The Role of Education in the Knowledge Age, Trends and Transitions: The Case of Botswana

Abstract

Global changes have taken place in education in the 21 st century. Changes relating to how education is theorised, provided and assessed. In Africa, education provision faces challenges and opportunities. Traditional methods of teaching are still being practised. Adoption of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is still slow while in other sectors, like the Bank sector, it has contributed significantly to its growth. In future people will change jobs frequently and employment patterns will be different. This calls for acquisition of competencies fitting into the knowledge age. The paper argues that policy implementation in Africa is still a major challenge. The Delphi Real Time questionnaire, a futures thinking methodology, provides scenarios that describe the future education systems up to 2025. Which scenarios seem probable or preferable for the African continent? The paper further explores how the following signals and trends shape education and training in Botswana: transformed education, lifelong learning, youth bulge and new technology influencing educational transformation. Reflections and implications of the four signals and trends show proliferation of private tertiary institutions, entrepreneurial skills development and opportunities for self-employment among others. The government's role in the provision of education in the knowledge age is highlighted and contextualised.