Bright future for Africa after education innovation summit at Radisson Blu Gautrain
SANDTON – The best solutions for education in Africa was discussed at the education innovation summit in Sandton.
The education innovation summit took place on 31 May at the Radisson Blu Gautrain in Sandton to discuss the future of education in Africa.
The format of the summit was interactive, looking into e-learning and how it can be taken to rural areas. Leading academics, CIOs, regulators, NGOs and service providers shared their insight on what will work in the future and what has not worked in the past.
Technology was the main focus of the day and looked at the cutting edge solutions that have the ability to change Africa.
Sandton Chronicle spoke to Elias Chipimo, a member of the advisory board of Mwabu, which is an education technology company that supports teachers and schoolchildren with innovative solutions intended to impact the education system in Africa.
Born in Zambia, Chipimo studied law at Oxford University in England and is the founder and former senior partner of Zambia’s largest legal firm, Corpus Legal Practitioners before embarking on a career in politics. Chipimo said, “My passion was always education, in particular, education in Africa as it has the means to move our communities from a state of dependency to true empowerment. With the right education, people of Africa can make decisions for themselves rather than relying on politicians.”
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Chipimo has worked on interventions in Lesotho, Tanzania, Botswana and South Africa and when asked what the biggest challenges Africa faces in terms of improving education, Chipimo replied, “Having the right clarity of what our main objectives are, finding the most comprehensive and holistic approach to issues such as connectivity and maintenance, and costing and finding collaboration with specialists to help run the back end.
“A big challenge is also a lack of resources for the basic level of education in Africa. The challenge of managing the system and financial pressure is making the system crack under the weight of it all and that is where technology can help address these issues.”
When asked about the future of education in Africa, Chipimo replied, “We have great opportunities with partnerships in the private sector and working with government partnerships. Engaging with parents and teachers and embracing new ways could mean exciting times for our continent.”
