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Service Issue 80

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Service magazine addresses key issues related to government leadership and service delivery in South Africa.

S education From STEM to

S education From STEM to STEAM The worker of tomorrow must be able to handle the uncertainties of a dynamic and evolving economy. Schools have doubled down on science, technology, engineering and mathematics teaching in response to the rising tide of digital jobs. In short, education must adapt. At first glance, the traditional emphasis on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education seems to be putting our students on the right track to the future of work. The US Bureau of Labour Statistics projects 8% growth for STEM and STEM-related occupations between now and 2029 – and these are lucrative jobs, fetching more than twice the median annual wages of non-STEM work. Yet, a World Economic Forum report found that 65% of students entering primary school at that time would end up working in completely new job types that do not exist yet. In the upheaval that we have witnessed since the pandemic began, a LinkedIn study reported by CNBC revealed that companies are now also looking for – and struggling to find – candidates with soft skills such as critical thinking, problem-solving, adaptability and communication. These are characteristic of what former IBM executive chairman Ginni Rometty coined as “new collar” jobs, which focus on skills and capabilities rather than degrees or traditional career paths. While STEM education continues to be a cornerstone for students today, traditional approaches that centre on individual learning and rote memorisation cannot produce the creativity and ingenuity that is needed in our future. So, how do we equip students with both the hard and soft skills needed in the economy of tomorrow? Increasingly, STEAM education is seen as the answer to this question. Bringing the arts into STEM education is the central thrust of the STEAM model. The aim is to inspire students to think outside of the traditional boxes of science, technology, engineering and mathematics, using the creative arts and design thinking to apply STEM concepts to the real world. In a STEAM classroom, students might use music or literature as a platform for programming, drawing lessons as a conduit to explore physical anatomy or urban-design concepts or embark on collaborative projects that span classrooms and disciplines. Take LEGO® Education and NASA’s 10-part series Build to Launch: A STEAM Exploration Series. The programme makes use of interactive storytelling, open-ended prompts and engaging LEGO® Minifigures to get students to engage critically with the STEMrelated challenges that real-world NASA teams deal with every day. The National Assembly of State Arts Agencies found that students in the US do better on standardised tests when they were more SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION “The National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI) publishes the South African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators Report annually as part of its monitoring of the national system. INNOVATION ACTIVITIES In 2020, South Africa had 25 patent applications per million population. This is lower than the average for other uppermiddle-income countries (641 in 2020). The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development’s Technology Readiness Index measures the level at which countries adopt frontier technologies. The index looks at five aspects: ICT deployment, skills, R&D activity, industry activity and access to finance. As South Africa, our main weakness is in skills. We are at 84th of 158 countries, industry (71st) and ICT (69th). Its area of strength is the availability of finance (13th). We also have the lowest technology readiness index of the BRICS countries. ECONOMIC EFFECTS Dr Blade Nzimande, Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology. South Africa’s digital competitiveness ranking improved from 51st in 2016 to 44th in 2019, before falling steeply to 60th in 2020. About 71% of firms in manufacturing and services use email for conducting business and only 36% of firms have websites. Inadequate digital skills is one of the causes. The country’s Total Entrepreneurship Activity (TEA) rose steadily from 7% in 2014 to 11% in 2017, and then declined slightly to 10.8% in 2019. The decline is an indication that the motivation for entrepreneurs to start new businesses is low. 20 | Service magazine

education S The country scored lowest among the BRICS countries regarding incentivising and expanding investment in research, innovation and inventions that could create the “markets of tomorrow”. South Africa experiences challenges in creating markets of tomorrow, owing not only to weaknesses in its research and technological systems, but also weak publicprivate partnerships. CONCLUSION Let me indicate that the National System of Innovation (NSI) has laid a solid foundation for the future. However, it remains fragmented across government and between business, academia and civil society. It continues to be significantly underfunded, and the participation of black people and women at senior level (eg professors) remains too low. South Africa’s innovation performance is falling behind other middle-income countries regarding outputs such as patents and high technology exports. South Africa performs better in innovation inputs than innovation outputs. Considering its level of innovation investment, the country produces few innovation outputs. In responding to these challenges, guided by the 2019 White Paper, as we will be furthering the role of the Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) in economic and social development, emphasising inclusivity, transformation and partnerships. We will implement the White Paper on the STI through the Decadal Plan which was approved for implementation by Cabinet in March 2021 to serve as a government-wide Masterplan. The Plan emphasises four societal grand challenges of climate change, future-proofing education and skills, re-industrialising our modern economy, as well as two STI priorities on health innovation and energy innovation.” Minister Blade Nzimande, launch of 2022 South African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators Report, 29 July 2022. active in the arts. But that’s not the be-all and end-all of STEAM education. Students benefit from experiential learning – collaborating better with others and persisting in problem-solving as they work through the creative process. STEAM education helps students draw links between naturally – but not obviously – interconnected disciplines, fostering lateral thinking and creative instincts, skills which we know are in high demand today. To deliver on their promise of technology-enhanced STEAM education, schools will need to invest in a robust technology foundation. Powerful workstations and edge devices are the building blocks of computationally heavy workloads, especially as student expectations towards, for example, animation or 3D-rendering outcomes become more sophisticated at the higher-education level. But there are lightweight options, including single-board computers, which are emerging as compact and powerful tools for students to run tests and build prototypes. STEAM education is first and foremost a philosophy: its approach to education prizes interdisciplinary ways of thinking. With that in mind, schools and educators should leverage the advanced technologies available to provide students with a full palette of tools. Only then will they be able to fully integrate the STEM curriculum with the arts, enrich students’ learning and prepare them for the jobs of the future. S Women account for 23% of STEM professionals in South Africa. Of those, only 17% are in leadership roles, and these numbers are significantly less for women of colour. Service magazine | 21

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