Educational revolution must shape African future

WHILE the COVID-19 crisis disrupted the development of lots of projects across the globe, it further encouraged innovators to push their ideas forward and in other countries such as Cape Verde, an educational revolution is quietly taking place.

Back in January, a Brazilian businessman visiting Cape Verde looking to invest in electronic recycling and training new entrepreneurs to create start-ups.

Despite the lockdown, the Cape Verde Professional School has been shaping into quite an interest solution, bringing together education, technology and entrepreneurship in an innovative project.

The project addresses some key issues to support development such as employment, entrepreneurship, education, recycling and inclusion.

Using online educational platform and broadcasting through State TV channels, prospective students will be able to “attend” a range of technical classes with a focus in teaching a set of professional skills and entrepreneurship.

For example, one of the classes will teach students to repair computers and peripherals that came to the end of their corporate life, repurposing them to be traded at affordable prices so people with no access as well as small and medium businesses can buy them.

Another class will teach students the fundamentals of entrepreneurship so that they can start repairing and selling the computers themselves.

Such initiatives must catch the attention of African governments to promote and support entrepreneurship. Such projects can be used for start-ups for the Africa youth.

Also, the equipment used during the classes, once fixed, will be donated to the institutions in the student’s community.

The goal of the programme should be to initiate social and economic inclusiveness as it creates all means necessary to assist people on their way to become entrepreneurs.

As equipments are refurbished and repurposed at low cost, it will allow more people to access a digital economy while addressing recycling and a lighter reliance on electronic imports from China.