By Yvonne Kageha

On June 11, Prof. Laban Ayiro, Vice Chancellor, Daystar University, delivered a public lecture titled “Education in the near future.” Drawing from his vast expertise in the education sector and the current experiences at Daystar University, he stressed on the need for Kenyan institutions to embrace AI and integrate it into their learning models.

Backed by various studies, Prof Ayiro pointed out that the population growth of Sub-Saharan Africa is projected to double by 2050 with a high number of this population being under 25 years which will cause a demographic divide and put a strain on the education sector. However, he commended the increasing rates of digital learning adoption stating that this has been influenced by an increase in internet penetration in Africa with rural areas experiencing a rapid rise due to mobile broadband expansion.

Furthermore, he argued that there is a significant number of active mobile subscriptions in Sub-Saharan Africa which present a significant channel for mobile learning. Still, he noted that most young Africans tend to be downloaders rather than uploaders which is bad for the future. “As long as we are downloaders rather than uploaders on mobile phones, we will forever remain on the periphery,” he stated.

When it comes to online course enrollment, he urged faculty and universities to do things differently citing that students can now acquire knowledge from AI powered platforms such as century Tech, Carnegie Learning and regional startups that are providing adaptive testing and personalized tutoring which can currently serve millions of learners across Africa. He highlighted that what universities offer need to have more value than what this programs can provide. Urging faculty to embrace AI, Prof. Ayiro argued that AI tools can automate grading, track learning progress and optimize resource distribution, reducing administrative costs, and improving learner success rates.

While celebrating an increase in research publications output by Africans and an increase in investment in African Edtech startups, Prof. Ayiro pointed out that innovation and patents has been a big concern for a long time but Kenya and South Africa have begun to pick up. This has led to scalable solutions that can help in the education sector.

Prof. Ayiro also pointed out how Africa’s youthful population and increasing tech adoption would create opportunities for scalable online learning, STEM education, and innovation hubs, potentially creating over 10 million jobs in tech sector by 2030. Such opportunities include, scalable digital learning, innovation ecosystems, AI and date analytics.

He highlighted existing and potential challenges including digital divide, poor digital literacy among some educators and learners, ethical policy issues, inadequate funding and infrastructure. To address this challenges, he called for public-private partnerships, increase focus on locally relevant research, patents, and innovation, capacity building and formulation of relevant policies by the government.

As he concluded, he stated that the future of education in Africa is ripe with potential but it needs deliberate, collaborative efforts to realize the promise of digital transformation, AI, and innovation. This lecture proved that the university is on the right track with its effort in adopting innovation, eLearning and push for research outputs.