This is a 16-page paper that focuses on attempts to introduce information and communication technologies (ICTs) in formal primary and secondary school education in Africa.

The paper contends that a clear conceptual framework in problematising the education crisis from a developmental, gendered and ICT perspective is lacking and is critical in providing conceptual clarity on appropriate strategies for using ICTs as a tool for women’s empowerment, particularly in Africa.

The paper indicates that developmental and educational challenges in Africa’s formal schooling systems are formidable. They include: wide ranging problems relating to access to education; high teacher pupil ratios in classrooms; shortage of qualified teachers; a brain drain of teachers; the HIV/AIDS pandemic which is destroying the learning and teaching community throughout Africa; budgetary cuts in education; and limited infrastructure.

Excerpts

“In Africa, an estimated 45 million youth do not have access to education. Here girls make up the larger proportion of youth out of school. A recent study revealed that overall the low enrolment of girls at primary school has not improved in the 1990s. The percentage of female enrolment at primary school in Africa has remained the same at 45% and has only shown a percentage increase at the secondary level. The barriers to access to education in most countries in Africa are influenced by a combination of social, cultural and economic factors.

Recommendations

...[The] paper proffers the following recommendations:

1. Investment in research
   That there be greater investment in research and development in the arena of ICTs, education and women’s empowerment. A systematic research agenda which addresses issues of women’s needs, interests, perceptions of ICTs, key issues relating to gender differences and the context within they occur in education, and policy options for empowering women through the use of ICTs in education.
2. Developing an appropriate conceptual framework
   
   Here it is proposed that consideration be given to both providing conceptual clarity on problematising the use of ICTs as an educational device and a tool for the advancement of women and girls in education as well as conceptual frameworks that are systemic in approach and geared towards developing appropriate strategies for the empowerment of women.
3. It’s hot for girls projects
   
   That there be conscious, targeted interventions for advancing young girls and women teachers. These could include inter alias
   
   
   • Projects to promote girl techies at schools, i.e. girl lab technicians
   • Projects targeted at girls-only schools which enhance access to ICTs i.e. bigger and more computer labs
   • Collaborative projects which promote young girl learners
   • Content-related projects that involve girls and women in content production and which highlight the plight of girls and that promote positive images of girls and women
   • A girls@home project that targets girls out of school like that organised by Hewlett Packard in Saudi Arabia

Conclusion

Because of the strategic role of education and because of the concentration of younger generations in the school-based systems in particular, a stronger, more dedicated intervention to promote young girls in schools in poorer countries will go a long way in developing gender equality in today’s world. Indeed, the jury is still out on the value added by ICTs in education especially in Africa.

Furthermore, the opportunity costs of investing in ICTs in African schools are undoubtedly high with reference to the need for school buildings, toilets, electricity and clean running water. However, ICTs offer a window of opportunity for girls and women, and young learners in general and for improving education systems as a whole. The evidence that it reaps benefits remains largely anecdotal and is still being gathered. The intervention in Africa is still very new and it is still too soon to talk about the impact of ICTs on education and on advancing girls and women. Yet, the risk of not investing in the potential that ICTs provide is arguably much larger.”