Education on the Radio: The virtual class room in Africa

It is the fabric, the rips, the "Generation Z" by the arm chair is not just: "paper clip, hole Punch, photo copier, Fax machine". Frederik, the leader in Kenya's state-owned radio stations, dictated each word with emphasis. "Class, now sentences with these words formed," he says, and then makes the sweeping bars in a Big Band on the Airwaves air. The school's program on Radio and television in Kenya for decades. Usually, it is intended for young people in the country, the nearest school is far away. Now students listen in the big cities Frederik and his colleagues.

Claudia Bröll

Freelance writer for the economy in South Africa.

the Corona-crisis, many African governments have closed the schools in March. Almost 300 million students are affected. Occasionally, the school gates are opened again, but timid and often in the face of resistance. In Kenya, it should be only in September so far. On a continent where the technology has been sectors such as the financial system is revolutionizing digital Learning now the big buzzword.

So-called Ed-Tech Start-ups, "Ed" is short for "Education", received more attention than ever. Mobile communication companies cooperate with international universities, offer special tariffs for the access to their platforms. The authorities are active. So, the Ministry of education developed in Ghana, an open Online learning programs, with the Telecom giant, MTN is one of the party. The hope is that Africa can manage to skip thanks to mobile and Internet in the education stages of development: from the much-quoted "schools under a tree" to the virtual class room.

mix of Online and classroom instruction

Wesley Lynch leads the 2012 South African based company, Snapplify, a leading provider of digital education materials in Africa. "IT is not a wonder weapon, but they can play an important role in order to cope with the challenges in African education," he says. "Covid and the Lockdown have definitely led to enormous changes in behaviour and wider acceptance."

At the Riara Schools in Nairobi, a private education group, which is co-financed by Private Equity investors, it will continue despite the lock downs, but digital. From one day to the other was converted to Online instruction. About 85 percent of the students participated in it, says Alan Gachukia, the managing partner and principals. "Most of our students have electronic devices and Internet access." Only a few young people in the country are privileged but.

just a few miles outside of Nairobi, teaching about Zoom, Microsoft Teams Google Classroom or other digital programs is not at all conceivable. Gachukia is hoped that the Corona-crisis a Wake-up call for the government to invest in digital education. Projects such as the distribution of Tablet computers to all the schools, there were, but they were versa. A mixture of Online and face to face teaching would be a possibility, especially in Africa, he says. Students must, for example, often, long distances to school. Many schools are poorly equipped with teaching material.