“Youth Are Non The Future; They Are The Present”
Friday, September 14, 2018
Africa,
education,
education challenges,
investment,
labour market,
learning quality and efficiency,
skills,
youth
Interview amongst Oley Dibba-Wadda, Executive Secretary of the Association for the Development of Education inwards Africa (ADEA)
Marilyn Achiron: What do you lot reckon to live on the greatest challenge facing African youth today?
Oley Dibba-Wadda: The challenge that youth are facing, outset in addition to foremost, is skills for employability. It is a commutation issue. What nosotros guide hold realised inwards teaching is that going to schoolhouse has non necessarily translated into character learning. The learning existence taught inwards schools does non resonate amongst the electrical flow undertaking market. Then in that location is the upshot of financing working capital missive of the alphabet investment for youth who desire to become exterior of the formal job system, to become into small-scale in addition to medium enterprises, to become into agriculture, to start their ain lilliputian businesses.
MA: Do you lot experience that these challenges are qualitatively dissimilar from the challenges facing youth inwards Europe or America correct now?
OD-W: I don’t mean value they’re qualitatively different. Youth inwards Europe guide hold improve opportunities; but the mindset, the needs, the wants, the thinking, the aspirations are the same. There are improve opportunities hither [in Europe] than on the African continent, in addition to for me, that’s what the departure is.
All youth are bespeak for is opportunities, opportunities, opportunities. They know what they want, they know where they desire to go, they know how to acquire there. What they’re challenged amongst is the financing to do what they desire to do, in addition to to guide hold youth champions: adults inwards influential positions who tin live on champions to advocate for [them]. Youth desire agency: they desire to live on able to do things the way they desire to. We maintain maxim “they are the future”. They’re non the future; they are the present. We demand to admit in addition to appreciate that.
MA: What would live on needed to improve the alignment betwixt what students are learning inwards schoolhouse in addition to what the labour marketplace demands?
OD-W: First of all, nosotros guide hold to appreciate that the African continent is really diverse. The teaching scheme inwards Francophone West Africa is completely dissimilar from the teaching scheme inwards Francophone Central Africa; the teaching scheme inwards Anglophone West Africa is dissimilar from that inwards Anglophone East Africa. We demand to contextualise each scheme of education. What type of teaching is required? What I was taught when I was going to schoolhouse was teaching for a white-collar job: going to school, asset a briefcase, having a suit in addition to tie. That’s what nosotros were trying to instil inwards our ain children, in addition to that’s what [today’s youth] is thinking. What nosotros demand is a epitome shift of mindset to acquire our kids to facial expression at existence self-employed, to start thinking exterior of the box, to start learning to do, learning to live on to a greater extent than innovative. But likewise to acquire to uncovering jobs that resonate amongst their interests.
I mentor a lot of youth inwards Africa, in addition to i matter that comes upwards is non only the upshot of difficult skills for job in addition to employability, but soft, emotional life-skills, such equally the powerfulness to utter inwards public, to limited themselves, to read in addition to write basics… to live on able to guide hold risks in addition to jump, to limited themselves, to experience motivated in addition to inspired. A+ students powerfulness non live on able to ready themselves for the basis of travel because they lack self-esteem, they do non guide hold the confidence to live on assertive, to inquire questions.
MA: Is that something that tin live on taught inwards school?
OD-W: It should be; it has non been done. Our teaching systems are preparing our youth for examinations; they are non preparing them for work.
MA: As the caput of a pan-African organisation, how do you lot promise to shape each private country’s approach towards education?
OD-W: Our purpose is to engage to a greater extent than amongst policy makers. We do non implement activities, per se; nosotros engage at a higher political level. We engage amongst the policy makers, ministers, heads of state, the permanent secretaries, administrators inside the ministries of education. ADEA likewise provides capacity-building back upwards to these ministries on best practices. So nosotros say, for example, to a dry reason similar Angola: “Rwanda is doing something fantastic. You may desire to become in that location in addition to explore what they’re doing in addition to run into how you lot tin conform that to your context” because the environments are different; you lot cannot cut-and-paste. We likewise explore what is happening inwards other parts of the world. Republic of Finland has a really proficient education system. We engage amongst the government minister inwards an African dry reason in addition to encourage the government minister to become in addition to do a written report tour inwards Finland.
