INFORMATION COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT

SANGOnet Conference: 1 – 3 Nov 2011, Johannesburg, South Africa

 

Parallel Session - Mapping the State of Rural Development and ICT

 Focus of parallel session – education

Presentation - Why education is critical to rural development?

Why education is critical to rural development?Why education is critical to rural development?

Countries are increasingly embracing a vision for the development of a

knowledge/information society and adopting policies and strategies to

encourage this development.

Education is vital in the knowledge/information society.

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• In SSA, education systems have been slow to identify the trends and to implement relevant policies, build curricula, ensure there are sufficient and appropriately trained teachers, the resources and technology that is necessary.

• Where countries have identified the need to develop its knowledge society, there has been attempts to define ICT policy and to develop policies and implementation plans to construct an education system that can enable its people to benefit.

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Education in SSAEducation in SSA

• Education is accepted as the platform for social and economic development in any region/country/community.

• There is international agreement that education is necessary for any country’s development. This is captured in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

• MDG Goal 2 - Ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling

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Update on Education MDGsUpdate on Education MDGs

There is agreement that universal education by 2015 will not be achieved

Enrolment in primary education will have reached 89% in the developing world, with the countries that will not

reach 100% enrolment being mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia.

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Important FactsImportant Facts

• Enrolment in primary education in developing regions – 89% in 2008, up from 83 % in 2000.

• About 69 million school-age children are not in school. • Almost half of them (31 million) are in sub-Saharan

Africa, and more than a quarter (18 million) is in Southern Asia

• African countries - invested heavily in education over the past 10 years.

• Real expenditure on education - risen by 6% annually across sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the ten years leading to 2008.

• Funding for this expense was from governments, donors and the private sector. Donors contributed US$2.6 billion in 2008, representing 5.6% of the SSA regional total expenditure on education for the year.

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Key Challenges facing Education in SSAKey Challenges facing Education in SSA

• Policy and curriculum frameworks• Professional teacher development, • Teacher and student assessment, • Teaching and learning resources, • Textbooks and other learning materials • School infrastructure – including physical

spaces where learning and teaching takes place and technology that support learning, teaching and education administration and planning.

• Research, monitoring and evaluationMicrosoft Citizenship

Countries ResponseCountries Response

• Adopted a number of policies and strategies to construct their education system that can embrace the knowledge and information societies.

• At Microsoft we have been involved with national Departments of Education and supported their efforts to create a 21st Century Education System.

• Using a process successfully adopted in many countries (including Africa) we work with government to identify opportunities and challenges - Country Needs Analysis.

• Agree on a range of solutions and create a roadmap identifying ‘good, better and best’ solutions based on the government stated directions

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Planning ProcessPlanning Process

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• Speakers – Neil Butcher & Jacqueline Batchelor

• Focus - how ICTs could address some of these challenges, concrete case studies and examples of good education projects in rural areas.

• Critical questions• Discussion/debate/solutions

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Critical Questions – rural educationCritical Questions – rural education

• Is ICTs a realistic option for rural learners? Can it make a difference given the context that learners find themselves in, i.e. poor health, nutrition, lack of infrastructure, lack of good teachers, etc.?

• Is there a role for other role players in promoting ICT for rural education? Is there a role for donor agencies, NGOs, corporates? Should education be within the total domain of government with no external influences from NGOs, donors, corporates?

• Given that most technologies are developed by companies, what is the value proposition for such companies to continuously innovate and build new technologies that can support rural education?

• How can ICTs improve access to education and ensure high quality education for rural based students?

• Is there a human rights issue with respect to connectivity and what this means for ensuring equity of access in rural areas?

• Mobile phones – is this realistic for learning or just a useful tool to support school administration and exam preparation. Microsoft Citizenship

Thank You

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