New AI qualification in the works at Emeris: What to expect
· Citizen
An artificial intelligence (AI) qualification being developed by private higher education institution Emeris is still in its early stages, and the institution said it will focus on the skills needed to implement AI in the workplace.
The planned qualification was discussed during a panel discussion at the Education & Skills Dialogue: Before and Beyond the Degree, hosted by Emeris, where questions were raised about how qualifications can keep pace with rapidly changing technology and the future of work.
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Sarnelia Mandapalli, head of communications at Emeris, confirmed that the institution was working on a new AI-related qualification, but said its specific modules had not yet been finalised.
“It’s gonna focus on the skills needed to implement AI in the workplace,” Mandapalli said.
She said the qualification was intended to address the use of AI in workplaces, including organisations that have opted to use the technology in place of some human functions.
However, Mandapalli stressed that the qualification remained in the “ideation phase”.
“Actual modules, I can’t tell you, because I don’t know what that is as yet, because it’s still in the ideation,” she said.
AI qualification could take years to approve
South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) CEO Nadia Starr explained that new qualifications have to go through regulatory processes before they can be formally offered.
Mandapalli said the process could take between two and four years.
“It goes to SAQA, then it will interrogate; it’ll come back to us. So it sometimes can take about two to four years,” she said.
Starr said SAQA currently had one qualification with AI in its title on the national register.
“We currently only got one AI qualification that has AI in the title,” Starr said.
She identified an Occupational Certificate: Artificial Intelligence Software Developer as an example, while noting that AI could also increasingly be incorporated into qualifications without appearing in their titles.
“There’ll be AI that is infused in everything you’re doing,” Starr said.
She added that SAQA was also seeing indications that private higher education institutions were developing other AI-related qualifications.
AI skills already changing the workplace
The discussion also focused on whether education systems could respond quickly enough to technological changes and whether AI should be treated as a threat to employment or as a tool graduates need to learn to use.
Anthony Wingfield, senior national lecturer at Vega School at Emeris, said students who learn to experiment with AI would have an advantage in a changing workplace.
“Students who use or are taught to experiment and are able to use AI are definitely going to be the ones more employable than the ones that don’t,” Wingfield said.
He said AI should not replace the problem-solving and ideation skills students develop through their education.
“AI is just a facilitator in that,” Wingfield said.
Wingfield also compared the emergence of AI with previous technological shifts, arguing that telling students not to use AI would be similar to telling them not to use the internet.
What skills will the AI qualification focus on?
Mandapalli said the focus would be on workplace implementation, although she could not provide details about the modules while the qualification remained under development.
Starr added that AI would increasingly cut across existing fields rather than being limited to standalone AI qualifications.
Wingfield pointed to digital marketing as an example of how AI could become integrated into existing disciplines.
“The fundamentals are not going to change. They can’t change,” he said.
The panel also discussed the need for graduates to remain curious, adaptable and able to think critically, particularly as AI tools become more widespread.
Starr said regulators, education institutions and industry would need to work together to keep qualifications responsive to changes in technology and employment.
She noted that qualifications in South Africa have a lifespan of up to five years before they must be reviewed, allowing institutions and regulators to assess whether they remain relevant to changing needs.
For the planned Emeris AI qualification, however, the immediate next step remains developing it and securing regulatory approval before students can enrol.