Education Unlocking Innovation, Enterprise and Creativity for Development

I recently came across a discussion on Facebook where young people were lamenting how university graduates in Kenya were unable to find jobs. The initial discussion point was in reaction to a post about a young engineering graduate who had started up a tailoring business because he could not find a job (read: employment in a corporate).

The discussants were outraged that the young graduate had settled for “inferior” work because there are no jobs. So started a raging discussion about the lack of an enabling environment for graduates to find employment. The thrust of this debate: entrepreneurship is a poor substitute for employment.

This discussion made me wonder about the whole point of a university education, indeed any education. In general, when we think about the role of education, especially in Africa, we see it as the pathway to a better life. As such, many of us want to be educated to get the path. The path being the ability to find employment on obtaining a university degree.

What we do not always recognize is that the path is not always as it seems. The simple fact is this: there may never be enough jobs to employ all the youth who graduate from university. And even if it were possible to do so, most jobs would be below the competencies and interests of these young people, leaving them hopelessly underemployed.

As I followed the debate on the young engineer turned ‘tailorpreneur,’ I pondered: what is the purpose of education. Is it supposed to help one achieve employment? Personal development? Whose responsibility is it to ensure that one makes the best of the education they receive?

I humbly propose that the best thing an education can do is open the mind to endless possibility, curiosity, new ideas, help develop problem solving abilities, critically analyze, and a whole host of other things.

So let’s look at a few organizations that have done this well.

The Next Einstein will be African!

How about that? As audacious a proclamation as that can only be made by the African Institute of Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), which recognizes that Africans need to be at the forefront of new technologies and research to solve our problems and meet our needs.

There is no arguing against the fact that Africa needs locally grown innovators. African countries need to own the means of production and process in order to meet their strategic development goals. This is where higher education plays a significant role in empowering youth to boldly take on the challenges around them and seek new ideas to address them. Equally important is how well they are educated to take on these challenges, and by this I do not mean how many degrees they have or which prestigious institution they attend. No, what I am suggesting is the creation of lasting, meaningful education transformation. This could include blended interdisciplinary learning models, entrepreneurship & design thinking modules introduced in every course so the final student end-product is market ready for entrepreneurship or employment.

Ivy Mwai, Senior Program Manager at the MasterCard Foundation, speaking at the University of British Columbia, Canada.

Reducing poverty in Africa will thus depend on how well its youth are educated. Along came the African Leadership Academy, an institution that embraced this concept at pre-university level by starting to inculcate the notion of enterprise in young Africans. The institution proudly and unashamedly introduced an African studies program buttressed by a core international curriculum. At its heart was training young Africans in leadership and entrepreneurship. Students have to undertake entrepreneurial activities during their course of study aimed at tackling a local, regional or pan-African problem. By the time the students are transitioning to university, they have learned to work in teams, they have an understanding of African issues and most importantly, they are entrepreneurial. The point: embedding enterprise into curriculum will foster critical thinking in seeking economic solutions, instead of thinking that engaging in enterprise is a poor substitute for getting a job.

And where then does creativity factor in education? In a system where innovation and enterprise are engaged, creativity is a natural output. New ideas flourish in abundance, youth are not afraid to try new concepts, to fail, to understand that failure is part of learning, and to develop the art of working together. In an environment where students can express their creativity, they are more disciplined, focused and geared to positive outcomes.

African institutions of higher learning are consistently undergoing challenges with their student populations, a symptom of the lack of creativity in how administrations engage with students. Students who identify with their institution have a true sense of belonging and will explore ways of solving problems which are not disruptive. They have a sense of “citizenship” that looks to dialogue, ethics, giving back and academic excellence.

So back to the young ‘tailorpreneur,’ I applaud him for having taken the initiative to solve his personal unemployment and creating employment for others. More importantly, he took ownership of his education and was not fixated on having to find a job as an engineer, but used what he had learned to open up new opportunities and to contribute to the economy.

I leave you with this, how have you used or will you use your education?

Ivy Mwai spoke at The Walrus Talks: Africa’s Next Generation, a collaboration with The Walrus Foundation and the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver. Other speakers included Sharon Shamuyarira and Brian Mukeswe, both MasterCard Foundation Scholars studying at UBC.