HONORIS UNITED UNIVERSITIES LAUNCHES A 21ST CENTURY SKILLS CERTIFICATE

Honoris United Universitiies, the first and largest pan-African network of private higher education institutions, has announced the launch of the Honoris 21^st century skills certificate to further enhance the employability of its students by equipping them with the most in-demand soft and digital skills.

Based on global researches and engagement with employers across the continent, the Honoris 21^st Century Skills Certificate has been developed by the Honoris Academic Council, a pan-African team of faculty representatives with exemplary backgrounds and academic experience. Chosen for their unmatched expertise in their fields, including online learning and digital technology, the council’s work is an important investment in the development of world-class human talent: agile, collaborative professionals with an entrepreneurial mindset able to transform and impact Africa.

The Honoris 21^st Century Skills Certificate delivers skills training in areas highlighted by industry analysts and by the demands of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), ensuring that graduates enter the world of work empowered with high cognitive skills and digital literacy competencies that are necessary to navigate our changing world.

The online programme will train students in the eight most in-demand skills by employers and for the future of work.  These skills include: behavioural intelligence, creativity and design thinking, critical thinking, communication, collaboration, coding, data analytics and entrepreneurship. They serve as a driving force for the 4IR, ensuring that Honoris graduates keep up with the dynamics of the labour market. Of note, whilst English is the de facto language of business, coding is the new second language for the 21^st century, an area which all students, irrespective of their area of study, will need to understand. This understanding of coding, which is included in the certificate, will contribute to developing a computational thinking approach to problems, allowing for new responses to changes in the digital economy.

The one hundred -hour programme is being deployed to all students across the network. It constitutes a four-module design including personal, social, digital  and entrepreneurship skills which will be embedded in Honoris member institutions’ curricula.

This certificate, powered by the Honoris Online Academy, demonstrates the network’s ongoing commitment to providing student-centric learning environments, designed by combining academic knowledge with entrepreneurial and workplace skills and credentials, to ensure graduates are equipped with the digital know-how and hybrid skills to meet the needs of the changing job market.

Commenting on this development, Chief Growth & Strategy Officer of Honoris UnitedUniversities, Laura Kakon, said: “The world of work has entered an era where nothing is guaranteed. Employers are adopting new ideas and technologies at a rapid pace and as a result, students need to keep up with the latest innovations and technologies in order to remain competitive and in high demand. At Honoris United Universities, we believe in future-oriented learning to prepare our students to harness technology and innovation, in order to thrive and compete in automated, data and  artificial intelligence -driven realities. We also believe in empowering our students with an academic and skills experience that leads to cognitive agility and a mobile mindset, two attitudes and behaviours of success. The Honoris 21^st  century skills certificate will help bridge the skills gap in Africa by preparing our graduates for the future world of work.”