Human Capital for Quality Infrastructure Development in South Africa: A Project-Based Pedagogical Analysis

Abstract

“Traditional/skills-based teaching doesn’t meet the demands of our 21 st century” -Garelick, 2012. The widespread effects of globalisation and new technologies demand rethinking of knowledge creation and labour force preparedness for 21st century development. The rise of a knowledge-based economy and information society requires public managers with human capital sufficient to fulfil developmental challenges. The demand for quality infrastructure in South Africa exceeds existing proficiency of human capital. The 21st century and South Africa’s post 1994 challenges including infrastructure development demand a new generation of public managers and administrators equipped with acuity and negotiation outlooks, communication and problem-solving skills, research and analytical abilities, and cognitive capacity enabling them to promote, influence, and monitor project development and management in a substantially globalized world. From a pedagogical standpoint, while knowledge creation and innovative teaching strategies are arguably drivers of a labour force that meet challenge of development, the authors of this conceptual analytical article contend that traditional approaches of teaching project management in South African higher education institutions (HEIs) fail to adequately prepare students to manage ‘real-world projects’ that foster growth and development. Rather, projectbased learning (PjBL) offers a strategic way forward to fill project management skills gap and project management knowledge deficit in the public sector, which should be subject to the recommended research agenda.