Professor Veronica McKay
Distinguished Professor
College of Education
University of South Africa
Session Chair: Thursday, 30 July 2026
Student Support and Co-Curricular Activities CNA
Venue: Senate Hall, 2nd Floor, Winnie-Madikizela-Mandela Building, Muckleneuk Campus, Pretoria.
Welcome and setting the scene
From learning to earning: future skills and employability in the age of AI
Why does student support need to evolve from learning to earning?
Professor Veronica McKay is a Distinguished Professor in the College of Education at the University of South Africa. Her research focuses on education policy, teacher development, lifelong learning and large-scale education reform. She has undertaken research and policy work for UNESCO, the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Commonwealth of Learning, the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA), and the South African Department of Basic Education.
She is an Honorary Fellow of the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning and has published extensively on lifelong learning, teacher development and education systems.
She also led South Africa’s award-winning Kha Ri Gude Mass Literacy Campaign, which received the UNESCO Confucius Prize for Literacy.
Her work bridges research, policy and practice, with a strong focus on strengthening education systems and improving learning outcomes.