I propose that teacher certification, recruitment and promotion be reviewed to ensure that they are qualified to meet the learning demands at any point in their career. Teacher promotion should be tied to graded levels of continuous professional development (cpds), although could be subsidised, cpds should come at a charge of thorough commitment in cash or in other means of dedication to checkmate malpractices.  A minimum internet bandwidth should be made available in all communities to accelerate the use of edtech solutions and platforms. For example network mapping of all communities in a country could be made public with the government mandating internet providers to upgrade internet connectivity in very remote areas to a minimum of 3G for example and ensure that edtech solution providers design their products and platforms to function well with 3G internet connectivity. In addition, industrial training/practical year/teaching practice in universities should be more experiential for learners. Organisations and learning institutions could have a part of their tax deductions/evasions tied explicitly to their talent-to-market or gown-to-town achievements annually.

It is estimated that 98 million children and youths in Africa are still out of school, Nigeria for example; is still home to over 20 million out-of-school children, the highest in world. The statistics speaks for itself, education investments in Africa. Although, efforts seem to have focused on increasing enrolment rate, recent deliberations at the global level have shown a deficit in learning which ascertains that while enrolment rates might be on the rise, it does not automatically equate learning. The scenario as we have it is 21st-Century learners sitting in 20th Century classrooms and receiving lessons from teachers who were taught with 20th century teaching methodologies. Accordig to the United Nations’ Transforming Education Summit 2022 working document, ‘while the continent requires 15 million more teachers to achieve quality education by 2030; 1 in 3 teachers in Africa lack basic qualification. Changes brought for th by the pandemic further unnderscores the need for continuous professional development for teachers, to ensue that they are equipped to meet the dynamic learning demands of 21st century learners. In the face if insufficient infrastructure, low teacher:student ratio and low education investments, digital technology has offered some solutions in the form of interactive learning management systems, teacher training platforms, tutoring and test preparation platforms, etc among others. The possibilities of leveraging technology in education are endless and if leveraged properly in enabling environments could catalyse the education transformation we all desire in Africa.

My journey into STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields) was accidental. My parents wanted me to be a medical doctor but I felt that as much as I had interest in science my strength was not in science subjects as a secondary school student. During my days as an undergraduate, I was privileged to participate in a sustainable development goals (SDGs) conference where I learnt about SDGs 4 (quality education) and SDGs 5 (gender equality). I was worried about the statistics on gender inequality in various spheres including education, politics, corporate employment and leadership among others but also encouraged by the power of quality education in changing this narrative. SheSOLVES Africa was founded on this premise in 2018 to nurture the inner spark in girls and young women interested in pursuing STEM careers, empowering them to solve the current and anticipated problems  on the continent. Since 2018 we have been able to work with 1000+ girls across Southwest Nigeria through various initiatives including STEM-based movie screenings, intergenerational dialogues, and experiential community projects that employ the application of classroom knowledge of STEM. We take pride in one of our girl-led, double-award winning solution to plastic pollution (Trash Tile) at the University of Ibadan GeoHackathon in 2019, and the on-going support from the School of International Futures (SOIF), United Kingdom. In addition to my work at SheSOLVES, I work as a programmes associate with re:learn, the education practice at Co-creation Hub, Africa’s largest innovation hub. I collaborate with my team to design, implement and monitor education projects and programmes as an organisation or in partnership with governments, international agencies and private organisations.

The challenge is grossly a mismatched relationship between the gown and the town. 21st century learners are being taught by 20th century teachers with 20th century teaching methodologies, in 20th century classrooms and with outdated curricula. On the field, I have witnessed recruiters trying to fill roles for as long as 6 months, interviewing applicants but not finding the right fit. Beyond grades, education should prepare young people for the future of work, for competence and relevance because work as we have it today is more about ensuring that output deliver intended outcomes and in the long run intended impact. To address these, I propose among other brilliant ideas that at the undergraduate level, school projects should be tied to addressing a relevant social challenge that will require students to be matched with organisations working in a similar field. In lieu of this, corporate organisations should be made to commit a part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) to empower young people through internships or externships and collaborative research.

