Keypoints:
- Only 2% of some schools are online
- Kenya, Ghana and Rwanda lead with innovation
- Report urges open-source, offline-first tools
A NEW pan-African report unveiled at the recent eLearning Africa Conference is calling for bold, collaborative action to close the continent’s yawning digital education gaps and unlock scalable edtech solutions. The study, titled Leading Perspectives on the State of Digital Courseware in Low-Resource Countries, lays bare the structural and infrastructural hurdles holding back innovation, while showcasing country-led successes that could chart a transformative path forward.
Developed by the mEducation Alliance in collaboration with the Spix Foundation, the report draws on insights from 41 education leaders, including ministry officials, tech implementers, donors and global experts across eight African countries — Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Malawi, Tanzania, Liberia, The Gambia, and Zambia.
‘This research is critically important because it identifies both structural barriers and practical solutions that have proven effective across diverse African contexts,’ said Anthony Bloome, Founder and Executive Director of the mEducation Alliance. ‘Rather than reinventing solutions in each country, we can accelerate progress through shared learning.’
Connectivity gaps widen learning divide
Despite growing momentum for digital learning, the report highlights alarming connectivity shortfalls. In some countries, as few as 2 percent of primary schools have internet access — a statistic that underscores the urgency of tailored, offline-first digital strategies.
The report notes how African countries, even in resource-limited settings, are adopting pioneering approaches to digital learning. In Kenya, the government’s Digital Literacy Programme has distributed digital devices to over 20,000 public primary schools and trained 75,000 teachers, embedding technology into classrooms to nurture 21st-century skills.
Ghana, meanwhile, is leveraging a shared Learning Management Platform (LMP) — developed jointly with Zambia — to stream pre-recorded maths and English lessons aligned to both countries’ curricula for junior secondary students. Rwanda’s digital education push, backed by strong policy frameworks and partnerships with institutions like the World Bank, is singled out for prioritising edtech-spec
ific strategies over general IC
T adoption.
From pandemic improvisation to policy reform
The report also reflects on how the Covid-19 pandemic acted as a digital stress test. ‘The pandemic pushed practice ahead of policy across multiple countries,’ said John Kimotho, former Director of Educational Media at Kenya’s Institute of Curriculum Development. ‘Mobile phones and social media filled learning gaps, but now we must codify these innovations into policy — from interoperability and infrastructure to culturally relevant content.’
Blueprint for scalable edtech
To ensure a robust edtech ecosystem, the report outlines a five-point action agenda:
- Adopt open-source platforms and transparent data-sharing systems to avoid vendor lock-in.
- Design offline-first content that doesn’t depend on continuous internet access.
- Invest in teacher training focused on digital pedagogy and practical integration.
- Create quality standards tailored for accessibility, affordability and contextual relevance.
- Develop Africa-wide digital learning norms to ensure scalability and cross-country compatibility.
With the World Economic Forum forecasting a need for 23 million additional STEM graduates in Africa by 2030, the stakes for digital reform could not be higher.
