Chapter 11.7
IT and Educational Policy in the Sub-Sahara African Region
Frank Tilya
University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Abstract:This chapter presents an overview of Information Technology (IT) and education policies in sub-Saharan Africa. The chapter begins with the discussion of ethnic, socio-economic and the educational systems of the region and their interaction. It then discusses information technology policies and how they can be integrated into education systems of the region. At the beginning 2006, 28 of the sub-Saharan countries had developed national IT policies aimed at ameliorating the realization of national development goals. These policies were global in the sense that it was at the discretion of each government ministry to develop appropriate implementation strategies. It is argued that the IT policies in Education in sub-Saharan Africa must address at least six strategic objectives: IT professional development for management, teaching and learning, electronic content resource development and distribution, access of IT infrastructure, connectivity, community engagement and research and development. Recommendations for further policy development are given.
Keywords:Economic growth, human capital development, implementation strategy, national development goals, science and technology education, IT policy, sub-Saharan Africa
11.7.1 Socio-economic, Educational, and Cultural Context
Through the lens of critical analysis, this chapter presents an overview of Information Technology (IT) and education policies in sub-Saharan Africa (the African countries south of the Sahara desert). The focus is on sub-Saharan Africa, not Africa in total as Northern Africa is similar in many ways to the Middle East. IT-in-education policies in Northern Africa and the Middle East are discussed in the next chapter of this section (Ibrahim, 2008).
The sub-Saharan region is a big region with diverse ethnic groups and different socio-economic and education systems. There are 42 countries located on the sub-Saharan African mainland and 6 island nations. Before the 1960s, most of sub-Saharan Africa was under European colonization. In the nearly four decades after attaining political independence from the major European colonial powers, education has been seen as playing a central role in promoting the social and economic development of the region. As the political transformation of Sub-Sahara Africa took place, leaders of newly independent governments viewed colonial educational policies of the past as biased against economic development, especially given the relatively low levels of educational enrolments in most sub-Saharan countries at the time, and the relatively small numbers of secondary and higher-education graduates that were being produced.
Given Sub-Sahara Africa's historical legacy, most of the region's educational systems have been modeled largely on their European counterparts. Although sub-Saharan educational institutions have been modified partially to respond to local conditions, by and large, formal educational programs reflect the basic primary, secondary, and higher-education structures and standards found in European countries. This has meant for most sub-Saharan countries, educational policy and the allocation of resources to education has taken place essentially through the public sector rather than through the private sector, at the national level rather than at the local level, and frequently through the coordination of educational policy targets with national development planning of one form or another (LeBel, 2000).
According to LeBel(2000) a common assumption in many sub-Saharan countries has been that, the setting of national educational policy reflects popular demand in which decisions are based on popularity not entirely on proper educational needs assessment. Educational policymakers have thus view their role as seeking ways of meeting social demand for education while matching the allocation of resources with the demand for educated labor in the economy in ways that are consistent with social justice and economic efficiency. As elsewhere, in sub-Saharan Africa, education contributes to economic growth. Yet as sub-Saharan countries confront recent low rates of economic growth, and as the social demand for education increases, the educational sector is in a bit of crisis (LeBel, 2000). The protracted and deep-rooted economic crisis that has affected nearly every country in sub-Sahara Africa has adversely impacted on the well-being of the majority of the people (Mayor & Binde, 2001; Sarr, 2000, Teunissen & Akkerman, 2005). As a consequence, many sub-Saharans have experienced a decline in their welfare owing to a fall in real incomes and declining social sector expenditure per head (Basu & Stewart, 1993).
In addition to that, many of the current education systems in the region are unable to cater for all their learners (at both the formal and non-formal levels). The education systems are often stretched with less-than-necessary financial resources, reduced numbers of teachers (many of whom are either under- or unqualified), and insufficient and poor-quality learning resources (Naidoo, 2003).
At the same time, the world has entered the knowledge and information society, driven by information and intellectual products as raw materials (see also Anderson, 2008). In this context, the ability to transmit data over an information and communication infrastructure is a crucial resource for any nation to participate effectively in the global information society and to address development challenges. This poses an additional challenge to sub-Saharan countries as education may demand more IT infrastructural resources. However, the successful deployment of ITs can contribute to the development of knowledge societies in the sub-Saharan countries and contribute to bridging the digital divide.
Despite the daunting challenges facing basic education in sub-Saharan Africa, the region is finding its own way in education. And even though resources are limited, there is no shortage of innovation, optimism, and courage. There is reform in the education sector to improve the availability, quality, and equity of basic education in the region (Nwaobi, 2007; LeBel, 2000). The social and economic progress of the sub-Saharan people, durable peace, and sustained development in Sub-Sahara Africa depend on the success of the education systems. Nowhere in the world has sustained development been attained without a well-functioning system of education, without universal and sound primary education, an effective higher education and research sector, and equality of educational opportunity.
