CONTRIBUTORS
Nancy Gathoni Kiarie
Monitoring and Evaluation Officer
Artificial Intelligence (AI), machine learning and other technological advancements continue to permeate most sectors globally. While most African schools continue to struggle with basic infrastructural gaps, global technological advancements are accelerating at an unprecedented magnitude. A report by the World Economic Forum stated that 65% of children starting elementary school today will work in jobs that are not in existence currently—highlighting the undeniable role of technology in shaping the future.
What does this mean for the future of Africa? It means, the technological and economic divide between Africa and other parts of the world will continue to widen, making the vision of African-led solutions to address the continent’s developmental challenges increasingly difficult to achieve. It also means if Africa does not invest in technology and discovery research, the continent will remain unprepared for future pandemics. These investments will help in advancing detection and prediction mechanisms as well as improve the capacity to develop vaccines and other diagnostic tools. However, with 70% of the African population below 30 years, the continent can tap into the potential of its youthful population by investing and creating an enabling environment for them to innovate.
What must we do and do it urgently?
The proposed solutions are therefore three-fold: Investing in digital infrastructure, capacity building, and policy-level interventions to support data privacy and adoption of proposed intervention.
We must rethink the current education system. Education systems should consider programs to equip youth with skills such as digital innovations, coding, data analytics, critical thinking and problem-solving. These skills will enable them to catch up with the demands AI has on almost everything.We must have kids introduced to the digital space from an early age. Introduce digital innovations, coding, data analytics, and activities that involve creativity, problem-solving and critical thinking. Rethink the teacher training, and remodel how parents view the success of their children from subject grading to other abilities that align with the future their kids will live in. We must have governments invest in the required infrastructure such as computers, internet connectivity, electricity, and other digital learning tools. We must encourage private partnerships that will offer mentorships to children at an early age, modeling real-life experiences. It is this kind of exposure that will stimulate students to think about their role in the African future.
African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC) through its Knowledge Innovation Exchange- Strengthening and Enhancing Education Data Systems (KIX-SEEDS) project on scaling up sub-national education data value chains in sub-Saharan Africa seeks to understand and bridge the existing capacity gaps on data systems and data analytics within African education ecosystem. The project will leverage AI to demonstrate how the continent can address its developmental challenges with a focus on education. This project, implemented in Burkina Faso, Senegal and Uganda, seeks to implement education data systems that respond to local community needs. The enhanced data systems will have the capacity to analyze large data and provide summarized results consisting of various aspects of the school ranging from the school infrastructure to the child-level information. The Data systems will have the capacity to incorporate machine learning algorithms that highlight disparities in access and outcomes of learners across gender and socioeconomic spectrum to address Gender Equity and Social inclusion (GESI). Apart from the project lobbying for enhancement of the digital infrastructure, stakeholders in the education sector will be trained in various aspects such as data analysis, data management, visualization and data for decision-making.
The future waits for no one. As AI continues to revolutionize the world, African nations must act swiftly to prepare their youth for the opportunities and challenges ahead. By aligning education systems with technological trends, the continent can unlock its immense potential, ensuring that the next generation is not just ready for the future but capable of leading it. The time to act is now. For every child inspired to learn coding, for every teacher trained in AI concepts, and for every school equipped with digital tools, Africa takes a step closer to bridging the gap between education and the technology-driven future.
This work was supported by the Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange, a joint endeavor with the International Development Research Centre, Canada.
The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of IDRC or its Board of Governors.