BY NELIWE NGUBANE
MBABANE— Imagine a classroom where lessons do not move at one pace, where artificial intelligence adjusts learning to suit each student, and where the city itself becomes part of the lesson.
For St Francis High School pupil Zotsani Motsa, this is more than a futuristic idea. It is a vision of how smart cities could transform education in Eswatini while preparing young people for an economy increasingly driven by technology and innovation.
Speaking during the Mbabane Municipal Council’s Mic Drop Monday series, Motsa challenged the traditional idea of education, arguing that smart-city development should go hand in hand with smarter and more inclusive learning systems.
AI-powered learning
“A smart city is a symbiotic relationship between advanced infrastructure and engaged citizens,” she said.
Motsa explained that technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence could help cities manage resources more efficiently, reduce pollution, improve transportation and support greener energy solutions.
But she believes the benefits of smart technology should not stop at infrastructure.
According to Motsa, AI could change the classroom by providing students with personalised learning experiences that respond to their individual pace, abilities and needs.
Learning beyond classrooms
Instead of every learner receiving the same lesson at the same speed, she imagined a system where technology helps students understand difficult concepts in ways that work for them.
“Me as a student, getting to learn by doing rather than sitting in a boring class and learning a ton of theory, which I forget sooner or later,” she said.
Her vision also extends learning beyond school walls.
In a smart city, Motsa said, parks, museums and local businesses could become extensions of the classroom, allowing learners to study real-world information such as transportation patterns, energy consumption, weather and environmental conditions.
Closing the digital gap
However, she warned that technology-driven education could create another form of inequality if access to the internet remains limited.
“A truly smart education ecosystem requires universal internet access,” she said, stressing that students must be able to access information regardless of where they are.
Putting citizens first
For Motsa, this is where the human side of smart-city development becomes critical.
“A city is only as smart as its citizens,” she said. “There is nothing smart about a city that leaves people behind.”
She believes ensuring that young people have access to digital tools and quality education is essential for preparing them for upward economic mobility and living-wage jobs in growing technology and innovation sectors.
Preparing for future jobs
Her message places education at the centre of Eswatini’s smart-city ambitions: technology may build smarter systems, but educated and empowered citizens will determine how those systems are used.
As Mbabane and other urban centres look towards a more technology-driven future, Motsa’s vision raises a fundamental question — what is the value of a smart city if its young people are not equipped to participate in it?
For the next generation, the future classroom may have no walls, but it must have one thing: access for everyone.
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(Courtesy Pic)