11.7.2 Rationales and Influencing Factors for a Policy about IT in Education
The reforms in sub-Saharan education systems are geared towards achieving United Nations millennium development goals ( Recently, the continent's education ministers adopted a ten-year plan in which science and technology teaching must undergo reform at all levels of sub-Saharan educational systems (African Union [AU], 2006). The plan pronounces teaching methods that should highlight links between science and technology on one hand, and the learner's culture and environment on the other. The plan aims at improving learning outcomes, promote the use of indigenous knowledge, and encourage more girls to pursue scientific careers.
Science and technology education is seen as the most important tool in existence for addressing challenges to development and poverty eradication, and for participating in the global economy (Okrah, 2004). Technologies such as IT are perceived and therefore employed to bring the plan to success. IT is seen to provide a window of opportunity for educational institutions and other organizations to harness and use technology to complement and support the teaching and learning process. Furthermore IT appears to have the potential to transform the nature of education: where and how learning takes place and the roles of students and teachers in the learning process. Naidoo (2003) pointed out three key points, or benefits, of IT that the region can enjoy: IT can result in improved learning, IT offers the greatest support to learners from disadvantaged backgrounds and IT impacts the society, in which the learners reside.
The task for the education sector is to identify ways of creating necessary conditions within the education system to maximize the benefits of IT, and thus support development. Proper acquisition of skills for productively transforming knowledge and information into innovative products and services will define successful knowledge economies and societies. Because knowledge and information have become the most important currency for productivity, competitiveness, and increased wealth and prosperity, nations of the region have placed greater priority on developing their human capital. The sub-Saharan governments at different levels are thus focusing on strategies to increase access to and improve the quality of education through IT (United Nations Economic Commission for Africa [UNECA], 2003).
Mansel and Wehn (1998) noted that knowledge and human capital are essential to all aspects of development. They further observed that key to this form of development is to ensure that all people in a country have the ability to acquire and generate knowledge. This is where IT becomes vital. They are the primary tools to enable the acquisition, generation, access, and use of knowledge that forms the bedrock of effective development. IT needs to be enhanced by an IT policy that ensures people are capable of using it to source and assimilate information and transform it into useful knowledge. IT policy often defines broad strategies and approaches to issues; sometimes polices establish more-specific actions. The rapid integration of IT into learning environments raises many issues that demand the development of effective IT policy. IT policy issues are particularly diverse and challenging, in part because the rapid rate of change in the technology continues to create new possibilities for use and the need to find the best ways to implement them.
At the beginning of 2006, 28 of the sub-Saharan countries had developed national IT policies aimed at ameliorating the realization of national development goals (UNECA, 2006). These policies were general in the sense that it was at the discretion of each government ministry to develop appropriate implementation strategies. An IT policy implementation strategy or framework for the education sector is very essential. This is because for sub-Saharan countries IT can revolutionize the learning and teaching process, open new learning opportunities and access to educational resources well beyond those traditionally available, and impact curriculum development and delivery (Umat, 2000; Coutts, Drinkwater, Simpson, 2001).
Although IT revolution holds great potentials in supporting and augmenting existing educational as well as national development efforts in sub-Saharan Africa, several challenges remain. These challenges include:
-Inadequate IT infrastructure including computer hardware and software, and communication network (bandwidth/access).
-Lack of skilled manpower to manage available systems and inadequate training facilities for IT education at all levels.
-Resistance to change from traditional pedagogical methods to more innovative, technology-based teaching and learning methods, by both students and teachers/academics.
-Underfunding of the overall educational system as available funds are used to solve more-urgent and important survival needs of the schools/institutions.
-Over-dependence of educational system on government for everything which has limited schools’/institutions’ ability to collaborate with the private sector or seek alternative funding sources for IT educational initiatives.
-Ineffective coordination of the IT-for-education initiatives.
(Grant, 2004; Tearle, 2003).
This list is not exhaustive but represents the major problems faced in the development of IT for education in the region, but when adequately addressed, the chances that e-education (which is about connecting learners and teachers to each other and to professional support services, and providing platforms for learning) will thrive in sub-Sahara will increase dramatically.
