Education and training organisation ORT SA will aspire to continue bridging the digital and knowledge divide in the new year.
ORT SA CEO Ariellah Rosenberg said, “We don’t focus on going back to ‘normal’, as it was, as it didn’t fit our purpose of the job place and the digital revolution, but we will focus on reimagining and reshaping the future.
“We do that through relevant and cutting-edge training and mentoring of schools’ leadership, teachers and learners, post-school youth and business owners and professionals.”
She added that the education sector had been getting a lot of criticism for not fulfilling its purpose. The CEO noted that some people thought that schools and universities were not preparing our children for the world of work and had accused them for ‘being out of touch with industry and skills demand’.
“For education to fulfil its mission, ORT SA will be looking ahead at trends and respond to the skills and talent required, keep renovating our programmes and incorporate a green economy, gaming, as well as soft skills and mental coping tools. All along ensuring, we bridge gender inequality and the digital divide,” Rosenberg said.
She added that the global lockdown had raised awareness about a green economy, and as the public, governments and investors woke up to climate change, the clean energy industry was gaining momentum.
As an overview of new energy systems emerge, ORT SA would examine the implications of education and skills development, taking into consideration, professions related to renewable energy, such as solar and wind power.
According to the organisation, various research showed that women were disproportionally affected by the Covid-19 crisis. They were more likely than men to lose their jobs, as well as taking a share of the additional child care as a result of schools closing due to lockdown.
“At ORT SA, we will continue to run coding and other IT programmes promoting female participation and raising awareness to IT professions that it is not only a profession for males.
“Global shutdown and people staying at home increased the gaming industry. Some say that the games industry is now bigger than the movie industry worldwide.”
She added that research showed that for youth to get into this profession, intervention and education must be introduced at an early age.
ORT SA believed upskilling youth at school level would ensure that they would have a high likelihood of being employable. Online gaming was not for entertainment solely and could be used for educational purposes, gamification in the workplace and social change.
“Covid-19 has been a trigger to transformation in different sectors and industries. The education and skills development sector need to have a discussion on how we adapt and transform the offering so not to become redundant.”
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