The digital artifact provides a summary of key learnings from the World Bank Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Human Capital Development (HCD), highlighting the change drivers for the future of work; how jobs will change in the face of technological advancement; and the skills required to ensure individuals can adapt to those changes. Focus is placed on the components of education that contribute to HCD. The status quo in South Africa with respect to education and development is presented as the context for my field of work, namely research and advisory services in skills development. Based on these learnings, policy implications for education in South Africa are drawn.

1. THE FUTUREOFWORK:
KEY LEARNINGSON HUMANCAPITAL
DEVELOPMENTANDTHE IMPLICATIONS
FOR EDUCATION IN SOUTHAFRICA
DIGITAL ARTIFACT FOR WORLD BANK MOOC – THE FUTURE OF WORK: PREPARING FOR DISRUPTION
JOHEEN AGENBACH
SEPTEMBER 2019

2. BACKGROUND & PURPOSE
• Presentation is in fulfilment of the final project for the Massive Open Online Course
(MOOC) by the World Bank on “The Future of Work: Preparing for Disruption”
• Learnings from this course are of particular relevance to my area of work, namely research
and advisory services in skills development in South Africa
• Presentation summarises the key learnings from the course relevant to this field of work,
and then sets out the policy implications for education in South Africa

3. CONTENTS
• The changing world of work
• The response: a case for education
• The current reality for South Africa
• Policy implications for education in South Africa

4. THE CHANGING WORLD OF WORK
DRIVERS OF CHANGE
• New technologies are resulting in the automation and mechanisation of production
activities
• Tasks traditionally performed by humans are increasingly being taken over by robots,
especially those equipped with artificial intelligence
• New technologies, robots and machines are becoming more affordable and efficient,
thereby reducing the cost of production
• Technology is contesting geographical boundaries of work through online platforms for
work and the gig economy (short-term contracts with independent workers)

5. THE CHANGING WORLD OF WORK
IMPACT ON JOBS & SKILLS
• Employing new technologies makes production
cheaper and more reliable, creating the risk of
workers and jobs being replaced
• Automation will replace many of the mundane,
low-skills tasks in almost any industry
• However:
• Technological progress leads to the direct creation of
jobs in the technology sector
• Certain higher cognitive activities and tasks
involving socio-behavioural skills will still be
reserved for human intervention
• Thus, workers will require specific skills sets that
improve adaptability, in order to secure jobs in
the future
SKILLS/ TASKS TO BE
RETAINED FOR
HUMANS
• Analytical, critical
thinking & reasoning
• Problem solving
• Creativity
• Socio-behavioural &
inter-personal skills
(teamwork, relationship
management)
• Socio-emotional skills
(empathy, conflict
resolution)
FUNCTIONS TO BE
REPLACED BY
TECHNOLOGY
• Repetitive, routine &
replicable tasks
• Programmable/
codifiable activities
“Automation has disproportionately reduced the demand for less skilled workers, and the innovation
process has generally favored the more educated. A big question is whether workers displaced by
automation will have the required skills for new jobs created by innovation” (World Bank, 2019:29)

6. THE RESPONSE: THE CASE FOR EDUCATION
• To equip the workforce of the future, investments need to be made in
Human Capital Development
• Returns to education are high, furnishing people with advanced skills that allow
individuals to:
o Better adapt to the changing nature of work
o Take up opportunities created by technology
• This requires an approach of lifelong learning
“Human capital consists of the knowledge, skills, and health that people accumulate over their
lives, enabling them to realize their potential as productive members of society” (World Bank, 2019:50)

7. COMPONENTS OF LIFELONG LEARNING
1. EARLY CHILDHOOD DEVELOPMENT
• Highest returns achieved from early
investment in nutrition, health and
education (first 1000 days of child’s life)
• Lays foundations for future
acquisition of cognitive and socio-
behavioural skills, as:
o the ability to learn is highest during
early years
o learning is cumulative
• Access to and quality of education
are key determinants of high
returns (Source: World Bank, 2019:50)

8. COMPONENTS OF LIFELONG LEARNING
2. TERTIARY EDUCATION
• Develops higher order skills transferable across jobs
• Contributes to meeting the demand for lifelong learning to adapt to the changing nature
of work
• Serves as a platform for innovation
• Flexibility and movement between general and vocational training is required to facilitate
continuous learning

