5 Trends for Future of Education in Dar Es Salaam
At EdTechXAfrica’s Ecosystem Event in Dar Es Salaam, we set our audience a challenge to think about this scenario:
“It’s 2030, and Tanzania has made it to the top of the global rankings in education. The country now has the highest literacy & numeracy scores, the highest share of expert and motivated teacher, the highest university pass rate & lowest unemployment rate.
What is the first step that Tanzania’s government would need to take today to achieve this phenomenal jump in the country’s global education rankings?”
Across the 100 audience members, five key themes emerged. They included teacher support, a focus on educational content, increasing access and improving infrastructure, public policy and investment for startups, students, and research.
Supporting Teachers
“We must increase the motivation and value of being a teacher (in the eyes of teachers, students and community) so that more and more people want to become high-quality teachers”. Many of the suggestions posted suggested optimising teacher incentives and increased training opportunities to supporter educators and provide more upskilling opportunities.
Transforming Education Content
To prepare for the inevitable shift in the workplace, one key focus area that came through was to update local (and global) curriculums. Suggestions to “identify student’s strengths at an earlier age”, “taking out exam rankings and “update teacher methods” were all parts of the identification that “curriculums need to reflect current economies and what is happening on the ground”. Also, many mentioned how the opportunity in “personalised learning” would help focus on individual improvement.
Increase Access & Improve Infrastructure
Supporting a significant jump in education quality requires developments in other key sectors, specifically the country’s infrastructure. “We need to improve the infrastructure in rural areas to allow access to EdTech and other eLearning activities.” Also, we should promote “social welfare that creates an equal and fair opportunity for all ages to access high-quality education”.
Public Policy
The government would play a crucial role in smoothly integrating technology into everyday use. If we could “achieve clear policies in integrating ICT into education” and “allow transparency to merge with the corporate/private sector”, technology can be more seamlessly integrated into supporting educational growth.
Investment in Startups/Research/Students
To encourage innovation across the country, we should continue to invest in new EdTech ventures, “on-boarding research-based innovation” and “be open to different/new styles of learning”. In doing so, we can use “evidence-based ranking impact evaluation to find specific solutions to specific problems.” It is also vital to “invest in scholarships, with opportunities to send students abroad and leave about experimental engineering (for example) which can equip the future generation with a broader range of skills and thinking. This would, in turn, help the country move forward”.
We will be hosting EdTechXAFrica Ecosystem Events again in February 2020. To register interest and find out more visit edtechxafrica.com
