ICT plugging the education gaps in Africa
AFRICAN countries have worked hard to improve children’s access to basic education, but there’s still significant work to be done. Today, 32.6 million children of primary-school age and 25.7 million adolescents are not going to school in sub-Saharan Africa.
The quality of education also remains a significant issue, but there’s a possibility the technology could be part of the solution. The digital revolution under way in the region has led to a boom in trials using information and communication technology (ICT) in education – in and out of the classroom.
A study carried out by the French Development Agency (AFD), the Agence Universitaire de la Francophonie (AUF), Orange and Unesco shows that ICT in education in general, and mobile learning in particular, offers a number of possible benefits. These include access to low-cost teaching resources, added value compared to traditional teaching and a complementary solution for teacher training.
This means that there’s a huge potential to reach those excluded from education systems. The quality of knowledge and skills that are taught can also be improved.
Access to means of communication is now a key part of daily life for the vast majority of people living in Africa. Cellphone prices and the cost of communication have dropped. Cellphone use has increased from 5% in 2003 to 73% in 2014. There are 650 million cellphone owners on the continent (more than the US and Europe combined) and 3G mobile networks are growing rapidly.
Costs are falling and rural areas will soon be reachable thanks to a number of developments. These include undersea cables connecting Africa to other continents, fibre-optic cables that provide connectivity within the continent and recent satellite connection plans. Access to wired internet remains low with 11% of households connected. But access to mobile internet is already helping the region catch up. Smartphone penetration levels should reach 20% in 2017.
This rapid expansion of mobile internet services is contributing to the region’s economic and social development, particularly in areas such as financial inclusion (mobile banking), health (mobile health) and farmers’ productivity.
Given the features of cellphones (voice calling, text messaging) and smartphones (reading texts and documents, MP3, images and video) and their wide availability, their potential for improving access and quality of educational services is also boundless.
M-learning (or m-education) – educational services via a connected mobile device – is the main lever for growth in educational information and communication technology and for making content available. This could be for learning (teacher training, learner-centred teaching, tests) or making up for the lack of data for education system management.
The arrival of personal computers in the 2000s facilitated the individualisation of school ICT. The US One Laptop per Child project, launched in several African countries in 2005, aimed to equip schools with laptops at low cost.
Nearly 2 million teachers and pupils are involved in this programme across the world. More than 2.4 million computers – at a cost of around $200 (R2 838) each, including an open teaching platform – have been delivered. Since 2010 the large-scale diffusion of mobile communications technology has transformed practises with easier access to educational resources in and outside school. The arrival of low-cost, low-consumption smartphones and tablets allows ICT in education to gradually move out of the school environment.
The distribution of Kindle-style readers to 600 000 children in nine African countries has seen a considerable impact on reading and on pupils’ results in educational tests.
The sending of text messaging containing short lessons, multiple-choice tests or audio recordings have also been shown to have an important effect on teachers. This is also true of Moocs (massive open online courses) adapted to African countries’ needs and capacities.
Some technologies are undergoing a partial revival thanks to the combination of media that can be used in any single project. For example, radio and television programmes are inexpensive and attract a considerable audience. Combined with internet and cellphones they provide promising educational results.
The BBC’s Janala English-instruction programme for the people of Bangladesh is a good example of co-operation between diverse actors.
Most African countries are showing an interest in technology in education. But a range of conditions must be satisfied to ensure they are deployed efficiently, including:
Responding to technical and economic constraints.
Responding to users’ needs and strengthening their capacities. Finding sustainable funding models. Facilitating effective multi-stakeholder collaboration.
Systems and strategies can be put in place for moving to the next level, particularly by setting up stakeholder coalitions. ICT can help to change the paradigm of skills development systems for education in Africa. – The Conversation
This article was co-authored with Erwan Lequentrec (Orange Labs) and Francesc Pedró (Unesco). The text is based on Digital Services for Education in Africa, written by David Ménascé and Flore Clément.
Huge potential to use new technology as a problem-solver
Rohen d’Aiglepierre, PhD Research Fellow, Human Capital at the French Development Agency (AFD); Amélie Aubert Project Manager, Education, training, employment, AFD; and Pierre-Jean Loiret, Head of Digital Education, University Agency of Francophonie (AUF)