COUNTRY FOCUS
mobile learning has also created options
for expanding learning opportunities
anywhere and anytime.
Inhibitors
There is no reliable data on the use
of the Internet for learning in Africa.
Investment in ICT in education to date
involved the rollout of Schoolnet projects
and the establishment of National
Research and Education Networks.
Schoolnet projects typically begin with
equipping selected league schools with
computer labs, training teachers and
where possible, providing students and
teachers with learning materials. Despite
efforts over the last two decades, there
has been limited success in rollout of
ICTs and the Internet in African schools,
because of lack of resources and the
absence of a holistic and integrated
vision and strategy.
It should be noted that the progress
varies from one country to another.
The improved broadband connectivity
in countries like Botswana, Egypt,
Kenya, Morocco, Rwanda, Senegal,
South Africa and Tunisia has already
enhanced learner and teacher access
to the Internet. In other countries,
connections to the Internet are limited.
Despite the promises and significant
penetration of mobile phones across
the continent, mobile learning did
not take off in Africa, because of high
communications costs, low bandwidth,
low penetration of smart phones
and the absence of locally relevant
applications on mobile devices.
Internet access has been improving in
higher education institutions, thanks
to efforts by champions in establishing
National Research and Education
Networks and due to the funding from
development partners such as the
European Commission and the World
Bank. However, the progress varies
considerably, with only universities in
Algeria, Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal,
Tunisia, South Africa, Uganda and
Zambia attaining acceptable degrees of
access comparable to their peers in Asia
and Latin America.
Governments’ lack of strategic vision
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and their limited capacity in terms of
drafting holistic policies and strategies
on learning powered by technology
is one of the constraints to date. The
efforts to bring gender equity as well as
promoting equitable access to disabled
people and ensuring child safety are
very low in Africa. Efforts are underway
in many countries to collect Educational
Management Information Systems
data. Yet this has not been used
effectively to monitor the progress in
education in general and to assess the
impact of ICT use in particular.
While access to mobile broadband
has increased in urban areas, last-mile
connectivity remains a challenge. With
about half of the population more
than 25km from the nearest fibre
connection, broadband connection in
rural areas remains very low. With over
70% of the population living in rural
areas, the majority of those who need
the Internet the most, such as rural
schools, do not have it due to access
challenges. The variation in regulation
and strong market concentration
around a few players also makes the
cost of access high. Existing Internet
providers tend to have outdated, low
quality networks that are not optimally
connected to national, regional and
international Internet exchanges, or
resilient against failures and outages.
Facilitators
Data from the International
Telecommunications Union shows that
over a third of the African population
has access to the Internet today and the
potential of the Internet to transform
the traditional closed, static education to
a learner-centered and interactive model
is very high. Trends in digital classrooms,
cloud computing, social media, one-
to-one computing and mobile learning
have increased reach and opportunities
for using the Internet for learning
without the constraint of geography,
disability, gender and other social and
economic divisions.
The African continent has seen the
growth of Internet connectivity in
recent years, mainly due to availability
of undersea cables and ubiquity of
With over
70% of the
population living
in rural areas,
the majority of
those who need
the Internet the
most, such as
rural schools, do
not have it due to
access challenges.
mobile phones. The total international
bandwidth has reached close to 4.5
Terabits in 2015 and will rise higher
following connection of the region to
more submarine cables after 2009.
The number of Internet users has
also seen an upward trend since then.
International Telecommunications
Union data indicates that number of
the Internet users has doubled since
2009 to 25% in early 2016. While this
shows an upward trend, about three-
quarters of the African population
does not have access to the Internet
today. Moreover, there is a significant
diversity in Africa, with only a few
well-connected countries like Kenya,
Mauritius, Morocco, Nigeria, Seychelles,
South Africa and Tunisia attaining a
connectivity level of around half of the
population. These countries also lead in
utilising the Internet for education.
Road Ahead
The African continent faces the
toughest challenges in meeting these
international goals, because the
education sector confronts far more
pressing needs ranging from lack of
access to absence of high quality
teachers. These challenges cannot be
addressed at the current pace or simply
by building more institutions or hiring
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