The Mawazo Ideas Digest Issue 5: The Time to Invest in Africa’s Distance Learning Infrastructure is Now

Welcome back to the Mawazo Ideas Digest!

Among the many ways that the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the region, its effects on the education sector continue to be of relevance to us at Mawazo. As the pandemic puts universities and higher learning research institutions on the spot, testing their ability to adapt quickly, will local and regional universities rise to meet the digital challenge? Our analysis shows that there are opportunities to be harnessed, but also immense challenges in the transition online for learners in the region.

 In early April, as countries went into lockdown to help curb the spread of COVID-19 infections, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) released a statement outlining the severe effects that COVID 19 was having on education globally.

For learners locked out of classrooms in sub-Saharan Africa, UNESCO pointed to additional challenges presented by the pandemic. At a time when many countries were turning to online learning to keep the school-year going, a vast majority of learners in the region either lacked access to household computers (89% of all learners, according to UNESCO estimates), the internet (82% of all learners), or both. This point was emphasised by Mawazo Board Member, Dr. Joy Kiiru, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Nairobi’s School of Economics, when we talked to her for this Digest.

“Students face challenges when we look at the affordability of [internet] data or the “gadgets” that they need to be online,” Dr. Kiiru said. Internet access in remote areas, and lack of information, or technical know-how, also present challenges for students, she added. Cautioning that if we did not address these challenges, we may “exacerbate or create new inequalities in learning outcomes between students.”

Writing for University World News, Wachira Kigotho contends that COVID 19 has effectively made an already alarming situation worse. Kigotho points to poor infrastructure and increasing university fees as being major barriers to enrollment prior to the pandemic. The emergent need for a move to e-learning could possibly strain an already struggling sector, Wachira warns.

At around the same time that UNESCO published its statement on the digital divide in learning, The Conversation Africa (a Mawazo program partner), published an article discussing the progress that universities in Kenya have made in the last decade in their efforts to go digital— and the challenges this transition presents, to both students and lecturers. According to a survey conducted by the author, Dr. Jackline Nyerere, a Senior Lecturer at Kenyatta University, only 19,000 students out of 500,000 were registered for open and distance learning. Furthermore, less than half of those registered, accessed course material through the university’s online platform. Instead, the majority used materials that were physically mailed or directly emailed to them. This speaks to the lack of accessibility to all of the functions of distance learning platforms, and inherent roadblocks that this lack of accessibility leads to. Dr. Nyerere doesn’t believe that these issues are insurmountable however. She called for an immediate investment, by both governmental and academic institutions in e-learning resources. This investment, she argued, could be made by bolstering both internet connectivity and accessibility, as well as increasing the robustness of the online content, to include video as well as text.

For Professor Bitange Ndemo, Mawazo Board member and Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Nairobi’s Business School, internet coverage is just one of the barriers in getting learners online.

“We have a problem with affordability,” he says. “Much of the cost for internet access is in government taxes”, he explained to Mawazo. Perhaps in answer to that issue, some universities, like the University of Nairobi, have addressed the issue by buying data bundles for students.

Video: A class on Chemistry by REB “USES, PHYSICAL PROPERTIES AND PREPARATION OF PHENOL”

In Rwanda, the Rwanda Education Board (REB), have chosen to tackle e-learning aggressively. They opened a YouTube Channel, and an e-learning platform that streamlined all the resources available for every level of education in the country. According to the Rwandan newspaper, The New Times, the REB also partnered with local telecom providers to waive internet fees for students. Overall, the REB is confident in the content that their platform and YouTube Channel provides, but face a larger problem with internet connectivity and accessibility around the country.

Internet connectivity has been a wider issue for the whole region in the years leading up to COVID-19. The necessary move to e-learning engendered by the pandemic however, could be a catalyst for a more accessible, affordable, and reliable, internet connection for more people around the continent. Dr. Mary Abukutsa- Onyango, another Mawazo Board member and Professor of Horticulture and Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research, Production and Extension) at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology in Kenya (JKUAT), sees the current situation as a challenge for universities but remains hopeful for the outcome. She asserts that, “With proper planning, appropriate policies and strategizing, this is a global watershed moment for digital transformation in Universities especially in Africa by turning this challenge into an opportunity.”

As we look ahead, we can see how online learning will become more and more vital to education on the continent. At Mawazo, we believe that academia can be a tool for the empowerment of women, and that women are key to unlocking its underutilized potential on the continent by infusing new talent, energy, and perspectives into research, policy making, and public discourse. In answer to that, Mawazo recently launched the Mawazo Learning Exchange (MLEx), an open online platform that provides e-learning materials and other free digital resources targeted at early-career African researchers. The MLEx curriculum is designed to provide a unique liberal arts style approach to professional development through short, intensive, online courses that build core research skills. By supporting the professional development of African women in the knowledge sector in this way, the Mawazo Learning Exchange hopes to continue to amplify the voices and contributions of women to the continent’s development.

You can read more about our hopes for the platform and why we chose to design it with “empathy and flexibility,” in an interview with Mawazo’s E-Learning Specialist, Dr. Angeline Wairegi, here.

For Watching:

“Impact of COVID-19 on Higher Education in Africa: Focus on Digitalization and Inclusion (Part 1)” Association of African Universities. May 2020. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8ToXdaDkIk

For Reading:

Rose Mutiso., Katie Hill. “Why hasn’t Africa gone digital?” Scientific American. August 2020. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-hasnt-africa-gone-digital/

Kazeem, Yomi. “Nigerian schools are being forced to rethink their digital limits and education models in a pandemic.” Quartz Africa. July 2020. https://qz.com/africa/1882896/nigerian-schools-adopt-online-learning-amid-covid-19/

 Kuwonu, Franck. “Radio lessons: In Africa schools are closed, but learning goes on.” UN Afrca Renewal. May 2020. https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/may-2020/coronavirus/africa-schools-are-closed-learning-goes

Lashitew, Addisu. “Covid-19 exposes Africa’s digital divide” Africa Business Daily. September 2020. https://africanbusinessmagazine.com/opinion/covid-19-exposes-africas-digital-divide/

 Matlali, Lindiwe. “How can Africa prepare its education system for the post-COVID world?” World Economic Forum (WEF). October 2020. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/10/how-can-africa-pivot-its-education-system-using-enthusiasm-of-covid-reset/

Stromeyer, Rebecca. “The Effect of Covid-19 on Education in Africa and its Implications for the Use of Technology”. International Council for Open and Distance Learning (ICDE) and E-Learning Africa. September 2020.  https://www.icde.org/icde-blog/elearningafrica-the-effect-of-covid-19-on-education-in-africa