TeleEducation in Africa: A Possible Panacea for Sub-Saharan Africa's ...

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oil, etc) and the human resources (mainly cheap/free labor) of the region [5]. ... This is especially important for colleges and universities within the SSA region ...
TeleEducation in Africa: A Possible Panacea for Sub-Saharan Africa’s Educational Dilemma

Submitted by: Victor W. A. Mbarika, Ph.D. Assistant Professor College of Business Department of Information Systems and Decision Sciences Louisiana State University, USA Email: [email protected] http://isds.bus.lsu.edu/victor/TeleEd_Africa.doc

August 2002

TeleEducation in Africa: A Possible Panacea for Sub-Saharan Africa’s Educational Dilemma

"A university without walls" is set to offer new hope for Africa's students who are left behind in the scramble to join the continent's limited colleges and universities. .... "We (The African Virtual University-- AVU) are offering a high-tech solution to a continent grappling with declining budgets, outdated equipment, inadequate staff and limited space for higher education," says Professor George Eshiwani, vice-chancellor of Nairobi's Kenyatta University, who heads AVU International [3]. The statement above represents a technological revolution that has come to provide a possible solution to the extremely low levels of education in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The SSA region is home to 30 of the 48 least developed countries (LDC) of the world. LDCs are defined as low-income countries suffering from long-term constraints against growth. In particular, these growth constraints include low levels of human resource development (education) and severe structural, economical, social, and political weaknesses. Previous research has attributed such socio-economic weaknesses to the low educational levels of the people that reside in the SSA region [2, 4]. The SSA region is undoubtedly drawing tremendous international attention in this new millennium. Despite its many problems of wars, genocides, political instability, diseases such as HIV and AIDs, it is a continent rich in natural resources, large labor pools, and untapped markets - a land rich in business potential [7]. However, when investors try to set up businesses in the

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continent they face a major obstacle: the population's lack of sound education and training [7]. For example, within the SSA region, only 3% of 18 to 25 year-olds enroll in college [7]. Leaders of the government and private sectors within the SSA region have been investing tireless efforts to improve on their nations' state of education. One major approach to address this problem has been through the implementation of TeleEducation projects. TeleEducation involves the use of information and communication technologies to connect geographically dispersed teachers and students. [David A Light—HBR]. While in more developed countries sophisticated information technologies such as asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) are used [9], the case seems to be different for SSA countries that cannot afford such expensive technologies. In the SSA context, information technologies such as very low-graphical Internet access, email, and fax technologies are used for TeleEducation as a step to address lack of sound education within the region [4, 12].

Background The low levels of education dilemma in SSA dates back to the years of colonization up to recent years of neo-colonization whereby the West (Europe and North America) controlled and directed the resources of SSA [5]. The primary purpose of the colonial West was not to educate the Africans within the SSA region, but to exploit the natural resources (gold, silver, diamonds, oil, etc) and the human resources (mainly cheap/free labor) of the region [5]. Under colonial rule, access to education in Africa was restricted [6]. African children were prepared for the roles deemed appropriate by those in power. Sons of chiefs had privileged access to schooling; a practice that served both religious and political motives that mainly benefited the colonial West. Such a practice was followed suit by most African families, who

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gave priority to the education of boys, leaving a large population of girls uneducated to later serve as the men's housewives and 'child-bearing machines'. Prior to independence, few African children attended school beyond the primary level [6]. By 1960, only 25 percent of primaryschool-age children were in school, compared to twice that level in Latin America and Asia. [Sue Grant Lewis—see full reference in TeleEducation Paper]. For several decades, the SSA region has lagged behind other parts of the world at the primary, secondary, and especially post secondary educational levels. Even in cases where students qualify to join post-secondary institutions, they usually are not able to attend because post secondary institutions are scarce in most SSA countries. In fact, some African countries, such as Chad, Eritrea, and Congo have only one university, which is state owned. This limits the opportunities for very qualified students to gain post-secondary education. This has contributed to the great migration of African students to study and work abroad (especially in Western countries), with no plans to ever return to Africa. This phenomenon usually culminates in ‘brain drain’ creating a vicious cycle that places African countries even farther behind other countries in terms of socio-economic development [11]. Another problem with education in Africa is HIV/AIDS. The prevalence of HIV/AIDS in SSA has been a significant factor in primary and secondary enrollment patterns, as well as in the dwindling pool of qualified teachers. During 1998, more than 1,300 Zambian teachers died of AIDS, a toll equivalent to about two-thirds of the teachers the nation trained that year. The United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) reports that in Kenya, nearly 1,500 teachers died in 1999, up from just 10 teachers in 1993. This has significantly reduced the number of available teachers in SSA countries.

