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7 results for “social capital”

• Preparing Nigerian Youth for the Future of Work: Rethinking Secondary Education, Digital Skills and Employability in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

  Opeyemi Emmanuel Anafi

  Nigeria must prepare one of the world’s fastest-growing youth populations for a future of work that is uncertain, uneven and contested. This article presents a critical policy analysis of the dominant policy response: incorporating digital skills and AI literacy into secondary schooling as the route to youth employability. Drawing on Nigerian and African scholarship alongside international and institutional evidence, including reports from UNESCO, the ILO, the World Bank and Nigerian government data, it examines three assumptions underlying this agenda: that schools can build digital competencies before students secure foundational literacy and numeracy, that a skills deficit rather than a structural scarcity of decent work is the primary constraint on youth employment, and that policymakers can transplant AI literacy frameworks from the global North into Nigeria without attention to infrastructure, the informal economy or epistemic dependency. The article presents no new empirical findings; it synthesises existing evidence to advance three propositions, one responding to each assumption. It argues that a future-ready secondary education should be anchored in foundational learning, responsive to labour-market demand and grounded in local conditions: consolidating basic learning while introducing digital learning progressively alongside it, teaching AI critically as a civic and productive capability, connecting schools to the informal economy and indigenous apprenticeship traditions, and treating teacher development and implementation capacity, rather than curriculum content alone, as central constraints on reform. For policy and practice, this implies sequencing curriculum reform alongside foundational learning and teacher capacity building, and pairing supply-side education reform with demand-side economic policy.

  AI literacydigital skillssecondary educationyouth employabilityNigeria

• Audiobook Assistive Technology Competence on Audio-Listening Skills Acquisition among Trainees with Visual Impairment: A Case Study of TVET Institutes, Kenya

  Ronald Ong'ete, Dr. Everline Maina, Dr. Michael Odeny, Jenipher Atieno

  Audiobook assistive technology can enhance access to learning materials and support audio-listening skills among trainees with visual impairment. However, evidence on trainees competence in using audiobooks within technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions in Kenya remains limited. This study examined audiobook assistive technology competence and acquisition of audio-listening skills among trainees with visual impairment in TVET institutions in Homa Bay and Machakos Counties, Kenya. Specifically, it assessed trainees competence in using audiobooks and its contribution to audio-listening skills acquisition. A descriptive survey design was adopted with target population comprised 220 trainees with visual impairment and 20 trainers; 198 trainees and 18 trainers participated. Data were collected using questionnaires, audio tests. Reliability was established through test–retest procedures. Quantitative data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages and means. Findings showed perceptions of audiobooks for communication skills among trainers (M = 4.23, SD = 0.69) and trainees (M = 4.31, SD = 0.64), although trainees audio-listening performance was moderate. Audiobooks supported listening comprehension, access and independent study. However, limited locally relevant audiobook content and inadequate trainer competence constrained utilization. The study concludes that competence in using audiobook assistive technology supports acquisition of audio-listening skills, although positive perceptions do not necessarily translate into high performance. The study recommends developing relevant audiobook content, building trainer and trainee competence and systematically integrating audiobooks into TVET instruction to strengthen inclusive skills development among trainees with visual impairment in Kenya.

  AudiobookAssistive TechnologyAudio-ListeningVisual ImpairmentTVET

• Community-Supported Digital Inclusion in Rural Secondary Schools: Evidence from Nkangala District, Mpumalanga Province, South Africa

