The Joint Committee meeting on Education, Science and Culture, Health, Telecommunication and Information Technology of the ECOWAS Parliament continued yesterday in Dakar, Senegal, with members calling for commitment through policies and investment towards education technology to enhance learning outcomes across West Africa.
A Nigerian parliamentarian and edtech expert representing Kanke State Constituency in the Plateau State House of Assembly, Hon. Jacob Kassam, in his presentation, held that commitment to education technology and innovation across member states remained the pathway to transforming learning outcomes in the region.
Themed ‘Prioritising Education Technology and Innovation in the ECOWAS Region,’ Kassam urged ECOWAS governments to support a comprehensive mapping of digital learning platforms across the region in order to assess gaps in access and infrastructure.
He also emphasised the need to invest in electricity, internet connectivity, and digital devices for schools, especially in rural communities.
Calling for increased public-private partnerships to drive innovations and sustainability in education systems, the lawmaker recommended targeted efforts to build teachers’ capacity through pre-service and in-service training.
He noted that although Nigeria was well-positioned with several education technology policies and frameworks, it has nonetheless continued to be confronted with implementation challenges. This development, he frowned, has slowed down overall progress of the project.
“Nigeria has demonstrated a strong commitment to ed-tech integration in its education systems. Yet, there are several challenges to implementation. The country introduced the National ICT Policy in 2010 and the National Policy on ICT in Education in 2019. Unfortunately, both policies have faced several setbacks and have not been able to achieve stated objectives due to poor implementation.
“Also, the state ministries of education, the stakeholders responsible for implementation of the policy, especially regarding teachers’ training, do not have required knowledge of the technology.”
The lawmaker added that the deliverables and key performance indicators highlighted in the guidelines for implementation were not effectively measurable, buttressing the fact that it was not possible to evaluate their contributions to education quality in the country.
According to him, adequate funding for the implementation of ICT policies in education has also remained a major challenge in Nigeria. “We have the policies, but implementation is the problem,” he decried.
For other member states, Kassam observed that the Republic of Benin and Senegal lacked specific ed-tech policies, while countries such as Sierra Leone and Côte d’Ivoire were at different stages of adoption, with varying degrees of infrastructure, funding, and teacher training support.
Speaking, the ECOWAS Commissioner for Infrastructure, Energy and Digitalisation, Mr. Sédikou Douka, represented by the Acting Principal Programme Officer, Telecoms and Post Policy and Regulation, Mr. Mawuli Amoa, stressed the imperative of digital innovations in transforming education across the region.
In his presentation themed ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) for Education and Skills Development in West Africa,’ he maintained that digitalisation remained the tool for addressing the challenges in the education sector and a driving force for innovation.
“EdTech gives early childhood and primary school pupils more opportunities to access digital learning and creativity. Although education in Africa is lagging due to stakeholders’ unpreparedness to incorporate digital technologies into early learning.”
Douka, however, blamed the situation on the lack of platforms and services, expensive equipment, as well as the dearth of inexperienced teachers.
He, however, believed that a regional coordinated AI policy framework that reflects African realities and values may proffer lasting solutions.