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The Role of TeleEducation in Reducing SSA's Education Dilemma As mentioned earlier, one possible solution to SSA's education dilemma is through the introduction of TeleEducation. TeleEducation has been making progress in many developing countries such as those in SSA. TeleEducation is expected to be particularly relevant in African countries such as Ethiopia, Rwanda, Somalia, etc., that are emerging from prolonged wars and whose work forces lack vital technical skills [10]. One major advantage of TeleEducation is that it requires minimum capital investments and operating costs. It represents the quintessential instruments for sharing resources at affordable prices to large numbers of people [2, 4]. An example of resources that can be shared using TeleEducation are digital libraries whereby students and faculty can access large online databases such as UMI - ProQuest, which is a high quality online research service that provides access to over 1,100 journal and magazine abstracts and full text articles going back 10 years or more. This is especially important for colleges and universities within the SSA region that suffers from slim budgets to acquire books and other library resources, broken-down library equipment, as well as out-of-date and looted library resources [4, 10]. Recently, several TeleEducation projects have been implemented in Africa as a step to improve the continent’s educational opportunities. The projects have created many higher education opportunities through the use of basic telecommunications and Internet-based technologies. The next section presents current cases of successful TeleEducation projects in SSA. In this study, we focus on sub-Saharan Africa because countries within the region share a different socio-economic structure compared to the richer northern parts of Africa and South Africa.

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TeleEducation Projects in sub-Saharan Africa The African Virtual University1 Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, the African Virtual University (AVU) is one of the prime examples of successful TeleEducation projects in SSA. The AVU is a World Bank and European Union joint project, which began in 1997 as a pilot project. The AVU trains worldclass scientists, technicians, engineers, business managers, health care providers, and other professionals to support economic and social development in Africa. Technologies used for the AVU project includes an integration of satellite technology and the Internet providing quality educational content from all over the world at an affordable cost. The satellite infrastructure is made of uplink facilities (INTELSAT 515) in the United States and Ireland. The course delivery methods used at AVU takes into account the technology and infrastructure situation that currently prevails in Africa. For example, the AVU instructional web site uses simple text-based web technology, limiting the amount of graphics displayed on the site to a minimum because AVU's main clientele, African students, do not have access to high speed Internet connection. AVU email system uses FusionMail to provide the mail server backend to a highly customized and advanced online email system that services over 10,000 users. This service provides many features that several top email web sites do not provide. FusionMail is a complete email server written in Allaire’s ColdFusion™ using the FusionMail Server as the core-processing platform. FusionMail is not intended to have every feature that an email server could have, but it is a good base application AVU uses to expand on and develop additional features as needed.

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With approximately 25-30 students per AVU classroom, students actively participate in high-caliber learning experiences by viewing instructors on large screen projectors, television monitors or computers and interacting with the instructor in real-time using phone, fax and email. This framework allows a student in Rwanda or Ghana, for example, to pose a question to a professor in Togo or Canada that can be heard and commented on by students in Uganda and Senegal [1]. At each participating AVU learning center, on-site facilitators guide students through materials and act as liaison with course instructors. Each AVU learning center is equipped with at least 50 computers and Internet access [2]. AVU provides students access to an on-line digital library with over 1,000 full text journals. A digital library program to make scientific information available to African students and faculty was developed and negotiations with content providers have provided access to 1700 journals using a customized library interface gateway. AVU provides an initial subscription for a trial period of one year on behalf of the participating African university libraries [1]. The AVU digital library has the following technology-based features: •

AVU Catalog: A searchable database, which covers a wide variety of topics. This database contains about 3855 entries;



UMI - ProQuest: A database with high quality online research service that provides access to over 1,100 journal and magazine abstracts and full text articles going back 10 years or more.

Since its launching in July 1997, AVU has established 30 learning centers in universities across 17 SSA countries. Furthermore, over 24,000 students have registered in semester-long courses [12]. 1

The AVU is not a name of an entity, but rather a description of a concept. There is nothing such as an AVU

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Although the AVU is the premier example of TeleEducation in SSA, there exist other smaller scale initiatives within the region. While the AVU project covers the SSA region, some of the smaller scale initiatives are at the national (country) level only. Following are case illustrations of TeleEducation initiatives in three SSA countries: Botswana, Tanzania, and Cameroon.

