BAC K TO BA SICS
“The realities are so diverse for children born into positions of privilege compared to those in disadvantaged communities. The pressure and increasingly intense red tape put on teachers – who in many cases are under-supported, -prepared and -educated themselves – has made their ability to offer the attention and care required by the children in their care incredibly difficult. We have not yet found or created the system that will adequately support our schools to transform.” The World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2017/18 Global Competitiveness Index report ranked South Africa 114th out of 137 countries for the quality of its education system. “We not only need to make drastic changes to the quality of our education system and school syllabi, but we also need to shift from academic learning to technical and vocational studies. We need to reimagine learning for the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” says Onyi Nwaneri, CEO of Afrika Tikkun Services. The Fourth Industrial Revolution is set to fundamentally change the way we live, work and relate to one another. Says Nwaneri, “Most notably, we need to respond comprehensively to the needs of a child’s full development by supporting their cognitive, intra-personal and emotional development – from early childhood to school-leaving age and beyond.
EDI TORI A L
We should not only be teaching for intelligence quotient (IQ), but also emotional quotient (EQ), which develops character, confidence, critical thinking and creativity.” Echoing this, Johnson notes: “We need to remove our focus on functional and technical skills and knowledge and instead focus on developing and growing the skills that are uniquely human and can’t easily be replaced by a machine. Developing emotional intelligence, collaboration and team skills, and systems thinking is far more important than remembering facts and figures.” The question then appears to be how we can best create opportunities for those children, especially girls, who are on the margins of society and who can’t afford quality education. “We can do this by creating an inclusive educational system that eliminates the barriers to entry in respect of quality standard education,” says Nwaneri. “We need to intentionally level the playing field, ensuring that the same or relative standard of education is provided to all South African children, irrespective of race, gender or financial pedigree. One way of doing this is a fundamental overhaul of our education system to meet best practice standards as well as simultaneous introduction of low-cost private schools.”
“ Gender stereotypes in employment opportunities need to shift urgently”
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2019/12/19 4:21 PM
