- However, the crisis largely exposed the challenges in the use of technology for education in poorer nations.
- Bridge Schools managed to leverage technology to aid the traditional classroom teaching and learning.
Image: FILE
School doors around the world closed for many months to contain the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic.
During this crisis, education stakeholders adopted technology to support remote learning.
In many parts of the world— with good internet infrastructure and modern technology— remote learning proved to be effective in aiding instructions and enhancing learning.
However, the crisis largely exposed the challenges in the use of technology for education in poorer nations due to inequities such as lack of access to computers and the internet.
In Kenya, the Bridge Schools—mainly serving the underserved communities - managed to leverage technology to aid the traditional classroom teaching and learning.
Having adopted tech-assisted learning a decade earlier, the institutions were able to customise what was in place to ensure continuity of some form of learning in the nine months stint.
With a high penetration of mobile phones, Bridge Schools utilised the social media platform WhatsApp, SMS and virtual classrooms where teachers and learners would interact as they do in class.
Griffin Asigo, the Bridge Kenya managing director, says the platforms used are engagement channels that they already used in communities.
This, he says, has enabled learning without a lot of financial burden on parents.
The resources reduced learning disruption and kept children on the path to success.
The model, dubbed Bridge@home, has seen learners in these institutions perform better than their peers in the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams in 2020.
“This approach placed Bridge in a unique position to create a remote learning programme that would enable children to continue learning based upon technologies such as WhatsApp, SMS and direct messaging,” Asigo says.
However, Asigo argues that insufficient data on what works in the use of tech in education might prove to be a bottleneck.
He says the key to achieving a workable tech-based learning solution is the use of data to track performance and understand approaches that work and those that don’t.
"Without measurement of what is happening in our schools there can be no improvement," he says.
Nairobi International School says despite challenges posed by the pandemic, the institution was able to successfully complete its academic year virtually for all 620 students enrolled.
Director Radhika Lee says the swift transition was facilitated by a key requirement that makes laptops part of the schools' admission must-haves.
On admission, learners are required to own a laptop and for those who don't have one, Radhika says, the institution has a loan programme to facilitate the learner to acquire one.
“A regular day in an online class is just as hectic as, if not more than, physical classes,” Radhika says.
"We work longer, preparation for online takes longer."
On a normal day, the virtual school starts with registration. This is done in the morning and sets the stage for teacher-learner interaction.
“Sitting in front of a laptop screen is tiring so the kids get 15 minutes to cool off in between periods before proceeding to the next class,” she said.
Radhika says no absenteeism has been witnessed since day one.
She, however, says some classes have been affected by power outages. These cases are, however, few and far between.
During the United Nations General Assembly 2021 conference, a high-level dialogue on education and the SDGs recognized challenges facing education and achievement of SDG 4.
World leaders who addressed the conference committed to transforming education and promoting innovative learning solutions through digital technologies.
The key to achieving this will be the efficient and effective use of data to track performance and understand approaches that work and those that don’t.
Throughout UNGA2021 and the various reports issued by international agencies, it became clear that data is largely absent.
World Bank director of education Jaime Saavedra explained in a joint session with Unesco and Unicef:
“If we don't have data, we are really flying blind. It’s impossible to know where systems are and it's impossible to know if the policies that we are implementing are working or not. So, we need to focus on the outcome and make sure that kids are in school that they are learning”.
According to Unicef, close to half of Africa’s population is under 18, and as reported by the Unesco Institute of Statistics, one out of five children between the ages of six and 11 is out of school.
This number rises with the child’s age, with an entire third of young people between 12 and 14 out of school increasing to a startling 50 per cent for those between 15 and 17.
President Kenyatta co-hosted the GPE Education Summit in London where he called on world leaders to recognise the role of technology in improving learning outcomes and commit to leverage technology-supported learning to improve equity in access to education.
The President proposed the advancement of technology in learning as a means of curbing the inequalities observed in education access.
“We need to make smart investments in education technology to help close the digital divide and leapfrog infrastructure deficits in schools," Kenyatta said.
Edited by Henry Makori