9. COMPONENTS OF LIFELONG LEARNING
3. ADULT LEARNING OUTSIDE THE WORKPLACE
• Aimed at upskilling adults that are not in school or jobs
• Successful adult learning programmes require:
o Good design to address constraints experienced by adults
o Instruction suited to how the adult brain learns
o Flexible delivery models that fit in with adult lifestyles
• Should focus on programmes around:
o Adult literacy
o Training in specific skills that could lead to waged employment
o Entrepreneurship

10. CURRENT REALITY FOR SOUTH AFRICA
KEY STATISTICS
ECONOMY
EDUCATION
POPULATION
• GDP: R3,236 billion
• Real GDP Growth (2018): 0.7%
• Output mainly in Finance/Business (22.7%)
and Government services (16.6%) sectors
(Source: Own calculations based on StatsSA, 2019)
• Total population: 58.8 million (2019)
• Working age population: 37.9 million (64.5%
of total population)
(Source: Own calculations based on StatsSA, 2019)
• 9.3% of population have no schooling
• 51.7% only partial education (< matric)
• 78% of Grade 4 learners cannot read for meaning
• Learning-Adjusted Years of Schooling = 6 years
(Source: Own calculations based on StatsSA, 2019;
Howie, et. al, 2016; Filmer et. al, 2018)
No
schooling,
9.3%
Some
primary,
19.9%
Primary
completed,
4.6%
Some
secondary,
27.1%
Secondary
completed,
18.6%
Tertiary
completed,
8.1%
Other, 12.3%
Education level obtained

11. CURRENT REALITY FOR SOUTH AFRICA
GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE
SHARE OF TOTAL BUDGET 2018/19:
• Social protection: R207.1 bn (11.3%)
• Social security funds: R71.3 bn (3.9%)
• Basic education: R262.4 bn (14.4%)
• Post-school education & training: R112.7 bn (6.2%)
• Health: 222.6 bn (12.2%)
(Source: RSA, 2019)
EMPLOYMENT
• Unemployment rate: 27.9%
• 31% of employed in informal sector
• 85.8% of employed in relatively low-skill jobs
(Source: Own calculations based on StatsSA, 2019)
8.7%
10.4%
16.3%
0.4%
12.3%
8.4%
23.2%
6.1%
0.0% 10.0% 20.0% 30.0%
TECHNICIAN
CLERK
SALES AND SERVICES
SKILLED AGRICULTURE
CRAFT AND RELATED TRADE
PLANT AND MACHINE…
ELEMENTARY
DOMESTIC WORKER
Employment by Occupation
KEY STATISTICS

12. CURRENT REALITY FOR SOUTH AFRICA
PROBLEM STATEMENT FOR SOUTH AFRICA
• Low levels of education and skills will see much of the current elementary jobs being
replaced by technologies, resulting in greater levels of unemployment in the future
KEY FEATURES
• High levels of unemployment and informality
• Employment mainly in low skill jobs
• Poor levels and quality of education, despite substantial investment

13. POLICY IMPLICATIONS FOR SOUTH AFRICA
• Greater investments should be made in early childhood development, to lay the
foundations for the development of the cognitive and socio-behavioural skills required to
adapt to the changing nature of work
• Significant efforts required towards improving quality of education (including
development of teachers), to improve functional literacy and numeracy skills
• Increased focus on adult learning for large numbers of adults with low levels of literacy,
numeracy and education
• Tertiary education to include development of transferable cognitive skills as a minimum
• Vocational training and skills programmes to be flexible and continuously adapted in line
with future skills needs identified by industry
• Investment towards expanding access to communication technology, to allow greater
utilisation of technologies for training delivery

14. REFERENCES
• Howie, S.J., Combrinck, C., Roux, K., Tshele, M., Mokoena, G.M., and McLeod Palane, N. 2017. PIRLS Literacy
2016: South African Highlights Report
• Filmer, D., Rogers, H., Angrist, N. and Sabarwal, S. 2018. Learning-Adjusted Years of Schooling (LAYS):
Defining a New Macro Measure of Education. World Bank Group
• Statistics South Africa. 2019
• Republic of South Africa (RSA). 2019. Budget Review 2019
• World Bank. 2019. World Development Report 2019

15. THANK YOU!