Today’s digital threats target schools, hospitals, municipalities, and small businesses just as aggressively as large enterprises.

Ransomware attacks shut down classrooms. Phishing campaigns exploit young users as easily as experienced employees.

Yet cyber security education is still treated as a late-stage specialisation, introduced only when individuals enter the workforce or pursue advanced technical roles.

“Threat actors don’t wait for workforce pipelines to catch up and our approach to cyber security education shouldn’t either. If we want to build lasting cyber resilience, readiness must start earlier.” says Kingsley Oseghale, country manager: West Africa for Check Point Software Technologies.

Why Waiting Until the Workforce Is a Risk

The global cyber security talent shortage has been discussed at length.  Africa has over 200 000 cyber security placements to fill, for example.

However, the underlying issue is often misunderstood. It isn’t simply a lack of jobs or training programs. It’s a timing problem.

“Most cyber security professionals are introduced to the field late, often after they’ve already chosen a career path. By then, organisations are forced into reactive hiring and accelerated training, while attackers continue to operate at speed. This gap leaves institutions vulnerable and limits the diversity and scale of the talent pool,” Oseghale says.

“At the same time, young people are entering the digital world earlier than ever before. They use cloud platforms, mobile devices, and connected services daily, but without structured education around digital risk, security fundamentals, or defensive thinking. The result is a growing mismatch between digital exposure and cyber preparedness,” he adds.

Security behaviours, like any foundational skill, are most effective when developed early. Waiting until adulthood to introduce cyber security concepts is akin to teaching road safety only after handing someone the keys.

Education as Preventive Security Infrastructure

Cyber security is ultimately a prevention challenge. While response capabilities are essential, the most effective defenses reduce the likelihood and impact of attacks in the first place.

Education plays a critical role in that prevention model. Early exposure to cyber security concepts – especially through hands-on, applied learning – builds threat awareness, problem-solving skills, and an understanding of how attackers operate.

It helps learners recognize risk, question assumptions, and think defensively long before they encounter these challenges in professional environments.

In this sense, cyber security education functions as a form of security infrastructure. Just as societies invest in public safety measures to reduce harm, investing in early cyber education reduces systemic risk across sectors.

The benefits extend beyond future security professionals; cyber literacy improves outcomes for anyone who will work, study, or innovate in a digital environment – which today means nearly everyone.

The Role of Industry–Education Partnerships

Academic institutions play a vital role in developing cyber talent, but they cannot do it alone. Cyber threats evolve too quickly for education systems to keep pace without real-world context and collaboration.

Industry–education partnerships help bridge this gap by bringing current threat insights, practical tools, and applied learning experiences into classrooms. Globally, initiatives such as Check Point’s SecureAcademy demonstrate how this model can scale – working with over 15 academic institutions and nonprofit partners throughout Africa to support consistent, hands-on cyber security education across regions.

These partnerships are not about replacing academic instruction, but about reinforcing it with relevance. By aligning foundational learning with real-world security challenges, they help ensure that students graduate with practical readiness, not just theoretical knowledge.

Preparing Youth for Participation in the Digital Economy

Cyber security education is also an economic issue. Digital trust underpins innovation, growth, and competitiveness, and that trust depends on people who understand how to protect systems and data.

As artificial intelligence becomes deeply embedded in how organisations build, operate, and secure digital services, that trust will increasingly depend on how well people understand both AI’s power and its risks.

For young learners, early exposure to cyber security opens doors to meaningful career pathways and economic mobility. It provides practical skills that are transferable across industries and roles, from IT and engineering to healthcare, education, and public service.

Today, this learning must also include an understanding of AI, how it is used to defend against cyber threats, how it can be abused by attackers, and how human judgement remains essential when working alongside intelligent systems.

Even for those who do not pursue cyber security careers, security literacy enhances their ability to operate safely and responsibly in digital environments. As AI-driven tools become part of everyday life — from classrooms to workplaces, young people who understand concepts like data protection, algorithmic bias, and digital identity will be better equipped to navigate an increasingly automated world.

From an organisational perspective, a cyber-ready workforce reduces risk, improves resilience, and supports sustainable growth.

The next generation, having grown up alongside AI, is uniquely positioned to adapt, learn, and lead in this evolving threat landscape. Investing in youth education today not only strengthens cyber defences, but also ensures societies are prepared for a future where AI and cyber security are inseparable pillars of the digital economy .

A Timely Call on International Day of Education

This year’s International Day of Education highlights the power of youth in shaping the future of learning. That message is particularly relevant for cyber security.