TeleEducation in Botswana Located north of South Africa, Botswana has a population of about 1.6 million people, and a size of 600,370 sq km (smaller than the state of Texas). Based on CIA reports, Botswana, with an economy that is one of the most robust in Africa, has maintained one of the world's highest growth rates since independence in 1966. It also enjoys one of the highest education levels and literacy rates2 in the continent of Africa. One major reason for high education levels in Botswana is its TeleEducation initiatives. TeleEducation initiatives in Botswana seem to be very centralized and organized by the government's Ministry of Education primarily through the Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning (BOCODOL) [12]. BOCODOL was created out of the Ministry of Education’s Department of Non-formal Education (DNFE). The aim of BOCODOL is to provide high quality learning access to out of school young people and adults nationwide using various TeleEducation-based technologies. Some priority programs that BOCODOL offers include: •

out of school secondary education for both young people and adults who wish to obtain certificates at Junior and Senior Secondary levels.

campus. It is operated in co-operation with multiple institutions of higher learning.

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basic vocational, professional and management courses for employed people and/or preemployment young people.



a comprehensive and extensive "O" level certificate program (equivalence of a high school diploma or GED in the US context). Similar to information technologies in the case of AVU discussed earlier, BOCODOL

courses are primarily offered via the Internet and complimented with audio support broadcast on Radio Botswana. The TeleEducation (Internet and radio broadcast) technologies are controlled by central government of Botswana. The government's Computer Bureau installs, repairs, and maintains the hardware and software used. Computer laboratories for student use have been built at all Junior Secondary schools (Junior High Schools). Eleven schools have been equipped with 20-networked computers with dial up Internet connections. Through the TeleEducation initiatives, secondary school teachers can now be trained with Computer Science as a minor subject of specialization. Through Botswana's TeleEducation initiatives, computers are now available at education centers created for students to have access to class work and assignments. In most cases, there is a local are network (LAN) at each center.

TeleEducation in Tanzania Tanzania is located in eastern Africa, bordering the Indian Ocean, between Kenya and Mozambique. Covering a land area of about 945,000 sq km, and a population of about 36.2

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This is part of the population ages 15 and over that can read and write.

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million inhabitants, Tanzania commands a literacy rate of 67.8%, a figure higher than the African average (less than 60%). Similar to the case of Botswana, TeleEducation initiatives in Tanzania are predominantly directed by the government [12]. These initiatives have enjoyed much success due to the strong commitment of government leaders for the education of the populace. Much of the government's involvement in TeleEducation is through the Distance Education Association of Tanzania (DEATA). Through Tanzania's TeleEducation initiatives, over 18,000 students have been enrolled in various higher education programs and courses, as well as special programs for adult learners [12]. What is even more striking about Tanzania's TeleEducation initiatives is that the DEATA program also provides free educational opportunities for Burundian refugees3. Furthermore, the program offers training to local councilors and offers service courses in civic education. Just like the case of TeleEducation in other African countries, very basic technologies are used in the case of Tanzania. At the earlier stages of the country's TeleEducation initiatives, only print media and radio broadcasts were used. Today; however, TeleEducation projects in Tanzania are based predominantly on computer-based and Internet technologies. The reason for this technology switch is because in the late 90s up to now, there has been an increase in computers and Internet access, and this is reflected in the growing use of e-mail as a communication technology.

TeleEducation in Cameroon 3

The Burundian refugees were victims of the infamous mid-90s genocides in Burundi, Central Africa.

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Cameroon, a former colony of France and England, is located in Western Africa, bordering the Bight of Biafra, between Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria. Cameroon has generally enjoyed stability, which has permitted the development of agriculture, roads, and railways, as well as a petroleum industry. With a population of about 15.4 million and a land area of 475,440 sq km, Cameroon has a literacy rate of 63.4%. Furthermore, poor education standards similar to those of other SSA countries have prompted the need to implement several TeleEducation initiatives, especially in priority fields of science and technology. One of such initiatives is the TELESUN project: A worldwide multimedia TELEteaching System for UNiversities (Figure 1).

Figure 1: The TELESUN project The TELESUN project connects the engineering programs of French-speaking Cameroon institutions to several engineering programs at institutions of higher learning in France, Belgium, and Tunisia. As opposed to the aforementioned low-tech approaches to TeleEducation in SSA,

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the Cameroon-based TELESUN project uses very robust and high tech approaches. The reason for this is because the project focuses on very technical and scientific degree programs that involve heavy graphical illustrations that cannot be handled using low-tech approaches. Degree programs range from the bachelors through the doctoral levels. Using multimedia instructional materials, students learning through the TELESUN project go through the following pedagogical process [8]: •

A self-teaching phase: Students can access text and still illustrations through a World Wide Web (WWW) client interface. One important feature of the tele-teaching system is that it integrates a virtual VCR application allowing the real-time playback of remote audio and video sequences illustrating the course (figure 1).



