Why edtech is key to unlocking Africa's potential
It is widely accepted that education is the foundation of all progress and the catalyst that transforms potential into prosperity. As such, a strong, equitable educational system for all youth on the African continent is the most powerful tool we possess for unlocking sustainable economic growth, eradicating poverty and building a future defined by inclusion and shared prosperity.
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Education needs to be viewed through a lens of profound personal and collective empowerment - a concept that speaks to “education as the practice of freedom”. This practice is about more than the acquisition of knowledge; it includes a journey towards becoming more fully human, fostering the critical thinking skills necessary to challenge the barriers that hamper an inclusive, equitable, and sustainable future for all on the African continent and beyond.
More than a means of acquiring the skills needed to read, write and do arithmetic, education is a tool that empowers individuals to think critically, question the status quo and, ultimately, rebuild the world around them. And while education facilitates equality, we must also strive for equity, whereby individuals can be empowered with the specific tools they need to succeed.
Technology plays a critical role in this regard. Leveraging technology is the most effective way to bridge critical gaps in access, relevance and quality across the continent.
Edtech has the potential to create affordable and scalable solutions that effectively bridge the gaps in education access, relevance, and quality, ensuring we don’t fail those most in need. While great strides have been made in understanding and adopting edtech’s potential for delivering customised solutions that cater to diverse learning needs, unique contexts, infrastructural challenges and cultural nuances.
The ‘invisible’ influencers
It is impossible to discuss education - particularly the foundational building blocks, irrespective of context - without acknowledging the pivotal, often unrecognised, role of women. Women have always been the primary drivers of education, both formally and informally. As such, we need to explicitly recognise and validate their contribution as fundamentally important as education itself.
Formally, women shape the system as inspirational teachers, visionary principals and crucial policymakers. Informally, their influence is just as profound, if not more so: they are the parents, caregivers and community leaders who nurture a child’s intrinsic love of learning and tirelessly advocate for its importance.
Mothers and caregivers, in most cases, serve as a child's first and most important teachers. Their early interactions lay the critical foundation for cognitive and emotional development. The nurturing, stimulating environments that seed future academic ability are, more often than not, initiated at their hands.
Creating the future
Change — for the better — starts with education. It empowers individuals with the capacity for critical examination, which is the absolute foundation for tackling inequality, systemic prejudice, and oppression. But education also has the potential to do so much more than that - to encourage and cultivate creative thinking.
Creative thinking is what underpins designs for real-world solutions, invents new technologies, and brings ‘colour’ and ‘flavour’ to the everyday.
Ultimately, education is at the very heart of the innovation, sustainability, and inclusion that are essential for an equitable future for African youth.
Education empowers and shapes the entrepreneurs, artists, scientists, and leaders of tomorrow, the people who will create a better, more human world for all.
Edtech has a crucial role to play in education across the continent. But in order to effectively adopt relevant and sustainable solutions, we first need to ensure ongoing and engaging dialogue around an expanded view of the purpose of education - beyond mere reading and writing - and look at its potential to solve for equality, sustainability and empowerment.
About the author
Zoë Meiring is the Senior Marketing & Communications Associate at Injini Africa.