MA: Do you lot experience that African countries tin acquire lessons from countries inwards other parts of the world, in addition to vice versa?
OD-W: They tin in addition to they could in addition to they should. But what they shouldn’t live on doing is transferring the same model from in that location in addition to expecting it to work. We guide hold a lot of donor agencies in addition to partners who come upwards inwards in addition to say “We’re interested inwards supporting early on childhood education; this is something nosotros guide hold done inwards South America in addition to nosotros desire to do it inwards a detail dry reason inwards Africa”. And nosotros only guide hold that model in addition to do it because in that location is coin attached to it. So what nosotros guide hold been doing inwards Africa is next the money, rather than using our ain pattern in addition to saying, “You guide hold this plan, but this is what nosotros experience would live on beneficial to us.”
We demand to encourage our countries non to follow the money, but to guide hold their ain pattern in addition to and hence become out in addition to invite [assistance from exterior countries]. What we’re trying to mean value of instantly at ADEA is how to acquire countries to guide hold responsibleness for teaching equally a global world good….ADEA is trying to engage amongst all stakeholders, both inside the African continent in addition to outside, to laid upwards an African teaching fund [the African Development Bank is supporting a feasibility written report for this fund]. There are hence many funds out in that location that are existence used for teaching inwards Africa in addition to it’s only non working. So if nosotros guide hold an African teaching fund that is managed for Africans, past times Africans, in addition to [countries] guide hold responsibleness for this, in addition to hence they tin invite other stakeholders to contribute coin hence nosotros tin create an teaching scheme for Africans that resonates amongst the electrical flow province of the undertaking market…If nosotros maintain to guide hold funding coming from the outside, of course: he who pays the piper determines the tune. That’s what nosotros are struggling amongst now.
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by Marilyn Achiron, Editor, Directorate for Education in addition to Skills
Oley Dibba-Wadda is the dynamic (and outset female) Executive Secretary of the Association for the Development of Education inwards Africa (ADEA). The organisation’s mission is to assistance inwards “the transformation of teaching in addition to preparation to drive Africa’s accelerated in addition to sustainable development”. We spoke amongst Dibba-Wadda inwards June when she participated inwards the OECD Forum inwards Paris.
Marilyn Achiron: What do you lot reckon to live on the greatest challenge facing African youth today?
Oley Dibba-Wadda: The challenge that youth are facing, outset in addition to foremost, is skills for employability. It is a commutation issue. What nosotros guide hold realised inwards teaching is that going to schoolhouse has non necessarily translated into character learning. The learning existence taught inwards schools does non resonate amongst the electrical flow undertaking market. Then in that location is the upshot of financing working capital missive of the alphabet investment for youth who desire to become exterior of the formal job system, to become into small-scale in addition to medium enterprises, to become into agriculture, to start their ain lilliputian businesses.
MA: Do you lot experience that these challenges are qualitatively dissimilar from the challenges facing youth inwards Europe or America correct now?
OD-W: I don’t mean value they’re qualitatively different. Youth inwards Europe guide hold improve opportunities; but the mindset, the needs, the wants, the thinking, the aspirations are the same. There are improve opportunities hither [in Europe] than on the African continent, in addition to for me, that’s what the departure is.
All youth are bespeak for is opportunities, opportunities, opportunities. They know what they want, they know where they desire to go, they know how to acquire there. What they’re challenged amongst is the financing to do what they desire to do, in addition to to guide hold youth champions: adults inwards influential positions who tin live on champions to advocate for [them]. Youth desire agency: they desire to live on able to do things the way they desire to. We maintain maxim “they are the future”. They’re non the future; they are the present. We demand to admit in addition to appreciate that.
MA: What would live on needed to improve the alignment betwixt what students are learning inwards schoolhouse in addition to what the labour marketplace demands?
