Africa needs sustainable-oriented people to transform continent – Adelaide Agyepong

The Chief Ex­ecutive Officer (CEO) of Amer­ican International School (AIS), Mrs Adelaide A. Siaw-Agyepong has observed that Africa needs people who are sustainable development oriented to transform the continent.

According to her, the changing world needs people who were analytical in view and poised in thoughts to make an impact on the world.

Speaking on the topic ‘Rising to Africa’s education challenges and opportunities post COVID-19 pandemic’ at the 2023 edition of the Africa Development Con­ference organised by the African Caucus of the Kennedy School of Law and Harvard African Law Association, Mrs Siaw-Agyepong noted that the changing world did not need people who had mere knowledge and could regurgitate principles because the internet through multiple search engines could perform the same thing.

“We need persons who are aligned with sustainable devel­opment, responsible business conduct, and laced with humanity because knowledge that does not consider the survival of humanity and the generations to come are as treacherous as no knowledge,” she stressed.

She explained that, as such “a wholistic education is needed and one that uses knowledge to solve every day problems, recognis­ing the survival of humanity as dependent on the survival of one and all and works towards improv­ing our individual and collective lives.

“The world needs people who are ready to learn unlearn and relearn” she stressed.

Touching on how private schools in Ghana adapted and mobilised resources to aid teach­ing and learning in the educational sector during the COVID-19, Mrs Siaw-Agyepong observed that during the COVID-19 pandem­ic, private schools had to quickly adapt and mobilise resources to aid teaching and learning.

She added that most private schools transitioned to online learning platforms by creating online learning platforms to provide students with access to learning materials and resources from home.

“These platforms often in­cluded features like video lectures, interactive quizzes, and virtual classroom discussions,” she added.

She also noted that private schools and educational com­panies provided students with learning materials like textbooks, workbooks, and worksheets to enable them to continue learning at home.

“Some also provided technolo­gy devices like laptops and tablets to students who did not have access to them,” she added.

During the period also, some private schools and educational companies provided training for their teachers to enable them to adapt to the new online learning environment. This training often included how to use online teach­ing tools, how to conduct virtual classroom discussions, newsletters and how to provide feedback and assessments online to improve communication.

The Africa Development Con­ference is a student-led event that convenes academia, students, and practitioners to highlight and ex­plore critical issues related to the African continent’s development. This year’s took place between April 15-16, 2023, at the Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massa­chusetts.

The theme for this edition is ‘Reimagining Africa’s Growth on Our Terms.’

The Conference had panels, fireside chats, and keynote speech­es on topics including how Africa can thrive in international trade, challenges and opportunities in transitioning to a green economy, the role of creative arts in devel­opment, the Africa we want, and other engaging topics.