Prof. Francis Petersen
Africa has a bright future.
This future will only be realised if stakeholders come together in a bid to build synergy. The keys to our development are partnerships, collaboration, and framing our key foci for our continent.
We may not get a full consensus on what we should focus on, but we can all find common ground.
Debate: African Education in the time of Industry 4.0
Across Africa's higher education sector there is an awareness that the fourth industrial revolution is here. Educators now have a tremendous responsibility to prepare the people and organisations of the continent for a time of rapid change.
It can be argued that in the time of Industry 4.0 the stakes are higher in Africa than anywhere else in the world. Africa's economic development has been accelerated by an ability to harness technology to leapfrog developmental steps in multiple industries. However, in a continent where many places have never seen the benefits of Industry 3.0, there is a danger of many being left behind as the demands of industry no longer match the skills available in the workforce.
Technology has the power to uplift millions of Africa. Similarly, it carries the threat of leaving millions more unemployed and locked out of the global economy.
How is the higher education sector preparing young Africans for an uncertain future? And how can Africa ensure it remains globally relevant in the fourth industrial revolution?
Sakhumnotho Group Holdings
CEO of South Africa based Sakhumnotho Group Holdings, Sipho Mseleku, has challenged African governments to put entrepreneurial training at the heart of education and is calling for greater collaboration amongst African business leaders to tackle Africa’s primary economic challenges.
“Africa has a failing education system,” says Mr Mseleku.
“Africa’s education systems focus more on academic training than entrepreneurial training and that is proving quite problematic.
“We at Sakhumnotho believe that entrepreneurship is the missing piece towards the growth of African economies.”
Dr. Ahmed Shaikh
"“Are we trying to teach twenty-first-century skills in nineteenth-century classrooms?” If creativity, problem-solving, and collaborative intelligence are twenty-first-century skills, we can’t teach them in nineteenth-century setups. What I mean when I say nineteenth-century setups is the teacher-student positioning in a classroom.
The nineteenth-century setup is unfortunately what we still use today. We have teachers being the sage on the stage, acting like they possess all knowledge."