OD-W: First of all, nosotros guide hold to appreciate that the African continent is really diverse. The teaching scheme inwards Francophone West Africa is completely dissimilar from the teaching scheme inwards Francophone Central Africa; the teaching scheme inwards Anglophone West Africa is dissimilar from that inwards Anglophone East Africa. We demand to contextualise each scheme of education. What type of teaching is required? What I was taught when I was going to schoolhouse was teaching for a white-collar job: going to school, asset a briefcase, having a suit in addition to tie. That’s what nosotros were trying to instil inwards our ain children, in addition to that’s what [today’s youth] is thinking. What nosotros demand is a epitome shift of mindset to acquire our kids to facial expression at existence self-employed, to start thinking exterior of the box, to start learning to do, learning to live on to a greater extent than innovative. But likewise to acquire to uncovering jobs that resonate amongst their interests.
I mentor a lot of youth inwards Africa, in addition to i matter that comes upwards is non only the upshot of difficult skills for job in addition to employability, but soft, emotional life-skills, such equally the powerfulness to utter inwards public, to limited themselves, to read in addition to write basics… to live on able to guide hold risks in addition to jump, to limited themselves, to experience motivated in addition to inspired. A+ students powerfulness non live on able to ready themselves for the basis of travel because they lack self-esteem, they do non guide hold the confidence to live on assertive, to inquire questions.
MA: Is that something that tin live on taught inwards school?
OD-W: It should be; it has non been done. Our teaching systems are preparing our youth for examinations; they are non preparing them for work.
MA: As the caput of a pan-African organisation, how do you lot promise to shape each private country’s approach towards education?
OD-W: Our purpose is to engage to a greater extent than amongst policy makers. We do non implement activities, per se; nosotros engage at a higher political level. We engage amongst the policy makers, ministers, heads of state, the permanent secretaries, administrators inside the ministries of education. ADEA likewise provides capacity-building back upwards to these ministries on best practices. So nosotros say, for example, to a dry reason similar Angola: “Rwanda is doing something fantastic. You may desire to become in that location in addition to explore what they’re doing in addition to run into how you lot tin conform that to your context” because the environments are different; you lot cannot cut-and-paste. We likewise explore what is happening inwards other parts of the world. Republic of Finland has a really proficient education system. We engage amongst the government minister inwards an African dry reason in addition to encourage the government minister to become in addition to do a written report tour inwards Finland.
MA: Do you lot experience that African countries tin acquire lessons from countries inwards other parts of the world, in addition to vice versa?
OD-W: They tin in addition to they could in addition to they should. But what they shouldn’t live on doing is transferring the same model from in that location in addition to expecting it to work. We guide hold a lot of donor agencies in addition to partners who come upwards inwards in addition to say “We’re interested inwards supporting early on childhood education; this is something nosotros guide hold done inwards South America in addition to nosotros desire to do it inwards a detail dry reason inwards Africa”. And nosotros only guide hold that model in addition to do it because in that location is coin attached to it. So what nosotros guide hold been doing inwards Africa is next the money, rather than using our ain pattern in addition to saying, “You guide hold this plan, but this is what nosotros experience would live on beneficial to us.”
We demand to encourage our countries non to follow the money, but to guide hold their ain pattern in addition to and hence become out in addition to invite [assistance from exterior countries]. What we’re trying to mean value of instantly at ADEA is how to acquire countries to guide hold responsibleness for teaching equally a global world good….ADEA is trying to engage amongst all stakeholders, both inside the African continent in addition to outside, to laid upwards an African teaching fund [the African Development Bank is supporting a feasibility written report for this fund]. There are hence many funds out in that location that are existence used for teaching inwards Africa in addition to it’s only non working. So if nosotros guide hold an African teaching fund that is managed for Africans, past times Africans, in addition to [countries] guide hold responsibleness for this, in addition to hence they tin invite other stakeholders to contribute coin hence nosotros tin create an teaching scheme for Africans that resonates amongst the electrical flow province of the undertaking market…If nosotros maintain to guide hold funding coming from the outside, of course: he who pays the piper determines the tune. That’s what nosotros are struggling amongst now.
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Photo credit: @shutterstock
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