As the introduction to this series has illustrated, it goes without saying that the education sector is suffering disproportionately from the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic as most African governments continue to grapple with ineffective responses. The glare and shame of learning inequalities between the upper-middle and lower demographics is as clear as day and night. While schools serving the urban and/or middle-upper demographics are able to access some semblance of decent online learning, remote education across schools in rural and the lower income demographics remain a challenge due to barriers like lack of teachers, access to critical infrastructure like electricity, devices, and internet connectivity both in school and at home.
Photo by Doug Linstedt on Unsplash
The Brookings report by Rebecca Winthrop finds that Ghana’s attempts to expand access to free and quality secondary school education before the onset of the pandemic can provide inspiration for schools in Africa to adapt to the challenges presented by the pandemic today. The report sheds light on how the Ghanaian government immediately increased inclusion to elite public secondary schools without the costly endeavour of setting up new school infrastructure. The Ghanaian Ministry of Education assigned students with either gold or green tracks which alternated school weeks. This ensured year round learning which increased the capacity of schools to accommodate more learners who had qualified for quality and free universal secondary education. What does the Ghanaian learning experience mean to Kenya and other African countries in light of the COVID-19 pandemic?
- Alternating school weeks is a temporary measure that can support social distancing in schools,
- Adjusting the length of the school days into shorter morning and afternoon sessions can increase the capacity of schools without the immediate need to invest in additional infrastructure like building classrooms,
- Adjusting the length of the school calendar from the traditional 12 weeks (Kenyan public system) can enable teachers to complete the set curriculum with minimal disruptions,
The Ghanaian experience while occasioned by logistical frustrations from families for instance balancing holidays with children on different tracks, many school breaks, impact of breaks on learning etc showed that the ability for system-wide unlearning and quick adoption of new initiatives increased access to quality education at low cost. These are good lessons that the education sectors in Sub-Saharan Africa can adapt in order to quickly do more with less.
Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash
The COVID-19 pandemic is here for the long-haul, this means that the education sector in most African countries must adapt fast and ensure learning continues inspite of the pandemic. Learning from measures put in place by American rural school districts that faced barriers similar to Sub-Saharan schools, for instance inconsistent internet that limited access to online instruction, provide practical strategies to ensure that no learner is left behind. Some of these include:
- Internet Service Providers can provide free or low cost internet hotspots especially in schools among vulnerable populations to bridge the internet connectivity gap. Such will enable learners and teachers to download and upload assignments thus reducing the knowledge transfer dwell time (edit: by the time of posting this, Safaricom PLC in Kenya launched a free 100MB education bundle to enable more than 1.5 million learners continue to access the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) e-content and lessons from home. The bundle is accessible by dialing *544# and selecting option 10),
- Community mapping with parents and guardians donating their devices for a few hours for children to learn will be critical in ensuring that children especially in low income households do not loose their learning momentum. Learners can easily access pre-recorded lessons, instructions and interactions with their teachers on mediums like whatsapp,
- Community partnerships and connections through crowd-funding can ensure that devices like low cost tablets are availed to schools and learners. Barbara Khavugwi, a volunteer in Kenya piloted the Masomo Mtandao project for Nawa Primary School during the pandemic, she managed to crowd-fund cash donations within record time and bought devices and data bundles that continue to support learners in Kisumu county through the school’s youtube channel.
- Outdoor areas on school grounds can provide large spaces for children to safely social distance while learning, especially in rural areas where community transmission is low and children have been “safe together in quarantine” since the onset of the pandemic. Can online learning then be initiated within such spaces while observing prevention protocols like social distancing and the use of masks?
- Homeschooling and learning pods consisting of a small number of children who gather in a safe and shared space as they follow online or offline instructions from school or their teacher will ensure that learning continues especially where there is communal trust between neighbours, friends and families. Teachers can call and have quick check in sessions with their learners. Critics however decry that this model has the potential to increase inequalities especially among low-income and disenfranchised households.
The reality of the matter is that most government bureaucracies are unable to expeditiously support both public and private schools efforts and so schools, communities, parents and individuals must forge ahead while the motions of government catch up. International Development Partners must step up to directly support schools through networks, forums, local Community Based Organizations and social enterprises to increase the capacity of schools in rural and low-income areas access infrastructure like internet connectivity, mobile devices and electricity. Funding can support schools through grants, low or no interest loans to cover teachers and support staff who have been rendered without income and at the brink of extreme poverty, hunger and homelessness.
While there is no one size fits all solution and the situation might seem to grow dire with no end in sight, this is not the time to be helpless. The ideas presented above are quick stop-gap measures providing a 360 degree bottom-up approach that consists of concerted efforts for schools to Build Back Better with parents, guardians, communities, individuals, partners and governments while ensuring vulnerable learners are not left behind.
This post is part of the series on Learning in time of COVID-19 pandemic. We are carefully curating and breaking down case studies, policy briefs, strategies and on going global and local dialogues to support the education sector and specifically schools in Africa. For more resources and advisory, contact Africa Dialogues Consulting on email: dialogues.africa@gmail.com or call +254 731 325 234.
Africa is possible!