Young people are not just future users of technology. They are future builders, operators, and defenders of digital systems.

Preparing them to navigate and secure those systems is no longer optional. It is a shared responsibility for educators, industry leaders, and policymakers alike.

Cyber security education should be viewed as a foundational skill, introduced early and reinforced consistently. Doing so requires alignment across sectors and a willingness to invest before crises force our hand.

Cyber Security Starts in the Classroom

The threats facing our digital world are growing more complex, more frequent, and more disruptive. Addressing them requires more than tools and technology. It requires people who are prepared to think critically about security from the start.

Building cyber readiness early reduces risk later. It strengthens institutions, supports economic resilience, and empowers the next generation to participate safely and confidently in the digital world.

“If we want secure systems tomorrow, we must begin with cyber-ready learners today,” Oseghale concludes.

There are many reasons why education barriers in the sub-region persist. For one, enrollment levels remain a problem. World Bank economists found that more than one in five primary school-aged children in Sub-Saharan Africa weren’t in school last year. And, according to ISS African Futures, once kids are in school we also battle to keep them there.

Despite progress made since the Education for All movement in the 1990s, there are still too few teachers to cater for the growing student population, according to the Common Wealth of Learning   – resulting in lower engagement time with individuals and higher workloads for teachers. The 2023 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) progress report lays bare just how far behind the world is falling in achieving quality education for all.

Without more investment, only one in six countries will reach the target of getting all its adults to finish secondary school. A goal which, according to UNESCO, if achieved, could reduce global poverty by half.

The SDG progress report indicates that more capital is also needed to close the nearly $100 billion yearly financing gap that lower and middle-income countries face. Without this funding, SDG education targets will remain unattainable.

But where should we invest to make the biggest impact on learner retention and outcomes? With time running out to meet UN goals to end poverty and promote prosperity, let’s look at the funding channels which have the most influence on a child’s school day for solutions.

Improve the daily school experience

Researchers for the International Journal of Educational Research analysed just under two decades of peer-reviewed research to understand what kinds of projects resulted in benefits for school kids.

Interestingly, the amount of money available to a school doesn’t necessarily correlate with student performance on “learning outcomes” such as reading for comprehension or their understanding of mathematics and science.

According to the ISS African Futures, interventions that can change a child’s daily school experience in a meaningful way make a huge difference because such projects can shield pupils from factors such as lack of desks, textbooks and equipment that can make learning more difficult.

Infrastructure projects, student performance incentives and support for teachers and their teaching methods were all among the ‘best buys’ for education.

Learners at electrified schools, for example, get better grades because they can study for longer on dark days or in after-school programmes.

According to a paper published in Science Direct, scholarships can motivate students by exposing them to opportunities they wouldn’t otherwise have known about. They also help alleviate the cost of education, even in countries like Uganda where primary school is free but parents still struggle to afford uniforms and books.

The quality of the lessons children have also plays a huge role in how well they do. Schools with teachers that have greater knowledge of the subjects they teach, tend to produce students with better grades.

Smaller classes, more trained teachers, better outcomes

Class sizes impact both learning and a teacher’s willingness to stay at that school. Smaller classes allow educators to address individual challenges and go beyond just delivering educational content.

The student-to-teacher ratio measures the number of students per teacher in a class. Malawi and Tanzania have some of the highest ratios (55:1 and 57:1, respectively), while Botswana has the lowest.

According to the Litera Centre, optimal ratios vary based on economic and population factors. Lower ratios often mean teachers have a better understanding of student interests, goals and struggles enabling timely interventions to improve academic performance. When combined with teachers who have advanced subject knowledge, lower ratios can provide even more meaningful support to pupils.

Investing in impact

Norsad has invested nearly $40 million in social infrastructure services to improve education on the continent.

Our investment partner Nova Pioneer schools, with their low student-to-teacher ratios, demonstrate the positive effects of this approach. Across 13 campuses in Kenya and South Africa, 4 400 learners benefit from two teachers in every classroom.

This structure allows teachers to focus on developing both problem-solving and soft skills, equipping learners for the knowledge economy.

Teachers are trained as facilitators who encourage student-led solutions, fostering critical thinking skills in every class. Learners get a solid foundation in developing skills aligned with the fourth SDG: providing young adults with relevant skills for 21st-century jobs.

Facilities like school labs amplify the impact of this learning model, enabling exploration rather than rote memorisation and this can foster innovation skills necessary for modern careers. In these times interpersonal skills aren’t just nice to have, they are foundational.

