South Africa’s education system stands at a crossroads. Like the rest of the world, we are no longer debating whether education must change.
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The challenge now is to transform at scale and speed, to enable Gen Alpha students to shape a working world driven by automation and AI, and to carve out careers that do not yet exist.
The traditional schooling model – built on information recall and standardised testing – no longer prepares them for what lies ahead. To stay relevant, education must evolve to nurture creativity, digital fluency, entrepreneurship, resilience, and empathy.
Here are the seven trends I see redefining how schools will teach, learn, and lead in 2026 and beyond:
1. Making AI-driven personalisation the new standard
AI is shifting from an add-on to a foundational tool for both students and educators. With job-ready machine-learning and other ICT skills being in short supply, schools that integrate AI meaningfully will prepare students to meet a growing demand.
For educators, using adaptive technologies to personalise learning journeys and automate routine tasks frees up more time to focus on higher-order guidance and socio-emotional support – the elements that machines cannot replicate.
2. Moving entrepreneurship from elective to essential
With our youth unemployment rate sitting at 62.2% among 15-24 year-olds and 40.5% among those aged 25-34, the future depends on job creators, not just job seekers.
There is an increasing need for young people to solve real-world problems and build ventures with purpose, but a schooling model that, essentially, has not evolved for decades does not adequately prepare them to do so – contributing to an SMME failure rate that is among the highest in the world.
When schools embed entrepreneurship as a practice-based core subject rather than a side project, students can learn the skills that develop a good idea into a sustainable business.
3. Replacing four walls with digital-native rooms
The ‘rows of desks’ model has become obsolete. Instead, we are seeing the benefits of flexible learning hubs and immersive simulations that encourage collaboration in a tech-first environment that could otherwise be isolating.
Before this approach can be implemented, access to technology must be addressed. A 2025 report pegs internet access at 79% across the country, but this still means that one in five people are not connected. Schools must design for inclusivity, ensuring that no student is left offline. Laptops, tablets and cloud-based collaboration are not luxuries anymore; they are the baseline of modern learning.
4. Putting well-being and belonging centre stage
Since the pandemic, the biggest barrier to learning is not cognitive; it is emotional. Rising levels of anxiety, loneliness, and burnout are eroding students’ ability to engage and perform. In fact, 2023 Unicef research shows that 60% of South African young people felt they needed mental health support.
To counter this, schools must embed well-being into their offering, with on-site counselling and peer support networks. They must also prioritise belonging by ensuring that every student feels seen, valued, and safe to be themselves. In the future, success will be measured as much by resilience and emotional growth as by marks and metrics.
5. Replacing old assessments with skills-based credentials
Employers are rethinking the value of traditional transcripts, shifting the focus from ‘what you know’ to ‘what you can do’. In our ICT sector, for example, companies are increasingly looking for experience, practical skills, and micro-credentials in addition to degrees.
The net result is that the sector is under-resourced despite 12.2% of tertiary education graduates remaining unemployed as at Q2:2025. By definition, a well-rounded education must move beyond the parameters of the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) that South African schools are required to adhere to.
6. Making cyber-security and digital ethics core literacies
As classrooms and workplaces go digital, so too do the risks. Information- and cyber-security are listed among the top technology priorities and shortage areas for South African firms, making it critical for schools to impart a deep understanding of compromising behaviour and mitigating factors.
Ethical AI usage is an equally important learning area. Schools should be teaching students how to use technology responsibly and meaningfully. Students must learn that AI is a tool; not the solution to every task.
7. Driving systemic change with public-private innovation
Despite allocating 6.9% of 2025’s GDP to education, government cannot evolve the education system fast enough without additional private investment. Partnerships between independent schools, edtech companies and industry players have the potential to enable faster provision of infrastructure and technology for schools, large-scale teacher training and skills development, and experimentation with new learning models.
The future of education is not just about keeping pace with technology. It is also about reimagining relevance. Gen Alpha has the talent, creativity, and potential to thrive in complexity but enabling them to do so demands collective courage: from policymakers willing to modernise, from educators prepared to rethink their models, and from the private sector ready to invest in scalable innovation.
If we can align these forces, we will do more than prepare students for the future. We will empower them to create it.
