As Uganda hosts the Innovation Africa Summit, Anthony Salcito, global vice president of Education at Microsoft has described education as a top priority for the continent of Africa. It’s based on this that he will be reaffirming Microsoft’s education investments on the continent at the summit in Uganda.
Innovation Africa is the continent’s leading summit for education and innovation and brings together all education players, from schools and civil society to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and education ministers.
Microsoft’s YouthSpark initiative is making available cash donations and other resources to non-profits, including Silatech in the Middle East and Africa, to prepare youth with computational-thinking and problem-solving skills.“More and better education, combined with early access to the tools and skills used in the workplace, are proven to help create healthier communities, economies and workers who are ready to enter the workforce,” said Salcito.
“At Microsoft we are committed to empowering this next generation of workers by building skills, providing access to technology, and giving young people tools to support their learning.”
An example of a school adopting an inclusive approach to eLearning is the Gayaza High School in Uganda.
The teachers are attending further training on ICT in education and are actively embracing technology, with 90% using laptops.
Homework is done on a cloud network and all classroom content is uploaded and accessible. At the recent Microsoft in Education Global Forum in March 2014, Gayaza was named one of the best academic institutions in the world for integrating ICT in the classroom.
“Microsoft has helped us find ways of using technology to improve our teaching. As teachers, computers have helped us improve our own knowledge on the subjects we teach.
The benefits of this are passed on to our students and their marks have increased substantially,” says Milton Chebet, a Microsoft Innovative Expert Educator and a teacher at Gayaza High School.
Considering Africa’s labour force will be larger than China’s by 2035, skill development that starts early in schools is becoming a priority. This is why Innovation Africa’s theme for 2015 is “Skills Development in the 21st Century”. Educators and their partners will look at ways to incorporate digital and soft skills into the classroom so students are prepared for the future workforce.
