Kapitalisierung der afrikanischen "Jugenddividende"
Capitalising on Africa's youth dividend
When South African university students took to the streets in 2016 as part of
the "Fees Must Fall" protest movement, the "decolonisation of the Curriculum"
was among the movement's chief concerns.
It was a pivotal moment in
South Africa's history, as young people rose to demand
quality and accessible education. But a crucial question was
missing from the debate over fees and curricular relevance: how can changes to
higher education empower Africa’s youth to drive the continent's economic
transformation?
For Africa, the question is no longer "if" students are
taught, but "what".
Unfortunately, while access to education has
improved significantly in recent decades, school curricula have
changed little since the colonial era, when secondary education was an elite
privilege designed to advance the careers of a select
few.
Technical and vocational education and training (TVET)
programmes have also suffered from neglect. Today, these initiatives
are marked by outdated courses and rote learning methods that fail to prepare
young people for the demands of the 21st century job market.
The trouble
goes beyond traditional components of the curriculum, like math, science and
language. There is also a deficiency in critical "soft" skills, such as
communication, teamwork and problem solving.
Though neglected, it is
these skills that enable young people to become adaptable, lifelong
learners.
The mastery of soft skills correlates to improved outcomes in
school, work and life. Yet, until recently, training in soft skills has not been
integrated into formal education systems on the continent. Fortunately, that is
changing. Across the continent, secondary schools and TVET systems are
transforming themselves to prepare Africa's young minds with the skills
they need to make the transition from school to employment, and to become more
engaged citizens.
These adjustments are coming at a critical time for
Africa, where many countries are experiencing a demographic dividend of
declining fertility rates and rising productivity.
In particular, these
changes mean more opportunity for young people as they prepare to enter the job
market.
But to succeed on the job, young people must have the skills and
education that a modern economy requires.
At The MasterCard Foundation,
where I manage education and learning programmes, we have put together a
blueprint — called Skills at Scale — to help African educators revitalise their
curricula to capitalise more effectively on the economic potential of
youth.
One of the continent's most successful efforts already
under way is the USAID-funded Akazi Kanoze Youth Livelihoods Project, designed
by the Education Development Centre (EDC) in Boston.
Akazi Kanoze
epitomises how a small initiative can catalyse wider education-sector
reform by emphasising links to local employers that provide access to
entry-level jobs, internships and apprenticeships.
The focus on personal
development, interpersonal communication and leadership training has ensured
that students are well equipped to enter the labour market upon
graduation.
Rwanda's Ministry of Education has already
moved to integrate elements of the programme in TVETs across the
country.
The government recently integrated Akazi Kanoze's approach in
the national curriculum to equip secondary and TVET students with the soft
skills they require to succeed.
National exams in the 2018-2019 academic
year will also reflect the new competency-based curriculum.
Since 2009,
Akazi Kanoze trainings have prepared more than 37,000 youth for work, with more
than 65 per cent of participants in the initial round of training employed six
months after graduation.
Based on the success of integrating soft skills
into the curriculum in Rwanda, The MasterCard Foundation and EDC will launch a
similar programme in Senegal later this year.
Case
studies from Skills at Scale highlight six components to a successful
skills-training initiative.
These include an enabling
policy environment, in which the government is supportive and sets clear
goals for education sector reform; vocal backing for these
changes from strong political champions; wide stakeholder engagement, especially
in the design and implementation phases of the reform; decentralisation of
authority for education; flexibility on the part of donors; and the ability to
measure the changes' impact on youth employment and entrepreneurship.
Change is not without challenge. Adapting models of skills training to vastly
different education systems across Africa will take time.
It will also
be difficult to ensure that intensive training models reach all young people,
including those no longer in school.
Experience in Rwanda shows that
curriculum redesign requires close cooperation with education and
workforce development authorities, as well as government officials,
teachers and school administrators. New curriculum content also requires
developing new teaching and learning materials.
Achieving scale also
requires a markedly different approach to training teachers than is currently on
offer in most African school systems.
Trainings must go beyond
traditional, one-off approaches, by providing ongoing teacher support. New
pedagogies also require continual supervision and practice, especially early
on.
The old "cascade" model of teacher training simply will not
work.
African governments, with support from the international
community, can help students' transition from school to work by
relying on a curriculum that elevates the importance of soft skills.
If
done well, these changes can ensure that young people are positioned to drive
Africa’s future prosperity.
Africans deserve a forward-looking education
system, not one that remains stuck in the past.
As students in South
Africa demonstrated last year, the continent's youth will settle for nothing
less.
- The writer is deputy director of education and learning at The MasterCard Foundation.
Quelle: The Jordan Times, jordantimes.com, 23.08.2017