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African TVET systems are ill-equipped to deliver new qualifications and competencies to support digitalization, despite appreciating the value of digitalization for economic growth and employment.
Identification: The results of a 2020 UNESCO-UNEVOC survey suggests that African TVET teachers/ trainers often have limited knowledge regarding what digital skills and knowledge are required owing to a lack of sufficient information on labour market Only 40% of African TVET stakeholders surveyed in 2020 said that their country regularly conducts national skills forecasts that pay explicit attention to the new skills required in a digital economy, and an even lower percentage (20%) said that their country’s national skills forecasts pay attention to the new skills required in a knowledge economy. (UNESCO-UNEVOC 2020)
A 2020 World Bank study likewise noted a lack of reliable metrics of digital skills as well as limited availability of any data on digital skills. For example, most large-scale household and labour force surveys conducted in Africa do not systematically collect information on digital skills. (World Bank 2020)
Integration: Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, national policies on digitalization in education in most low-income and lower-middle-income countries – the bulk of which are located in Africa - were still in the development stages and tended to target general education, with little or no attention paid to TVET. (COL 2015)
Implementation: A 2022 UNESCO-UNEVOC trends mapping study on digital skills development in TVET teacher training found that digital skills development opportunities for TVET teachers/trainers in Sub-Saharan Africa were very restricted, resulting in teachers’/trainers’ low digital capacities compared to TVET teaching staff in other world regions. (UNESCO-UNEVOC 2022)
Yet digitalization in education, including TVET, is a key policy priority in Africa. For example, the African Union’s Digital Transformation Strategy for Africa 2020-2030 recommends that digital skills training be incorporated in the pre-service and in-service training of all teachers to support their ability to effectively use ICTs in their teaching and training practices (African Union 2020)
More than 80 per cent of the African population has a mobile phone. This is driving the digital economy, which accounts for more than 5 per cent of GDP.
But Africa is still the least connected continent, with only 28.2 per cent internet coverage and 34 per cent mobile broadband penetration.
Only 47 percent of the continent's population is able to access the internet, compared to a global average of 63 percent.
The fourth industrial revolution and digitalization can help African farms and farmers, and other formal and informal firms, by reducing production costs, growing markets, and increasing productivity.
Key facts
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230 million
jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa will require digital skills by 2030.
(IFC 2019)
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6%
is the projected share of GDP that will be powered by the internet in Kenya, Morocco, Senegal and South Africa by 2050.
(Accenture 2022)
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2/3
of African TVET providers had never delivered training remotely prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, while 51% were unable to provide any form of online or offline training during the pandemic.
(ILO-UNESCO-World Bank 2020)
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94%
of public schools in Sub-Saharan Africa in 2018 lacked internet connectivity, while 86% lacked computers for pedagogical use.
(UNESCO-UNEVOC 2022)
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Capacity constraints and negative attitudes towards new technologies have been the main barriers to African TVET teachers'/ trainers' acquisition of skills needed to implement new qualifications and competencies for digitalization.
Challenge
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Capacity constraints and negative attitudes towards new technologies have been the main barriers to African TVET teachers'/ trainers' acquisition of skills needed to implement new qualifications and competencies for digitalization.
The main supply-side barriers that have impeded African TVET teachers’/trainers’ acquisition of skills needed to implement new qualifications and competencies for digitalization have included the systematic lack of resources, such as the lack of sufficient budget to sustain ICTs in schools; lack of ICT and other (e.g. electrical) infrastructure in schools; and lack of trained trainers with digital skills. (UNESCO-UNEVOC 2022)
A key demand-side barrier that has blocked use of digital tools by TVET teaching staff in Africa has been negative attitudes towards new technologies and resistance to change, especially in cases where digital technologies have been introduced without TVET teachers/trainers receiving training on how to use them effectively to convey course content (UNESCO-UNEVOC 2022)
To overcome teachers’/trainers’ negative attitudes towards the use of digital tools and resources in TVET, teachers/trainers should be given continuous training and support to build their digital skills and competencies as well as their confidence in applying digital technologies. (Dele-Ajayi et al 2021)
“Digital capability will not be an easy endeavour in a continent faced with many lingering challenges of underdevelopment, poverty and instability, just to mention a few.”
(African Union 2020)
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The focus on the digital transformation of TVET systems is about increasing the availability of online courses within a context of extreme digital divides and poverty, where TVET institutions do not have the resources (either funding or staff) to make such a leap, and where the evidence of effectiveness is uncertain
Challenge
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The focus on the digital transformation of TVET systems is about increasing the availability of online courses within a context of extreme digital divides and poverty, where TVET institutions do not have the resources (either funding or staff) to make such a leap, and where the evidence of effectiveness is uncertain
This article addresses what digitalization means in the sub-Saharan African context in terms of both the digitalization of TVET delivery and the need for digital skills in sub-Saharan Africa.
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Engaging the private sector in TVET teacher/trainer training can overcome supply-side barriers to African teachers'/ trainers' acquisition of digital competencies.
Opportunity
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Engaging the private sector in TVET teacher/trainer training can overcome supply-side barriers to African teachers'/ trainers' acquisition of digital competencies.
Public-private partnerships can help to overcome the financial, infrastructural and technical capacity constraints that block African TVET systems from building teachers’/trainers’ digital skills and capacities. A recent UNESCO-UNEVOC trends mapping study describes how private sector firms have worked with governments to provide off-grid solutions to give unconnected areas in Africa electrical and internet access. Some NGOs also offer offline training packages to build TVET teachers’/trainers’ digital and pedagogical skills. (UNESCO-UNEVOC 2022)
Some African countries built partnerships with the private sector as part of their pandemic response strategies, which can be further developed and expanded. For example, they have made agreements with telecommunications companies to provide free data access to educational sites, worked with radio and television providers to broadcast educational content, and/or taught teachers/trainers to use digital platforms such as WhatsApp, Zoom, Facebook and Moodle to conduct online training and share learning resources. (eLearning Africa 2020)
However, two caveats should be borne in mind to make the most of public-private partnerships. First, government oversight and regulation of TVET teacher education is needed to assure the quality of training received by teaching staff and to ensure that private sector involvement in TVET teacher training is not only driven by business objectives, but also serves the needs of TVET institutions, teachers/trainers and learners while advancing broader national goals. Second, governments should coordinate TVET teacher training efforts and ensure that TVET teachers’/ trainers’ digital skills are certified and widely recognized. (UNESCO-UNEVOC 2022)
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