Preparing graduates for the new workplace environment has to be the top focus of tertiary institutions such as the University of Johannesburg, saysDr Joash Mageto, senior lecturer in the Department of Transport and Supply Chain Management.“The sector is growing, but the winners will be those institutions that will offer innovative training, create industry linkages for their students to learn updated materials, and that strive to tackle national issues and provide homegrown solutions,” he told Freight News. “The future world of work is likely to be quite dynamic, and there is a need to prepare future graduates adequately by imparting relevant skills to bridge the current skills gap in South Africa. This can be done by embracing lifelong learning through short learning programmes, which may be credit or non-credit bearing.”Covid-19 has impacted training and research in the higher education sector adversely. “Face-to-face classes are now a mirage for many tertiary institutions. Despite the disruption caused, the University of Johannesburg has embraced remote teaching through online platforms,” he said.The university already has an online teaching infrastructure, making the transition from face-to-face to a virtual training environment fairly smooth.“We completed our academic year 2020 as scheduled. Among the new developments we are now pursuing are the f lipped classroom model, gamification of training, and increasing student mentorship through the various online platforms. We are also looking at the incorporation of Minecraft in teaching complex concepts by making students active in the learning process. In addition to the hybrid programmes, we have full online diploma programmes that are tailored to meet the needs of the transport, logistics and supply chain management industry.”Now more than ever before, said Dr Mageto, there was a need for more university/industry linkages within the transport and logistics sector. “This will help training institutions to keep pace with industry innovations and revise curriculums accordingly to produce industry-ready graduates and eliminate the cost of industry having to retrain half-baked graduates. Transport and logistics firms in South Africa are encouraged to partner with the university to achieve these aspirations.”He said the tertiary training sector – and especially the University of Johannesburg – was increasingly incorporating the use of artificial intelligence (AI) to perform some routine processes such as admissions, registrations, processing of grades after assessments had been marked by lecturers, student finance, academic records, career guidance, and answering of enquiries among others.“Going forward I see universities and academic departments within universities developing AI strategies. Online learning is also here to stay – including hybrid modes that are being embraced by both students and lecturers in higher education. This is happening across the world. However, there are still challenges for students who do not have access to devices or data.”According to Dr Mageto, training in logistics and supply chain management is likely to increase. “There will be increased demand for logistics services into the future with increased e-commerce activities. We are also going to see increased cross-border businesses require more professionals, hence increased training.”He says the humanitarian crises across the southern Africa region also create demand for logistics expertise, calling for more training.“The skills shortage is one of the biggest challenges facing the logistics sector, driving further demand for increased training.”We have full online diploma programmes that are tailored to meet the needs of the transport, logistics and supply chain management industry.– Dr Joash Mageto“
