Abstract:

Background: Globally, education is critical to improving a population’s standard of living and achieving sustainable development. It therefore comes as no surprise that access to quality education is one of the fundamental goals of the United Nation’s (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Quality education underpins a society’s development goals, which range from poverty alleviation to environmental wellness. Education influences a country’s social, environmental, political, and economic standings. Conversely, a country’s complex social, economic, and political dynamics can impede or enable the critical role that education plays in sustainable development. There is consensus across literature that higher education can contribute to the achievement of the SDGs in a variety of ways. These range from integrating the SDGs into existing curriculum to conducting actionable research on current societal issues. Above all, in a globalized digital economy, higher education institutions are tasked with producing knowledgeable graduates with 21st century skills capable of developing solutions for achieving the SDGs. The higher education sector is critical in laying the groundwork for inclusive and transformative economic growth for sustainable development. While access to education has improved over time in Africa, the continent still has the lowest literacy rates among youths, resulting in a growing skills gap and shortage. The skills gap is associated with a mismatch between the required skills in the current job market and the skills the workforce and graduates have. The skills gap is exacerbated by the widespread digital disruption and the consequent demand for 21st century skills. The fast-paced transformation in the education sector influenced by various factors has engendered significant challenges for both graduates and the wider academic community. This transformation has had significant implications in the role the higher education sector play in achieving SDGs. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore the role of higher education in Africa’s achievement of the SDGs in a single (digital) market economy. The objectives are to identify the pedagogical requirements and constructs that takes the complexities of delivering higher education in a digital era into consideration to equip graduates with culturally and socially transformative skills and knowledge. Method: An integrative literature review was conducted in three scholarly databases: Google Scholar, Ebscohost, and Science Direct. Using a string of keywords, relevant articles were selected and subjected to a thematic analysis process. Results: themes that emerged include, learning outcomes (relevance), quality of teaching, inclusivity, affordable education, diversity, and personalization emerged. Conclusion: Quality education is critical to realizing the transformative shift required for African countries to achieve the SDGs. The effectiveness of a country’s achievement of the SDGs will be measured by the improvement its population’s quality of life. The preliminary findings indicate that a comprehensive framework covering the identified themes is required to assess the role of the higher education pedagogies in developing graduates with 21st century skills to drive inclusivity and transformative economic growth in Africa to achieve the SDGs.

Keywords:

Africa, Education, Inclusivity, Pedagogy, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), transformative.