Although data to back this up is lacking, we have seen some form of political will across Africa when it comes to STEM education. In Nigeria for example, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has set up hubs across universities and communities to empower young people with skills required for STEM careers. We have also seen the rise of coding and robotics centres in various countries across Africa for learners as young as three to learn STEM. One area where political will might work more is governments including coding and robotics in the curriculum just like the government of Kenya did sometime ago, and beyond that, equipping both the schools and teachers for this development is equally important.

Awareness on the importance of STEM in preparing learners for the future of work can never be enough in Africa, today. All stakeholders including learners, parents, teachers, school leaders, policy makers, innovators and the government should be constantly reminded of the need to invest in STEM education. To make STEM more interesting and attractive to learners, the key is to make it experiential, participatory and real. STEM subjects and learning content should be more hands-on and designed in ways that help the learners both understand every day application of STEM principles and their use in solving bigger social and global challenges that we experience today. Consequently, this will require a STEM-focused upgrade of teacher quality, classrooms, libraries, laboratories, and even internet connectivity across the continent.

One area where I will like to see a possible change in is getting more young African scholars who have received education from universities in developed countries, investing their knowledge and wealth of experience to improve our education system. While one might be quick to mention the bureaucracies with effecting change in Africa as a young person, organisations and philanthropists could commit to creating systems that support this. I am particularly excited about the Aig Imoukhuede (AIG) Foundation Scholarship programme in Partnership with the Blavatnik School of Government, University of Oxford. The scholarship scheme is designed to identify a few Africans each year who have demonstrated a significant commitment to development in their given sectors in years of experience and with a background in the public sector, selected scholars are granted a one-year scholarship to learn about public policy and mandated to return to their home countries where required policies in their given sectors are pushed for the right way. While it is easy to chase the popular and highly competitive scholarship opportunities there are today, young Africans could explore less popular routes of seeking school-based funding opportunities or reaching out to professors working in their areas of interest to seek sector-specific funding opportunities which may not be too popular.

I came across an interesting AI tool earlier in the year (2023), the tool is being developed by Africans, with African teachers and for African teachers. This generative AI tool, Curry AI empowers teachers to curate and create pre-vetted lesson notes and test questions seamlessly by feeding larger data sets (in form of pictures, e-books, website links, etc, containing content that are relevant to specific topics in the curriculum) into the AI platform. Teachers whose content have been vetted to be of high standard could earn by selling their lesson notes to other teachers and schools interested in using their content or whose content were not approved as up to the minimum required standard. I hope to see AI being used in ways that promote qualitative and not just quantitative access to learning content.

The popularity of digital technology has made it easier for young Africans to acquire relevant STEM and non-STEM skills required for the world of work, access relevant job opportunities and even become creators of jobs. However, a number of youths on the continent are not aware of where the opportunities are on the internet, infact, while many use the internet and digital platforms, they are still digitally illiterate. Beyond being computer literate, digital literacy involves the ability to access, manage, understand, integrate, communicate, evaluate and create information safely and appropriately through digital technologies for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship. Examples exist of learning opportunities by various organisations across the continent including ALX, Utiva, Alt School Africa, Cybersafe Foundation and even the recently launched 3MTT (3 Million Technical Talent) training programme by the Federal Ministry of Communications, Information and Digital Economy, Nigeria, all of which have shown the immense power of technology to provide more jobs. Unfortunately, while a number of youths are harnessing these opportunities, there is a wave of braindrain in local markets across the continent which is caused by factors such as non-competitive salaries, poor labour laws, higher taxation and non-flexible working conditions (hybrid work opportunities). To address this, the labour laws and tax rates in African countries will need to be reviewed and co-created to ensure that the voices of employees and employers alike are considered and captured in ways that favour talent retention without unethically affecting employers.