My first Magazine EDUCARE MAGAZINE SPECIAL NOVEMBER EDITION 2019 | Page 12

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MILLIONS ARE STILL OUT OF SCHOOL.
THIS IS THE WORLD’S
PLAN TO CHANGE THAT
In today’s deeply interconnected world, the benefits of strong
and inclusive education systems extend even further.
I
n today’s deeply interconnected
world, the benefits of strong and
inclusive education systems are
far-reaching. A quality education
gives people the knowledge they
need to recognize the importance of
safeguarding the planet’s finite
resources, appreciate diversity and
resist intolerance, and act as informed
global citizens.
Throughout my life, I have seen the
power of education. I have witnessed
how quality education for all can
support the creation of dynamic
economies and help to sustain peace,
prosperity, and stability. I have also
observed how education instills in
i n d i v i d u a l s, n o m a t t e r t h e i r
circumstances, a strong sense of self, as
well as confidence in their place in the
world and their future prospects.
But I have also seen what happens
when young people and their
communities are robbed of education –
Educare November 2019
and of the optimism it engenders. In my
country, Nigeria, the militant Islamist
group Boko Haram purposely removes
young people, especially young girls,
from education to engineer a lost
generation. The consequences are
manifold: loss of dignity, exclusion,
declining health, poverty and stagnating
economic growth, and the denial of
rights.
We know that each additional year of
schooling raises average annual GDP
growth by 0.37%, while increasing an
individual’s earnings by up to 10%. If
every girl worldwide received 12 years
of quality education, lifetime earnings
for women could double, reaching $30
trillion. And if all girls and boys
completed secondary education, an
estimated 420 million people could be
lifted out of poverty. According to a
2018 World Bank report, universal
secondary education could even
eliminate child marriage.
In today’s deeply interconnected
world, the benefits of strong and
inclusive education systems extend
even further. Education gives people
the knowledge they need to recognize
the importance of safeguarding the
planet’s finite resources, appreciate
diversity and resist intolerance, and act
as informed global citizens.
The United Nations Millennium
Development Goals, created in 2000 to
guide global development over the
subsequent 15 years, gave new impetus
to efforts to ensure education for all.
From 2000 to 2015, primary-school
enrolment in the developing world rose
from 83% to 91%, reducing the number
of out-of-school primary-school-age
children from 100 million to 57 million.
Moreover, from 1990 to 2015, the
global literacy rate among people aged
15 to 24 increased from 83% to 91%,
with the gap between men and women
of the entire world's youths by the same date
(UNICEF Report - Generation 2030|Africa
https://www.unicef.org/publications/files/UNI
CEF_Africa_Generation_2030_en_11Aug.p
df). To provide employment and
opportunities for these youths is an
imperative that cannot be ignored. The
answer lies in providing good quality
education fit for modern times.
However, while it is very clear that
education, in general, is critical to
development, it is worth noting that the
type and quality of education are equally
important. In this piece, I will attempt to
articulate the case for engineering
education and argue that a good
engineering education is a primary driver
for development. Just to be clear,
engineering/technical skills cover a broad
spectrum from crafts, technicians,
technologist to degree level engineers. The
term engineer is reserved for practitioners
with degree level qualifications. In the
ensuing discourse, I will focus on degree
qualified engineers.
Many have lamented the lack of
productivity and engineering capacity in
Africa. According to UNESCO's Director-
General Irina Bokova,"In Namibia,
Zimbabwe and Tanzania, there is one
qualified engineer for a population of 6,000
people - compared to one engineer per 200
people in China and an estimated 2.5
million new engineers and technicians are
required in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve
the Millennium Development Goals of
improved access to clean water and
sanitation." Source: UNESCO - Africa
engineering week
Under the current models of engineering
education in most African countries and
indeed in many countries around the world,
graduate engineers are equipped with the
knowledge but only limited skills for them
to adequately perform their jobs as
professional engineers. Therefore, much
like doctors, graduate engineers must
undergo a period of training before they
can be entrusted to lead and take
responsibility for the work they are
employed to do. Training is generally
defined as providing trainees with the
knowledge, skills and attitudes for them to
perform their work competently. The
current model of engineering education
worked for a while but it is now proving to
be inadequate especially post-privatization
of public companies, that were to some
extent compelled to provide positions for
engineers. All too often private engineering
firms are reluctant to higher fresh
g raduates prefer ring experienced
engineers. With the scarcity of
employment oppor tunities, many
graduates are left without a job and hence
no opportunity for structured training.
This is wasteful not only because it is very
costly to educate engineers, these highly
educated engineers often leave the
profession altogether. There are no
accurate statistics to quantify the problem
but anecdotal evidence suggests this is a
serious problem that must be addressed.
Because most engineering curricula do
not include modules on entrepreneurship
and employability skills development, the
graduates that fail to find work stand have a
slim chance of transitioning to
professional status. This matter has not
escaped the attention of major
stakeholders including national
Governments, the African Union as well as
international development cooperating
partners. For example, the African Union,
under Agenda 63's call to action, has placed
emphasis on science and engineering
education by stating:
"We hereby adopt Agenda 2063, as a
collective vision and roadmap for the next
fifty years and therefore commit to speed-
up actions to catalyze education and skills
revolution and actively promote science,
technology, research and innovation, to
build knowledg e, human capital,
41
capabilities and skills to drive innovations
and for the African century:
"
S t r e n g t h e n t e ch n i c a l a n d
vocational education and training through
scaled-up investments, establishment of a
pool of high-quality TVET centres across
Africa, foster greater links with industry
and alignment to labour markets, with a
view to improve the skills profile,
employability and entrepreneurship of
especially youth and women, and closing
the skills gap across the continent;
"
Build and expand an African
knowledge society through transformation
and investments in universities, science,
technology, research and innovation; and
through the harmonization of education
standards and mutual recognition of
academic and professional qualifications;
"
Establish an African
Accreditation Agency to develop and
monitor educational quality standards, with
a view to expanding student and academic
mobility across the continent"Source:
Agenda 63 - The Africa we want -
http://www.un.org/en/africa/osaa/pdf/au/age
nda2063.pdf
To accomplish the above laudable actions
will require systems that will foster close
collaboration between engineering faculties
and industry. The Education Partnerships
in Africa (EPA) Project in Zambia provides
a model of how this could be achieved. The
EPA project was initially funded by the
British Government's Department for
Business, Innovation and Skills and aimed
to develop employability, entrepreneurship
and skills for local economies. Central to
EPA was the engagement of potential
employers, business, social enterprise, and
other organisations. This programme has
been very successful and received support
from local and international companies
operating in Zambia such as Copperbelt
Energy Corporation (CEC), ZESCO,
Lunsemfwa Hydro, MTN, Huawei, Lafarge
and ABB to name but a few. All these
companies have coalesced around the idea
and taken an interest in the quality of
graduates produced by the University of
Zambia and the Copperbelt University.
Many of these companies are represented
on the faculty advisory boards playing a
crucial role in guiding the university
programmes to ensure they are relevant to
the industry. Projects worth over US$3.5
million have been funded including
constr uction of a demonstration
Educare November 2019