Prioritise Integration of Technology into Education Systems, Experts Call on African Countries 

Education experts have called on African countries to prioritise the integration of technology into their education systems.

The experts spoke during the 6th edition of African EduTech Conference 2024 by Edufirst Nigeria with support from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), Nigerian – British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) and Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in Abuja.

The three-day conference has ‘Building an effective African EdTech Ecosystem for global impact’ as its theme.

The programme aims to enhance teaching and learning, improve accessibility and prepare the continent’s future workforce for the demands of the digital age.

Some of the experts, who spoke during the conference, submitted that by embracing digital solutions, Africa can enhance education quality and accessibility, foster economic growth and competitiveness, develop a skilled and adaptable workforce, bridge the digital divide, as well as secure a brighter future for its citizens.

The Executive Director, Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling (CENDLOS), Nana Gyamfi Adwabour, lauded Nigeria for infusing digital skills into its new curriculum for basic schools, even as he charged other African countries to borrow a leaf from the country.

Adwabour emphasised the need for the continent to transit from theory-based education system to practicals.

He said: “It (the new curriculum) is good. To develop in any African country, Technical Vocational Educational Training (TVET) has to be improved. That is how employability can come. The kids should be creators to employ themselves. Other African countries should emulate that. Before you can do that, your curriculum has to be supported. It has to be standard based. So I applaud Nigeria for doing that.

“At first, most African countries were using objective based. That is more teachers dominant, making kids very docile. In Ghana, we have a standard based curriculum which makes kids explore to do more project-based learning and experimentation. We have infused into them that if you fail, it is part of the process.”

The Manager, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), Nigeria office, David Nkwa, said African countries can upscale technology in schools by ensuring its acceptance and adoption among teachers, parents and community leaders through inclusive deployment processes.

According to him, successful adoption can be achieved by engaging stakeholders throughout the process, enabling seamless scaling-up of technology to neighbouring communities and states.

He stated: “African countries can upscale technology in our schools when it becomes accepted and adopted by the users. Because one thing is to deploy technology in schools, another thing is for the teachers and users to adopt it.

“So one of the things that we have done as donor agencies when we carry out various EduTech projects, Smart Schools projects in Nigeria is that we make sure we carry all stakeholders along, especially the teachers, parents and community leaders.

“We make sure that they are part of the whole process, ecosystem of the technology we are deploying. And we make them participate while deploying those technologies. That way, once they accept it, it becomes easier for them to adopt it. And we can scale it up to other neighbouring communities and states.

“First of all, make sure that it is something that can be accepted. And once it is accepted, it is easier to scale to other places.”