A tele-consultancy phase: Students can set individual appointments with the lecturer in charge of the course by means of a mailing system. They will then use a white board for interactive questioning, answering and sketching.



A class phase: Using audio-visual technologies, the lecturer can conduct a teleconference with all of the students taking the course.



A phase for remote test and knowledge evaluation using available technologies. Conclusion Are the TeleEducation initiatives in Africa 'technical' enough? The answer is probably

no. In retrospect, the projects mentioned here do not really present any new or sophisticated technologies. In all the technologies used are as simple as 486 PCs, very low-graphical web sites, email, and fax technologies. While such technologies are commonplace in developed countries,

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the case is not the same in SSA countries that are just beginning to gain access to modern information and communications technologies. While the use of the existing technologies may involve slow web access, inadequate phone lines, low bandwidth, etc., we contend it is a starting point for TeleEducation initiatives in the SSA region. Our study reports on cases of TeleEducation initiatives that have been implemented in SSA. From these cases we deduce that TeleEducation is undoubtedly important and feasible for SSA. Basic infrastructures needed for TeleEducation, such as computers and the Internet, are making in-roads throughout Africa. For example, all African nations have some form of public Internet access (via Cyber Cafés) and student computer labs in most African universities. In addition to the use of basic information technologies, another main reason for the present and future success of TeleEducation projects in Africa is the support from African leaders (see examples of Botswana and Tanzania discussed earlier). Such support is reflected in the statement below by one of Africa’s leaders, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak:

The Digital Gap of income and education unevenness needs to be bridged by digital opportunities of new tools and equipment. The Tele-revolution, exemplified by TeleMedicine and TeleEducation, shortens physical distance separating those in need from the service or commodity that they want. It thus provides a unique opportunity for the projection of talents across borders and exchange of experiences across different systems. Such unique opportunities have led to the implementation of TeleEducation projects mentioned in our study. The number of TeleEducation projects has been growing and will continue to grow over the next few years [4]. As this approach to educational development is

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used judiciously, it will open up new frontiers to learning by enriching collaborative research among African universities and between universities in Africa and other parts of the world. It will also promote cross-national, multi-disciplinary perspectives in educational practice; thereby, equipping students, faculty, and administrators with tools and resources that would enable them to successfully engage in the academic and economically competitive world of the 21st century, and hence a stimulus for sustainable development within the SSA region.

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References 1. African Virtual University. (2002) The African Virtual University. Retrieved (August 2002) from the World Wide Web: http://www.avu.org. 2. Baranshamaje, E. (1995), The African Virtual University--Concept Paper The World Bank, Washington, DC. 3. BBC-- British Broadcasting Corporation (2000)-- Feeding hungry minds in Africa. BBC News, Thursday, 27 July, 2000. 4. Darkwa, O. and Mazibuko, F. (2000). Creating Virtual Learning Communities in Africa: Challenges and Prospects. First Monday, 5 (5). 5. Griffiths, I.L. (1995). The African Inheritance. Routhledge, London/New York. 6. Lewis, S. G. (1999). "Education in Africa," in Encarta Africana. http://www.africana.com 7. Light, D. A. (1999). Pioneering distance education in Africa. Harvard Business Review, September-October 1999. 8. Nasri, S. (2002), TELESUN: A world wide multimedia TELEteaching System for Universities. Laboratoire d'Automatique et d'Informatique Industrielle Ecole Nationale d'Ingénieurs de Monastir: Tunisia. 9. Schnepf, J. A., Du, D.H., Ritenour, E. R., Fahrmann, A. J. (1995). Building Future Medical Education Environments over ATM Networks. Communications of the ACM, 38 (2). 10. USA Today (1999). African Colleges Get Global Help via the Net. USA Today Tech Report, 02/28/99. 11. EU Article Wilson, B., and Darmuzey, P. (2000). Distance Learning, The African Virtual University, and EU-World Bank Co-operation. Social, Human & Cultural Development, #24, September 2000. 12. World Bank / SAIDE (1999). Report of The South African Institute for Distance Education: Country Visits. Worldbank: Geneva.

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