Chapter 11-7 - University of North Texas · Web viewUniversity of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania [email protected] Abstract: This chapter presents an overview of Information Technology

Chapter 11.7

IT and Educational Policy in the Sub-Sahara African Region

Frank Tilya

University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

[email protected]

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

1

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

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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

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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 (http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/).

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

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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

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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.

6

- 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-

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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

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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.

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- 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

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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.

- Providing ongoing curriculum support: Ongoing professional development for

teachers is crucial to enable increased and better use of IT. Such support would

include how to integrate the use of IT when teaching different subjects. Policy in

this area should be explicit so that teachers know what is expected of them and

the type of support they can expect.

- Developing partnerships: Implementing IT in the education sector requires a

substantial amount of money and skilled personnel. Therefore partnerships

between government and the private sector, development agencies, school

communities, and others become important. The identification of this approach is

important to include in any policy document.

The implementation of these success factors on developing IT policy and

using it in education vary in emphasis from country to country in the Sub-Saharan

region. Some countries piloted IT use in schools and trained teachers without an IT-

in-education policy for example, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Others, for example

Mauritius find it important to have a policy to serve as a framework and guide.

Because of better economic advantages, South Africa is ahead in developing and

implementing IT policies in its education system. These differences in development

stages amongst countries in the Sub-Saharan region is dealt with in the next section

of this chapter.

11.7.3 Specific Policies about the Introduction of IT in Education

11

Studies of IT development in both developed and developing countries

identify at least four broad approaches through which educational systems and

individual institutions typically proceed in their adoption and use of IT (Anderson &

Van Weert, 2002). Sometimes, the number of stages identified varies. However,

there is a consensus that the introduction and use of IT in education proceeds in

broad stages that may be conceived as a continuum or series of steps. These steps

are termed:

- Emerging: initial phase, administrators and teachers are just starting to explore the

possibilities and consequences of using IT for school management and adding IT

to the curriculum.

- Applying: this phase, administrators and teachers use IT for tasks already carried

out in school management and in the curriculum.

- Infusing: involves integrating or embedding IT across the curriculum, and is seen

in those schools that now employ a range of computer-based technologies in

laboratories, classrooms, and administrative offices).

- Transforming: IT becomes an integral though invisible part of daily personal

productivity and professional practice. The focus of the curriculum is now learner-

centered and integrates subject areas in real-world applications.

The steps represent a continuum of approaches to IT development. They are

similar to the categories discussed by Moonen (2008) in the introductory chapter of

this section of the handbook.

Countries in the sub-Saharan region are at different stages of IT policy

implementation, in terms of infrastructure, curriculum, content development, technical

support, and usage of IT in the teaching-and-learning process. In the typical sub-

Saharan schools equipped with IT, computers are often second-hand and cannot run

complex software; electricity supplies are unreliable; and access to computer rooms

is limited by the competing demands of teachers, students, and administrators. Due

12

to lack of training and familiarity with computers, teachers do not know how to

browse and find Internet materials and are not familiar with educational software.

These differences are not only varying from country to country but even within the

individual countries. There are uneven developments from region to region, area to

area, and even from institution to institution. National priorities and strategies for IT

implementation in education differ widely from system to system. However, although

there is variation in terms of the structure of education systems and other aspects of

the economic and social context, there are also strong similarities in the pathways of

change in terms of the goals of introducing IT in education.

In view of the above observations, a framework to be able to situate a country

in its development of IT-in-education policy is helpful. The framework might also be

useful to show the inter-relationship of various components of IT implementation and

in portraying how complex systems operate. The framework (see Table 11-7-1)

provided by Moonen (2008) is used to situate the IT-in-education policies of Sub-

Saharan countries. The status of IT in African countries as described by UNECA

(2006) provided information to fill-in the framework.

