The skyline of Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city, with the largest economy of all metropolitan areas in sub-Saharan Africa. The city is one of the 40 largest metropolitan areas in the world and is also the largest city in the world not located on a river, lake or coastline. (Photo by Brooks Kraft LLC / Sygma via Getty Images)

When it comes to education and skills development for the future, Africa scores poorly, say Solly Moeng and Rinku Vij.

While it remains clear that education systems must be context-specific, a consensus is emerging – as the world gradually moves towards a post-Covid-19 era – on the key areas where actions must be taken to have an ecosystem relevant and responsive education that can meet the needs of a rapidly changing labor market, in Africa or elsewhere in the world.

These include a focus on early childhood education, future-ready study programs, digital literacy, strong and respected technical and vocational education, early exposure to the workplace, continuous professional guidance, a professionalized teaching workforce, as well as openness to innovation in education and lifelong learning (FEM, Realizing Human Potential in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, a program for leaders to shape the future of education, gender and work, 2017).