the private sector in ICT and telecommunications is another key component. The schooling system can leverage off their resources.
By using technology for teacher development, teachers are paired and connected with other teachers across the country, continent and the world, so they can share experiences and best practice.
Therefore, technology is key to ensuring that teachers and pupils at disadvantaged schools are not left behind. Pupils need to be equipped to become 21st-century learners by exploring future robust and emerging jobs as careers in the fourth industrial revolution.
These emerging new jobs would include app developers, driverless car engineers, data scientists, social media, drone operators and millennial generation experts, to name a few. Pupils and students will be required to have skills that test their critical thinking, creativity, innovation and the ability to provide solutions to socioeconomic problems.
How are students being prepared to enter the fourth industrial revolution job market?
Professor Caroline Long, UJ:
From my experience as a teacher in higher education, I think that the most important thing is to instil the idea of agency in students. In my maths class, I showed my students the film Hidden
Figures, about three African-American women who were critical to the Nasa space programme and who showed incredible agency against all odds. My students loved the movie and from that point on anything that showed limitation, I would refer them to the movie for them to gather courage.
One of my students who was present at the Education Conversations came to talk to me, and I asked her why she thought I had showed them the film. She answered: “You showed it to us so we can tap into our courage.”
I think that is the most important thing that students should have, the courage to tackle whatever challenges they may encounter. These challenges could be technological, social or human engagements, so long as they have courage and agency they will be able to develop solutions.