Table 11.7.1

A summary of IT implementation in Sub-Saharan countries

No policy

yet

Emerging

policy

Applying

policy

Infusing

policy

Transforming

education by

policy

National/sub-

national policy

document for

IT in

education

Er, Lr, So,

Tg, Gw, St

Ao, Bw,

Cm, Cf, Cd,

Ga, Gm,

Ls, Si, Sz,

Zm, Zw

Bj, Bf, Bi,

Cv, Km,

Cg, Ci, Dj,

Et, Gh, Gn,

Ke, Mg,

Mr, Sc, Za

13

Mw, Ml,

Mz, Na,

Ng, Rw,

Sn, Sd, Tz,

Ug

Master plan

with a time

frame

Bj, Bf, Cv,

Km, Cg, Ci,

Dj, Et, Gh,

Mg, Ml, Mz,

Na, Ng,

Rw, Sn,

Mr, Sc, Za

Budget plan

and

appropriations

Na, Rw Mr, Sc, Za

Organizational

structure

responsible

for

implementing

the master

plan

Ao, Bw, Ga,

Gm, Ls, Sz,

Zm

Bj, Bf, Cv,

Km, Cg, Ci,

Dj, Et, Gh,

Mg, Ml, Mz,

Na, Ng,

Rw, Sn

Mr, Sc, Za

Monitoring

and

evaluation

scheme or

mechanism

Statement of Bj, Bf, Cv, Mr, Sc, Za

14

inclusion of

women,

minorities,

and those with

special needs

in IT policy

Km, Cg, Ci,

Dj, Et, Gh,

Mg, Ml, Mz,

Na, Ng,

Rw, Sn

Manner by

which the

country and

schools

implement It

for education

if no IT policy

exists

Ao, Bw, Ga,

Gm, Ls, Sz,

Zm

Legend: Abbreviations of countries: Ao(Angola), Bf(Burkina Faso), Bi(Burundi),

Bj(Benin), Bw(Botswana), Cd(DRC), Cf(Central Africa Republic), Cg(Congo), Ci

(Cote D’Voire), Cm(Cameroon), Cv(Cape Verde), Dj(Djibouti), Er(Eritrea),

Et(Ethiopia), Ga(Gabon), Gm(Gambia), Gh(Ghana), Gn(Guinea), Gw(Guinea

Bissau), Ke(Kenya), Km(Comoros), Lr(Liberia), Ls(Lesotho), Mg(Madagascar),

Ml(Mali), Mw(Malawi), Mr(Mauritius), Mz(Mozambique), Na(Namibia), Ng(Nigeria),

Rw(Rwanda), Sc(Seychelles), Sd(Sudan), Si(Sierra Leone), Sn(Senegal), St(Sao

Tome and Principe), Sz(Swaziland), Tg(Togo), Tz(Tanzania), Ug(Uganda), Za(South

Africa), Zm(Zambia), Zw(Zimbabwe).

From Table 11-7-1- is becomes clear that only six countries in the region are

without IT policy. These countries have had political crisis which somehow

contributed to the lagging behind in developing national IT strategies. Except for

Somalia, which has been without government for the past 15 years, the other

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countries have a lot of uncoordinated IT activities going on, initiated mostly by private

sector and civil society. There has been growth in the installation of IT systems and

articulation of benefits, but limited know-how to access has lead to under utilization in

these countries.

Quite a few countries are in the planning stage of preparing IT policies. Some

of these countries have been reluctant to act and remain in this phase for too long,

for example Zambia and Botswana. These countries have draft documents which are

to be ratified by parliament or other decision-making organs. In Botswana, they have

a Revised National Policy on Education (RNPE) that emphasizes the importance of

proficiency in computer use by students and their teachers. Also the Ministry of

Education has pursued an aggressive roll-out campaign to equip all secondary

schools with a fully networked computer laboratory with at least 20 computers and

access to the Internet. Teachers are prepared for the integration and infusion of IT

into, and across the curriculum, heads of schools are also trained to support

resourcing initiatives. In addition, computer-integration support officers are trained to

pass IT skills to their colleagues at school level. IT is taught as a subject and but is

not examinable (Chisholm, Dhunpath & Paterson, 2004). However, teachers are not

satisfied with their training and a systematic approach in training teachers is needed

(Batane, 2004).

In the other countries similar initiatives are in progress though not on such a

large scale as in Botswana. Also civil societies and the private sector in these

countries have been very active in their own ways to integrate IT in business and

education. The problem is only that these efforts are not guided by any policy.

