TECH: BRIDGING THE SKILLS GAP

the skills and qualifications they need to progress academically or professionally. The right to education remains enshrined in theory, but there is a gap that needs to be bridged in practice.

That bridge is made of many things, but among the most important ones are technology and privatesector involvement.

Education is not what it used to be – quite literally. The idea of students sitting at desks, pens in hand, listening to a teacher expounding

Across disciplines, an increasing reliance on digital innovation is transforming the way we do things – including the way we are taught. Although they existed before the Covid-19 pandemic, hybrid and online learning courses sprouted like mushrooms during the height of the lockdowns and have thrived since. The benefits were immediately apparent to adults seeking to improve their levels of education, as well as corporates endeavouring to upskill their employees.

Digital courses have helped to level the playing field in terms of access and with more of them available than ever before, students and employers have been able to select the ones that suit them best. While infrastructural challenges persist, particularly in terms of the exorbitant cost of data, even these have been overcome to some extent. Providers such as Optimi Workplace, for example, have made their modules available offline so that students do not deplete their bank accounts while they learn.

Technology has helped to ensure that the right to adult education is realised in an approach that has been welcomed by the private sector.

A matric is still a minimum barrier to entry for almost any South African seeking to enter the workforce and, ideally, further qualifications are required. With so many adults lacking these qualifications and the critical skills they represent, some of the responsibility – and, indeed, the opportunity – for bridging that gap falls on the private sector.

Employers have recognised that workplace training and community education help to right past injustices and support those who failed to qualify the first time. They also offer several material advantages.

Incorporating training and development into your CSI programme offers points in terms of the BBBEE scorecard, for example, as well as tax incentives. More importantly, it helps to nurture a skilled, motivated and loyal workforce. Invest in your employees and they are likely to invest in you.

Learnerships help employees enhance their skills and knowledge and improve their prospects. More broadly, they play a role in decreasing unemployment, alleviating poverty and creating a better standard of living for more South Africans. They help to truly bring the human right to education to life, which – in turn – impacts many other important human rights.

Although there are many ways in which adult education and training play out in the workplace, one of the most valuable executions lies in technology. By providing employees with the digital tools, skills and support necessary to study remotely, companies make their students’ learning process flexible, independent and more likely to succeed.

This is not to suggest that it is the only way: in-person and hybrid models are also effective. However, the point at which technology and corporate intervention intersect allows for meaningful education and training that can transform the futures of adult South Africans seeking, and deserving, a second chance.

• Optimi Workplace is a division of the Optimi Group. With over two decades of experience in adult education and training in the workplace and over 10 000 students tutored, it is leading the frontier in workforce and community education and training.

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