Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has called for a radical shift in South Africa’s education system, saying traditional tools such as chalkboards, chalk and dusters should be consigned to museums as the country embraces artificial intelligence and digital learning.
Speaking before the release of the National Senior Certificate examination results on Monday, Lesufi said the future of education lies in technology-driven classrooms that reflect that digital tools now shape society and the economy.
“I want a chalkboard, chalk and a duster to belong in the museum not in our classrooms because that’s the future we want for our children. These children must understand that we value them.”
Lesufi warned that government could not afford to lag behind technological change, particularly as AI becomes increasingly embedded in everyday life.
“We are in a sea of AI. We can’t allow these kids to use AI only for TikTok,” he said.
“We must allow them to use AI for economic and educational development, and we have to be flexible,” he said.
He said government needed to urgently find ways to integrate AI into teaching and learning, rather than attempting to ban or restrict its use.
“We have to be flexible as government and ask: how do we infuse AI within the education system? We must not prohibit it so that it is used for the wrong purposes. We must make it easy for learners to use AI for educational development,” he said.
Lesufi said delaying action would be costly.
“It’s here, it’s real, it’s surrounding us. We can’t avoid it but we can’t wait another 17 years and then scratch our heads asking how we allow AI,” he said.
He painted a picture of future classrooms driven by connectivity, data and smart technology.
Lesufi said education was the foundation of both economic growth and national development.
“If we can’t get education right, we can never get the country right. We can never get the economy right because it is skills that drive the economy, skills that drive innovation and skills that drive a country.”
He said education and health should be protected from budget cuts.
“If you have to cut the budget, leave health and education outside. Cut somewhere else and provide the relevant resources, because education is key.”
Lesufi said education affected every South African household.
“There is no single parent who doesn’t have a child in the education system, or who hasn’t had a child go through the education system,” he said.
Drawing on history, he said progress depended on new ideas rather than old tools.
“The Stone Age didn’t end because that generation ran out of stones. It ended because new ideas developed and it is new ideas we must plant within the education system,” he said.
He said pupils should no longer be battling basic infrastructure failures.
“These children must not fight for water and electricity. They must not fight for better sewer systems in schools. That’s old things,” he said.
Instead, he said, the fight of the future should be for digital access.
“These children must fight for data and free WiFi in schools. That’s the future we need.”
He called on the private sector and telecommunications companies to partner with government.
“Imagine a school without connectivity. Imagine a child without data. Imagine a child without a smartboard, a laptop or a tablet. That future must be buried,” said Lesufi.
He added that overcrowding and shortages of desks and chairs should be a thing of the past. South African pupils were no longer only competing locally but globally.
“These children are not competing with us. They are competing with children in Japan and Germany because the world has become one,” he said.
He said he imagined a future shaped by innovation driven by today’s scholars.
“I’m looking forward to the day one of these children develops a fridge where you can send a message saying, ‘Dear fridge, defrost this meat, add this sauce at this temperature,’ and when you arrive home it says, ‘Dear Madibuseng, your food is ready.’ That’s the future we need,” he said.
“That is the future education must enable. These children will take our country forward and compete with the best.”
TimesLIVE
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