Business Talk – GIFS CEO Kershen Pillay on how new technology is transforming South African education
In this Business Talk with Michael Avery interview, Kershen Pillay unpacks how the South African education sector is evolving.
Pillay is the CEO of the Graduate Institute of Financial Sciences (GIFS) and has worked in the education sector for over a decade.
Notably, Pillay assumed his current position at only 27 years old and oversaw the institute’s rebranding from Masifunde Training Centre to GIFS in 2019.
Pillay has received multiple awards for his work in education and his dedication to helping GIFS become the financial services education powerhouse it is today.
This includes being named a TYI Top 100 Young African Innovator, winning the inaugural Future of Work Visionary Award at the Future of Leadership Summit, and receiving a Certificate of Recognition for Moral Courage from the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA).
GIFS is also one of the delivery partners of the Global Goals 2030: Africa Scholarship.
The interview
In this Business Talk interview, Pillay shares what he believes has changed about what it means to be educated and unpacks whether traditional qualifications are still sufficient to enter the modern working world.
Pillay outlines how educational institutions are evolving their offerings to meet new needs and adapt to new issues such as shrinking attention spans and the complexities posed by new technologies.
He also discusses how the education sector can better assess individual competence and how current economic growth challenges can be linked to skill shortages.
Pillay concludes the interview by unpacking the GIFS approach to developing well-rounded students with strong employability and social skills.
Watch the interview with Kershen Pillay below.