ICTs, Secondary Education, and the Knowledge Economy: Exploring the Roles of the Private Sector in Post-Apartheid South Africa

The emerging information-based economy requires an educated and skilled labor force. Unfortunately this caliber of human resource is insufficient in South Africa. This is in part due to the historical experience of the apartheid educational system, which stifled human capital development among generations of South Africans. Despite commendable efforts of the government to meet the increasing demand for education in the country, the gap in education, coupled with the need for trained and skilled work force, cannot be met only by the state through the traditional approach of educational delivery. Rather, the involvement of all stakeholders and approaches, especially the private sector and the employment of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in curriculum delivery are essential. This study argues that the use of ICTs to improve secondary education in South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa in general should not wait until countries in the region reach a certain level of economic growth and budgetary stability. Rather, governments in the region should use the right economic and political incentives to encourage the involvement of the private sector in the advancement of secondary education through ICTs. Prominent among such incentives would be the full privatization of government-owned telecommunication enterprises in South Africa. Such innovative approaches involving the private sector, will expand pedagogical possibilities, promote socio-economic inclusion, and enable the country to meet the work force requirement for the knowledge economy.