The majority of the countries in the region have an IT policy and have started

in an ad hoc or small project basis to implement them. For example, in Tanzania the

country has started by ensuring teachers colleges get equipped with basic IT

infrastructure and all graduates from the colleges are IT literate and have basic skills

16

to integrate IT in the curriculum (Unwin, 2005; Mendes, Tuijnman & Young, 2003).

The college’s curriculum also supports the integration. The government is also in the

planning stage to provide all secondary schools with IT infrastructure by 2015. In

Kenya, the Ministry of Education has launched a multi-million Information and

Communication Technology Trust Fund and committed to providing 2500 of the 3500

public secondary schools in Kenya with computers by the year 2008 (Omwenga,

2006). In Nigeria several initiatives by government, civil society, and the private

sector are underway towards IT policy implementation for rapid replication of best

practices (Mac-Ikemenjima, 2005). Similar stories are evident in other Sub-Saharan

countries.

Only Mauritius, Seychelles, and South Africa are in the infusing stage of

policy implementation. The two islands are more advanced because of their small

population and the more-dynamic nature of the ethnic composition of the population.

The main resource of Mauritius Island is human capital; the government is committed

to make IT the fifth pillar of its economy. The Mauritius government also intends to

convert the island into a “cyber-island” (Eastmond, 2006; Lincoln, 2006). IT is used in

most schools. Since 2003 IT has been introduced as a subject in primary schools.

For Seychelles, the ministry of education has developed an IT master plan (Ministry

of Education [MoE], 2000) since year 2000 with a goals and strategies to use IT. The

government has put in place policies promoting the use of IT across the system at

both organizational and capacity-building levels. The application of IT in educational

processes at schools and at higher-education levels has become a main priority for

the Seychelles government (Chisholm et al., 2004). IT is implemented in the

secondary-school curriculum. Teachers are trained to manage the IT system. South

Africa on the other hand is a much bigger country. Because of her economic muscle

the level of integration of IT in the curriculum is quite high in a substantial number of

schools. The South Africa targets for 2007 in e-education white paper (Department of

17

Education, 2004) includes: Building an education and training system to support IT

integration in teaching and learning and improved management and administration,

teachers' and managers' confidence in the use of ITs, framework for competencies

for teacher development in the integration of ITs into the curriculum; ensuring that

schools use education content of high quality, that schools are connected, have

access to the Internet and communicate electronically, that communities use and

support ICT facilities.

However, funding has always been a perennial hurdle for IT projects or

programs in these infusing-level countries as it is in all other countries in the region.

11.7.4 Reflections and Future Steps to Improve the Introduction of IT in

Education

Using IT in education may be the answer to alleviating the educational crisis

that sub-Sahara Africa is experiencing. The identification of critical success factors

related to IT interventions in schools is necessary.

A phased implementation of IT policy in education ensures that the

implementation process is manageable and the development of best practices and

lessons learned is gradual. It also provides opportunities for evaluations so that the

policy can be revised and fine-tuned.

IT infrastructure is the backbone of the IT venture in education. Therefore it is

important that Sub-Saharan African governments mobilize support from

telecommunications and IT organizations and industry to promote affordable Internet

connectivity and computer hardware and software. High costs of telecommunications

prohibit schools from adopting IT, especially in the rural areas. But, technological

innovation and the decreasing costs of wireless and other technologies combined

with progressive policy and regulatory environments have resulted in the provision of

18

telecommunication services to remote areas in Latin America, Central Europe, and

Asia, traditionally thought unserviceable by incumbent telecommunication companies

(UNESCO, 2004). In a policy move inline with this increasing number of success

stories in other parts of the world, some Sub-Saharan African governments have

allowed for the introduction of smaller-scale participants into the telecommunications

market to provide services in under-serviced areas to enable rural areas experience

some benefits of ITs. Other governments facilitated the use of broadband

communications through the introduction of competition policy with flat and low tariffs,

encouraging private sector’s investment for new services including ADSL, and

removal of taxes on imported PCs, for example Tanzanian Government did this since

year 2001. These measures encourage implementation of IT policy in education.

