E-learning a dream in rural areas

In recent days, I’ve experienced issues with the reliability of my network connectivity, and the ever-increasing costs of data.

I could consider myself relatively privileged because I used to be in full-time employment and access to Wi-Fi was not an issue at all.

I recently moved to a small town in the Eastern Cape — Whittlesea, about 35km from the Komani CBD.

The use of platforms such as Skype or Zoom to make video calls is a luxury.

The network coverage is poor and prohibits connection not only for educational purposes but also for social reasons as my family are in Cape Town and it is very difficult to communicate with them. We do keep in touch via phone calls, but the network for audio calls is also unreliable.

I cannot but wonder how the emerging trend in higher and basic education to blend face-to-face learning with online learning to minimise the spread of the coronavirus at our schools, colleges and universities will affect our students.

At the moment, only the privileged few in our country benefit from using technology for home schooling during this health pandemic.

While I appreciate the efforts made by the government to prevent the spread of Covid-19 particularly for the poor and destitute who are without best medical care, there are other factors which need to be looked at, such as the geographical spread of our students in tertiary institutions across the country and in public schools.

The lockdown has had serious educational consequences as the majority of students in the rural areas might not be able to access the internet due to network coverage.

Many historically disadvantaged and historically privileged universities have gone an extra mile to purchase laptops for students through the NSFAS scheme and endowments for the rich institutions, a move which is welcome but a question that lingers is what purpose is the purchase of laptops and data going to serve if the network connection is the issue for the rural students?

What about the missing middle students who do not qualify for NSFAS funding and is the learning reserved for some?

During the lockdown, I have seen an exponential growth and reporting of learning technologies for online learning in higher education institutions not only in SA but all over Africa and the entire world.

Academics have set up WhatsApp groups and Zoom and have facilitated collaborative learning groups using expensive data.

The use of these learning technologies is not enabling learning for all.

It is unfortunate that learning through technology for now only benefits the children of the rich and middle class who are mostly in urban areas.

Many students are now back in their communities where these challenges are experienced.

In addition to the connectivity problem, is the lack of access to laptops by some.

The current environment in many rural areas in the Eastern Cape is not suitable for learning under the lockdown.

In an academic article published by Hicks, Reid and George, there are demands for universities to provide for a larger and more diverse crosssection of the population, to cater for emerging patterns on educational involvement that facilitate lifelong learning and to include technology-based practices in the curriculum.

The lockdown has served as a harsh reminder that the SA higher education sector draws students from diverse backgrounds with unequal access to learning technologies, internet access connectivity and a stable source of income.

The access to learning technologies and internet enables learning more especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, but it look likes many universities are oblivious to the daily struggle of our students who come from some of the deep rural areas where network coverage is a privilege.

The most hard-hit students and communities in the lockdown as far as technology and access to the internet is concerned are rural communities.

The Eastern Cape is mainly rural and has a high unemployment rate and, according to SA Social Security Service statistics, has more beneficiaries than any other province.

Social services minister Lindiwe Zulu was quoted in an IOL article d in August 2019 saying that 71% of Eastern Cape social grant recipients are young people.

It would therefore be prudent for academic departments and institutions to have a deeper understanding of different contexts and environments where the students originate from when developing e-learning tools and learning technologies.

For instance, Unisa’s online learning is best suited for the urban, rich and middle-class students as rural students have constant internet and network coverage challenges.

All network providers should look at these issues and install cellphone towers across the province and where needed provide boosters.

The department of basic education should also consider partnering with local broadcasters to share prepared lessons for home schooling.