  Ivan Magadza, Chipo Chakauya

  Digital inclusion remains a challenge in rural South African secondary schools, where inadequate infrastructure, limited connectivity, financial constraints and uneven teacher digital capabilities restrict meaningful technology integration. This study explored stakeholders’ perceptions of the contribution of community-supported digital inclusion initiatives to digital integration and perceived learner engagement in five rural secondary schools in Nkangala District, Mpumalanga Province. Guided by an interpretivist paradigm and Social Capital Theory and Human Capital Theory, the study employed a qualitative exploratory design. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 10 school administrators and five community leaders, five focus group discussions involving 25 teachers, and document analysis. Thematic analysis using a hybrid inductive-deductive approach generated five themes: 4IR relevance and readiness; institutional barriers and sustainability; community partnerships and strategic planning; pedagogical adaptation; and community-supported capacity-building and teacher agency. Findings indicate that stakeholders perceived community initiatives as facilitating access to devices, connectivity, training, technical support and partnerships. Teachers also reported adapting their practices through peer learning, experimentation and contextually appropriate technologies. However, sustainability was constrained by infrastructure deficiencies, limited maintenance resources, bureaucratic delays, inadequate institutional planning and dependence on external partners. The study conceptualises rural digital inclusion as an adaptive, relational and institutionally mediated process shaped by community networks, teacher capabilities and institutional conditions. Sustainable inclusion requires continuous teacher development, participatory school-level digital planning, strategic partnerships, reliable infrastructure and stronger institutional support. Community initiatives should complement, rather than replace, the state’s responsibility to address structural digital inequalities.

  Digital inclusionRural secondary schoolsCommunity Partnershipssocial capitalhuman capital

• Education, Skills and Innovation in Africa: Evidence, Power and the Politics of Knowledge

  Kelechi Ekuma

  This inaugural editorial introduces the African Journal of Education, Skills and Innovation (AJESI), a diamond open access, double-blind peer-reviewed journal published by the African Skills and Innovation Network. AJESI is conceived not as a conventional scholarly outlet but as an intellectual project: a platform for rethinking the role of education, skills and innovation in Africa and across the Global South. The editorial makes three connected arguments. First, that the dominant policy framing of Africa's education and skills challenge, organized around measurable shortfalls against external benchmarks, is analytically weak because it treats as technical what is substantially political, and obscures the colonial inheritance and neoliberal restructuring that shaped the systems now under scrutiny. Second, that the empirical picture nonetheless matters, and that four interlocking deficits define the field the journal seeks to serve: a foundational learning deficit, a transition deficit, an innovation and knowledge-application deficit, and a deficit in the production of knowledge about Africa by scholars based in Africa. Third, that these deficits cannot be addressed within the disciplinary and epistemic boundaries that currently divide the field. Drawing on evidence from the African Union, the African Development Bank, the International Labour Organization, UNESCO, UNCTAD, the World Bank, UNDP and the International Telecommunication Union, alongside peer-reviewed scholarship in higher education studies, vocational education research, innovation studies and scientometrics, the editorial sets out five founding commitments and the journal's editorial standards. It concludes by inviting scholars, policymakers, educators, industry leaders, development partners and practitioners to contribute.

  African education policyskills developmentTVET in Africahigher education reforminnovation systems

• Adaptive learning technologies in low-bandwidth secondary classrooms: A mixed-methods evaluation

  Boateng, F. & Diallo, M.

  We report on a 14-month evaluation of an offline-first adaptive learning platform deployed in 18 secondary schools across Ghana and Senegal. Using a mixed-methods design combining learning analytics with teacher and student interviews, we document gains in mathematics achievement, particularly for students in the lowest-performing tertile. Implementation challenges centred on device maintenance and teacher professional development rather than connectivity. Implications for low-resource educational contexts are discussed.

  edtechadaptive learningsecondary educationequityWest Africa

• Decolonising the curriculum: Practitioner perspectives from East African universities

  Mwangi, A. K., Okello, J. & Ndlovu, S.

  This study examines how academics in three East African universities interpret and operationalise curriculum decolonisation. Drawing on 42 semi-structured interviews and document analysis, we identify three competing framings — epistemic restoration, contextual relevance, and institutional reform — and trace how each shapes pedagogical practice. We argue that effective decolonisation requires institutional commitments that move beyond symbolic gestures toward substantive curriculum transformation.

  decolonisationcurriculumhigher educationEast Africaepistemology

• Community-led literacy interventions in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review

  Adeyemi, O., Hassan, R. & Tembo, L.

  This scoping review synthesises 87 studies (2010–2025) on community-led literacy interventions across sub-Saharan Africa. We map programme typologies, theoretical framings, and reported outcomes, identifying a strong evidence base for early-grade reading gains but persistent gaps in measuring sustainability and longer-term transfer. We propose a research agenda emphasising longitudinal design and community-centred outcome measures.

  literacycommunity educationscoping reviewsub-Saharan Africaearly-grade reading