During Session 4, Dr Thabo Mabogoane, Outcomes Facilitator for Basic Education and Post-school Education at the Department of Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME), delivered a presentation on Building Stronger Education Systems to Achieve Sustainable Transformation and Meet Key Priorities. He reminded delegates about the big picture of the Medium-Term Development Plan (MTDP) highlighting that unemployment, poverty, and inequality have worsened due to structural failures, poor policy coordination, and declining trust in state institutions, creating a Triple Challenge Crisis. A lack of rapid digital transformation has also kept the economy uncompetitive and public services slow. The biggest challenge therefore remains post-school education and preparing the South African youth for the modern world to participate in the economy. In addition, robust teacher placement and advanced data analytics are essential to optimize resources and improve learning equality.
On Digital and Competency Learning, Ms Anusha Ramakrishnan from Live Mapping, UNICEF, explained that Giga is connecting schools globally to the Internet, enabling universal connectivity through live mapping. In SA, a partnership has been established with the DBE, ICASA and the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies (DCDT) to establish a steering committee for coordinated planning and sustainable solutions, mapping schools for connectivity. The Giga Metre App is installed at schools, with a dashboard for real-time mapping and monitoring. Dr Esethu Sofile, Chief Education Specialist for E-Learning, shared the MyGiga experience, which was piloted in the Eastern Cape Province.
Prof Jordan Naidoo, visiting scholar and Associate Professor: UNESCO Teacher Education Centre, Shanghai Normal University, shared Global Trends in STEM Education: Lessons for South Africa from other African Countries and Asia: Experience, Gaps and Opportunities for System Resilience. “STEM is important in the economy of any country due to the Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity (VUCA) of global changes in technology and it is essential to build resilience through STEM to cultivate future-ready skills. South Africa requires STEM pathways, commencing at foundational learning and numeracy to combat the challenges in Science and Mathematics in schools”.
A panel discussion on the Importance of aligning STEM reforms with foundational learning and system coherence followed, facilitated by Mr Seliki Tlhabane, Chief Director: MST and Curriculum Enhancement Programmes. On building a coherent STEM pipeline across the phases (Grades R to 12) and strengthening teacher training for mathematics, science, technology and AI subjects, best practice was shared by Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana to improve outcomes in these subjects. The discussions also highlighted the importance of alignment between Basic Education and Higher Education to access a solid foundation through early learning and access opportunities post Higher Education, whilst ensuring that no child is left behind, and providing training and sustained support for teachers to be confident to teach STEM subjects.
A second panel discussion on Entrepreneurial Education – Activating the skills and competences required for an unknown future was moderated by Dr Taddy Blecher, DBE-E³ founder and chairperson, for Employability, Entrepreneurship and Education. Ms Nonhlanhla Magagula, Head of ABSA’s Corporate Citizenship Programme, said that ABSA is one of the main investors in entrepreneurship education to drive the economic empowerment of young South Africans to curb unemployment using an entrepreneurial mindset, agency, resourcefulness, and creativity to become problem-solvers, navigating the pace of change in a modern world, particularly in under-resourced environments and contexts. Project-based learner-cantered learning and teaching approaches enable learners to become engaged in non-traditional settings, bringing classrooms to life by solving real problems. Prof Anastacia Mamabolo, Entrepreneurship and Research Design, University of Pretoria, added that an entrepreneurial mindset and creative problem-solving is a lifelong journey, changing the way one approaches the world.