Education/ OPEN INNOVATION CHALLENGE
“The goal of education is not to increase the amount of knowledge but to create the possibilities for a child to invent and discover, to create men who are capable of doing new things.”
- Jean Piaget.
In the likelihood of rapid population growth, it is foreseen that Africa’s population will grow from 1,2 billion in 2017, to 1, 8billion in 2035. It will account for more than 20% than the worlds population, but Africa’s share of the world’s economy will only rise from a current 3% to 4%. This tells us that even if the continent grows at a steady rate of 4% per year till 2035; poverty will be an African problem, with 2/3rds of the worlds poor will live in Africa in 2035; (surviving on $1,90/R27 per day, will live in Sub Saharan A frica) from 46% of the worlds poor in 2017.
Appropriately, to date, government action in the education sector has been focused first on reducing inequality in education. In addition to inequality, the structure of the education system does not currently allow for creativity and innovation, which impacts the level of innovative entrepreneurship activity which is needed for economic growth. (Allangrayorbis.org, 2019). In addition, the average adult in Africa currently attends school for less than 6 years (2yrs below the global average).
In essence, the Southern African population should be empowered to think differently and independently, to limit the reliability that Africa currently has on external funding, and external job opportunities. The employment rate can grow with people being empowered to employ themselves, think critically, and communicate effectively.
The closing date for this challenge has been extended to midnight on the 2nd of February 2020.
HOW DO WE CONTRIBUTE TO A
SUSTAINABLE FUTURE FOR EDUCATION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA?
*A solution solving for more than one of these areas is applicable.