• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Raising the next generation of African scientists

Underfunding: Experts urge government to see varsities as driving force of human development

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. These disciplines are the fundamental building blocks of STEM education that Western nations have depended on to fuel their development over the past three centuries. In fact, the STEM disciplines are what enabled once developing nations to rise past their dependence on natural resource exports and move up the value chain to export high priced goods and services.

Given this successful history, when it comes to the future of African nations, we need STEM education for our youth, not aid, to grow our economies.

Why STEM education matters

Education in STEM is practical in that it is a process of learning by doing. Students learn innovative methods to apply science, technology, engineering, and mathematics to real-world situations. Moreover, educating our youth in STEM subjects develops their ability to apply creativity, innovation, and critical thinking to create systems, services, and products that can be commercialised, create jobs, and build wealth. But teaching STEM in Africa will be an uphill battle.

Lack of STEM holding back African opportunity

It is fair to say that many African nations face significant challenges when it comes to educating their youth. Some of our poorer countries deal with chronic shortage of school equipment and supplies, inadequate access to electricity and Internet connection, not to mention a deficit of qualified teachers and school houses. As a result, many children struggle to read even after many years in school, and many more decide to stop attending classes altogether.

Under these conditions, it is no wonder that STEM education is lagging. Many regions are stuck trying to teach education fundamentals and do not have the resources to teach advanced subjects that will help our youth rise above their humble beginnings. Fortunately, these limitations will all begin to change for the better during the 2020s.

Winds of change for African STEM education

Regardless of our current difficulties, African nations show promise for the future. Thanks to the spread of reliable access to the Internet, renewable electricity, and cheap smartphones (and other computing devices), quality education will soon become decentralised and democratised.

Instead of children needing to travel miles to the nearest school, they can instead watch or listen to live or prerecorded videos on their smartphones of teachers presenting their daily lessons. If they don’t have paper or writing supplies, then they can also do their readings and homework on their smartphones. And with the help of educational AI systems, each child’s unique learning progress can then be tracked, graded, and supported centrally and wirelessly by a teacher or teaching team located miles away.

These innovations will enable African youth to catch up and master the fundamentals of basic education and prepare them to tackle the more challenging STEM disciplines. From here, we are beginning to see a trend in the increasing involvement and support of the private sector in education.

Many companies across Africa face severe shortages of skilled labour. But by individually or collectively funding the creation of local trade schools that teach STEM subjects, these companies can build an ongoing pipeline of skilled labor that will help their businesses grow sustainably into the decades ahead. Likewise, foreign companies and nations that do business within Africa (especially China) are increasingly being asked to provide their expertise in the form of offering apprenticeship and job shadowing programs, setting up advanced schools and universities, and offering scholarships to promising African students.

Regardless of the approach, this emerging investment into scalable, tech-enabled basic education, along with focused STEM training from private companies, is a win-win solution that will build a brighter future for all Africans.

Chagoury Jr is the Vice Chairman of Eko Atlantic City. Ronald covers topics relating to the present and future of Africa as he is a big believer in the untapped potential of the continent. You can learn more about Eko Atlantic at www.ekoatlantic.com.