“You can expect your voice to be heard,” said one student when asked how Nova Pioneer is different from other schools. This matters because “you start believing in yourself and the things that you can do,” she says.

Unlocking potential

Despite lagging progress on the education SDG targets, immense potential remains. As research shows – investments in infrastructure and human resources that directly improve students’ school day lead to better learning outcomes.

From reading comprehension to coding and robotics skills, impact investing can help close critical skills gaps, reduce poverty and gender inequality and promote prosperity.

This International Day of Education, let’s strengthen our partnerships and turn to tactical investments so we can build a better, more equal Africa.

According to 9mobile, the initiative aligns with the brand’s CSR commitment to education and firm belief in supporting and providing self-discovery and expressive platforms for youths to thrive.

While speaking on the initiative, Chineze Amanfo, PR Lead at 9mobile, emphasized the need for youths to have unfettered access to quality education. She said, “At 9mobile, we understand the importance of education in shaping the life of a child. This informed our unflinching support towards the growth and development of the educational system. The Future-CEO Initiative is another educational initiative by 9mobile to encourage students to aspire to greatness in whatever field they have chosen to pursue.”

In implementing the initiative, 9mobile will be collaborating with the Lagos Education District II comprising schools in Ikorodu, Kosofe, and Shomolu Local Government Areas. The selection process will kick-start with a speech competition on the topic: “What would you do if you get to be the CEO of a major company for one day?” This competition will be carried out in partnership with the Literary and Debating Society in schools with Education district II, Lagos State.

The process will run for four weeks, with video entries submitted electronically, after which one winner will emerge from a strict judging exercise. The winner will get to visit 9mobile head office in Lagos to be hosted by the CEO in addition to receiving other exciting prizes.

The UNESCO International Day of Education is celebrated on January 24 every year. The theme for 2022 is “Changing Course, Transforming Education”. The essence of celebrating the day is to demonstrate that education is essential for the success of all 17 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Traditional work patterns are falling away, and an economy driven by projects is ascending, shocking many people with the accelerated pace of change.

As these changes are taking place, Africa is facing a future in which it is expected that the continent will produce some 30 million graduates a year by 2050.

Therefore, education, its delivery, and effectiveness will become focal points, says George Asamani, Business Development Leader for Africa at Project Management Institute (PMI).

It is appropriate, he says, that this year the theme for UN’s International Day of Education is ‘Changing Course, Transforming Education.’

One of the areas that Covid-19 heavily impacted and one that is likely to carry long-term consequences is access to education and the enhancement of skills where the focus is on developing professionals who can deliver complex projects in an increasingly distributed environment.

Furthermore, it has also been the dominant force in creating a new work ecosystem in which project management and power skills have become vital.

This has compelled business and society to respond by adopting digital transformation and embracing a project-based approach to their deliverables.

At the forefront of those that must adapt are institutes of higher learning. With African universities facing challenges on the content and delivery of education in a digital world, transforming education will require partnerships with the likes of PMI, a global non-profit membership association, to help meet a future tide of demand for skills and leadership.

“The emphasis, as identified by McKinsey and other global authorities, is that 4 out of 5 companies surveyed are looking for people who are leaders, critical thinkers and decision-makers, and value continuous learning. These are the skills espoused by PMI and valuable for those preparing themselves for the competitive workplace,” says Asamani

The PMI response has included offering free curricula and resources to universities designed on a ‘faculty by faculty’ basis geared to meeting global accreditation (GAC) standards. The second leg of their academic resources is a research funding project that offers USD50 000 to selected recipients.

Giving a practical slant to their involvement is the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) certification offered to students to enable them in the project management industry and connect with professionals already active in the sphere.

Projects are already underway with Mount Kenya University in Kenya and the University of Pretoria in South Africa, where PMI global professional volunteers from the US, Mexico, India, Nigeria, Senegal and South Africa are mentoring first-year BCom students.

“One of our prime focuses through the PMI Education Foundation and chapter volunteers is providing skills training and mentoring to colleges and universities. It is at these institutions where there has been sustained demand for courses and degree programmes in project management to be offered,” adds Asamani.

“Education, as pointed out by the UN, is a key element required for achieving sustainable development goals. We are proud that our efforts at PMI accord with at least three of these goals and that we are part of the vanguard of organisations taking tangible steps to help Africa achieve the greatness and place in global affairs that it truly deserves.”