This article analyses how national digital technology policies and private sector innovations can deliver education during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. It is based on findings of a new Southern Voice study by IPAR-Rwanda and ESRF Tanzania.

More than 4 million schoolchildren had to stay home in Rwanda for eight months due to the pandemic. While schools temporarily closed for quarantine, learning continued, using different media, such as radio, television and the internet. To date, all secondary schools and Technical, Vocational, Education and Training (TVET), and higher learning institutions have been instructed to adopt online, digital, internet, and distance learning. We aimed to determine whether teachers can handle online technologies and if learners are digitally competent and possess devices to access online learning platforms.

Lack of access to digital devices

Statistics from the Ministry of ICT and Innovation and structured interviews with the Ministry of ICT of officials’ 2020 show that 12 million people in Rwanda have mobile phones. Still, only 1. 9 million of them have smartphones. This demographic consists of well-off urban households, confirming the rural-urban divide in terms of smartphone penetration and adoption of digital services.

There is a general lack of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) literacy among the Rwandan population. Moreover, equity in access to ICT-based learning remains a significant concern. Pupils from urban, poor households, and those living in rural areas, have less access to digital tools.

Teachers are asked to deliver their lessons through online platforms. However, neither they nor their students own a smartphone or a computer. They are also seldom knowledgeable in the use of online platforms. In addition, there is no access to the internet in remote areas, and broadband costs are not affordable for all. This situation makes the use of traditional media as a tool for education even more important. According to the statistical education yearbook 2018, 73.8% of Rwandan households use radio. Almost 70% of Rwandans own a mobile telephone, but only 1.9% own smartphones.

Gendered impact on education

Our findings show that the impact has been disproportionate between male and female students. Teenage pregnancies among primary and secondary school girls increased by 9.5% since the start of the pandemic, from 7.3% in 2016. For instance, at least 550 teenage girls from the Bugesera district in Rwanda got pregnant by October 2020, compared to 54 unwanted pregnancies among secondary school girls in the same community in 2016.

Unlike government-funded schools, some private schools that solely depended on student fees closed. Their teachers had to find other work during the lockdown. Those working for private schools and universities were also affected. Some lost their employment. Students were asked to remain at home during total lockdowns, sometimes without alternatives to educational access.

Adapting education policies to emergencies

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted education administrators such as the Rwanda Education Board (REB) to rethink its delivery strategies during emergencies. Learning tools, including the internet, television and radio, have been used to reach students at home. During lockdowns, school administrators began to send students lessons and homework through platforms, such as REB e-Learning. Smartphones and computers aided them to create classes, lectures and enrol students to read and do the formative assessments. Authorities also set up internet portals where parents would access the digital learning materials during the lockdowns. However, not all students could afford mobile, despite significant investment by the Government in ICT infrastructure.

The Rwandan households that have access to the internet account for 17.2%. The total of secondary and TVET schools with internet connectivity in the country was at 61.1% in 2019. The number of computers in secondary schools rose to 100,366 in 2019 compared to 25,218 in 2018. The increment is due to the policy of distribution of Positivo laptops by the Government for high schools. We also observed that the teaching staff ratio per computer was at 4:1 in 2019, while the proportion of students per computer was for 8:1 in the same year.

Our findings further reveal that Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) became active when online and distance learning was introduced. E-learning solutions were developed and enhanced by the Government and private development partners to support education and training continuity. In this case, teachers taught using radio and television.

Recommendations

Making lessons for all classes available daily on all national TV channels would allow for a broader reach. It would ensure that every child, no matter his/her geographical location, would be able to access educational resources.

ICT literacy among the Rwandan population needs to improve if ICT is to become a key ingredient to service delivery and business. It can be done through partnerships with private and community-based organisations. It would contribute to learning opportunities aimed at improving ICT literacy for all Rwandans. Facilitating the acquisition of skills and enhancing teacher training would increase learner motivation and engagement in the use of ICT infrastructures and services.

In sum, the need for information and communication at all levels of education is crucial. It should address the challenges of learners and academia during and after COVID-I9 times. ICT has the potential to innovate, accelerate, enrich and deepen the skills of both teachers and learners. It can help linking school experiences to work practices. The ultimate aim should be to build a robust and sustainable information communication technology system for education.

Text editor: Gabriela Keseberg Dávalos

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