Also in order to enhance the reach of IT in education, there is a need to

develop practical measures that will be helpful in gauging the extent to which

objectives are being met. The following are some of the suggested measures:

- Information Technologies are incorporated into education and institutional

administration (includes record keeping and decision making).

- Functional access to technology occurs in all schools regardless of geographic

location.

- Computers are used in the instruction of all content areas.

- Computers with Internet access are available to all students and teachers during

as well as outside of formal class time.

- Students graduate with IT skills which can be employed directly in the world of

work.

- Distance education is widely used to make up for shortfalls in physical capacity

and reach of the local education system.

(Lawson & Comber, 1999; Grant, 2004).

With these measures, IT can impact not only education, but also the culture

19

and economy of the region.

The Sub-Saharan governments need to be careful to avoid past failures of

investment in computers and connectivity that have occurred in other regions of the

world. These failures relate to:

- An emphasis on quantitative benchmarking based on rough indicators such as

pupils per computer or investment in the technological infrastructure.

- The realization that an investment in IT infrastructure solely does not led to

adoption of IT in the learning process.

- IT investment often being made without the necessary complementary

developments in teacher training, content, partnership, and organizational and

regulatory frameworks to promote participation of private providers in the

development of IT in education.

(Hawkins, 2002; Robertson, 2003)

Some issues may hinder policy implementation. Grant (2004) admonished

that the effective implementation of policies and ideas necessitates identifying and

forecasting potential challenges in the environment. Some of these challenges and

threats particularly pertinent to Sub-Saharan situation are:

- Lack of IT expertise amongst policy makers.

- Lack of coordinated planning.

- High opportunity cost of technology.

- Limited budget allocation for IT maintenance.

- Shortage of teachers with IT skills.

- The dominance of English on the Internet and general computer software that

makes it challenging for Sub-Saharan countries whose main language is not

English.

- Possibility of widening instructional and achievement gaps among schools.

- Lack of acceptance and support from parents and the community as a whole.

20

- Lack of legislative and policy implementation that ensure the longevity of

initiatives, especially in countries where changes in political administration are

likely to disrupt policy implementation.

Having a comprehensive IT policy in each of Sub-Saharan countries is

something unavoidable if the region is serious about preparing future generations for

a knowledge economy. On contemplating of what is required of policy makers, the

following ideas are put forward:

- The educational transformations associated with technology are that technology is

not a mere ingredient that “boosts” teaching and learning. Rather, it is part of a

collective project of educational communities, and the outcomes of that

undertaking depend on a multitude of decisions at the local (schools) as well as

the national and global level.

- Research input into the implementation process is important but we need to

reconfigure the systems of educational research and teaching so that we can

respond more quickly and establish a more-dynamic knowledge base on

questions of IT use in education. Through research, justification of continued

investment of funds for IT in education can then be made and educators, policy

makers, educational researchers, and the public will know what can be gained by

using technology in schools, and at what costs.

- IT has the potential to enhance access, quality, and effectiveness in education in

general and to enable the development of more and better teachers in Sub-

Sahara Africa in particular. As computer hardware becomes available to an

increasing number of schools, more attention needs to be given to the capacity

building of the key transformers in this process, namely, teachers. Teacher

education is paramount in the success of IT integration in the curriculum.

- Currently, there is a strong convergence of support for the social construction of

knowledge – the idea that learning emerges from an active, collaborative process

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of constructing understandings, or knowledge. Hence teacher education needs to

focus on integration of well-designed technologies in the context of meaningful,

mindful inquiry projects, non-presentational pedagogies, access to resources and

tools, and adequate support for technological maintenance and pedagogical

renewal.

- One of the phenomena of recent time has been the enthusiasm with which

Africans have adopted cell-phone technology(BBC, 2005; The Time, 2006; USA

Today, 2005).Clearly there is a pressing need to communicate, and the attraction

of going from no telephonic communication to a mobile phone has provided a

huge impetus to this industry. Prepaid payment methods have fuelled the demand,

and growth is still strong. In education a similar trend can happen. Schools in the

Sub-Saharan region are not equipped even with basic resources as in the

Western world. Due to necessity, Internet and other IT products can prove to be

as successful as the cell phone. Policy makers need to seriously think about how

to fuel the demand for IT in their educational systems.

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