The challenge of providing modern technologies to sub-Saharan schools in order to enhance the quality of learning and teaching requires a significant investment. In view of the above observations the IT policies in education in Sub-Sahara Africa must address at least six strategic objectives: IT professional development for management, teaching and learning, electronic content resource development and distribution, access of IT infrastructure, connectivity, community engagement and research and development (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2004, 2005)
Naidoo (2003) noted attempts to integrate IT into the education system entails the leadership of the government and the education ministry, working together with other relevant ministries. Leadership must have a clear vision of the mechanism that the government intends to use to implement IT. This vision then needs to be integrated with national policies. Walker (1989) observed three pre-conditions for a successful introduction of new information technologies into an education system:
-An appreciation by the government of the financial, resource, and operational requirements and the resulting consequences.;
-A commitment by government to give time and take responsibility for decision-making and implementation strategies;
-A commitment to a policy of an integrated support service encompassing teacher and technician training, curriculum and assessment, together with software and hardware provision.
Such an approach helps to build IT within a broader environmental context of the education system, covering economic and social infrastructure and policies and global market conditions. Also reflecting this broad context, UNESCO (2004) proposed generic elements that any policy on IT in education should cover, which are:
-A careful analysis of the current context that the country finds itself in with respect to the type of society and economy that is being built and the education system necessary to contribute to it.
-Research and analysis of international developments and trends in IT use in education.
-An outline of the key issues that need to be addressed together with proposed methods of doing so.
From experiences in Asian countries, UNESCO recommends a holistic approach to IT-in-education policy. This policy considers as crucial the integration of other aspects, such as the curriculum, assessment, IT resources, professional development of teachers, research and development and fund generation.
In the context of education, having a sound policy, as well as an implementation strategy that complies with that policy could result in a more systematic introduction to and use of IT. Once policy and an implementation strategy for using IT in the education system are developed, the next step is ensuring that the policy is integrated into the general education policy, and other related policies.
Ten elements have been identified that offer critical success factors for the use of IT in the education system and are, therefore, necessary in any IT in education policy. The key point is how IT policies are transformed into action, driven by a vision and supported by a blueprint and a roadmap. This contention has been corroborated by two studies on analyzing the experiences with IT application in sub-Saharan schools (Isaacs & Broekman, 2001; Yates, 2001). The ten elements are:
-Preparing schools to accept IT: This includes constructing a policy to ensure availability of certain minimum infrastructure requirements for use of IT in schools such as, electricity, phone lines, school buildings; safe and secure environment and insurance. This is a heavy investment and for practicality reasons, many sub-Saharan countries will have to do this in phases.
-Procuring and installing the technology: A policy statement that addresses the type of hardware, operating systems and software conducive to school environments in the county, or at least a decision-making framework is necessary. This includes models for efficient, affordable, quality access to the Internet for schools. Such elements would also need to set student-computer ratio targets and technical support mechanisms. Bureaucratic tendencies in the Sub-Saharan countries may be a bottleneck in the process.
-Training teachers to use IT: Teachers need to understand how to apply IT to support their teaching and administration. Therefore policies should identify ways of improving teacher capacity in the use of IT as well as their specific integration into teaching systems and pedagogical models. The policy should also outline the type of additional staff required to support computers and related technologies in schools. There is not enough expertise in this area but countries may collaborate to train trainers. For example, countries may collaborate to design teacher training models, organize a unit to train trainers from different countries, evaluate the effectiveness of the teacher models, etc.
-Content development and management: The added value of IT in the schools is best realized when appropriate content is developed and used to enhance and support learning, teaching, administration, and management. This involves the production and consumption of appropriate IT-education content relevant to the local context. Therefore, policy in this area is vital to provide guidance for the development and use of content.
-Planning for continuous evaluation and research: Policy on research and evaluation is critical within the context of dynamic and changing IT and its application to the education environments. The constant research and evaluation agenda will ensure that improvements are made to how IT is used in the education system, and this data and analysis will contribute to any review of policy.
-Integrating curriculum:IT on its own has limited uses in the education and training system. Its intrinsic value lies in its integration in education to support and enhance learning and teaching in various subjects. Policy alternatives that identify mechanisms and frameworks that encourage this integration are, therefore, important. The world is still struggling to find out how IT can best be integrated into different subject areas, as a kind of augmentation to existing programs. Learning from each other may prove to be a key to success.
Currently, Computer literacy courses are offered in ad hoc basis in secondary education in many of these countries. In addition, computer science is one of the programmes offered at polytechnics and undergraduate programmes in the region.
-Providing ongoing technical support:The use of IT in the education system requires different levels of technical support. Policy on using IT in education needs to identify the levels of technical support necessary and outline how those needs would be addressed. For example, technical support based within the school, which requires trained teachers; technical supports via help facilities through contracts with local technicians and companies; technical support based in key schools in rural areas: all could be factored into the policy.