ICT POLICIES FOR AFRICA

 

There is a great deal of variance in ICT policies for education among the African countries surveyed. South Africa clearly is unique in terms of being able to move its ICT agenda forward. Several of the countries of North Africa that have both resources and high bandwidth connectivity with Europe have also been able to make excellent progress implementing their ICT plans. Those countries that are steadily moving to sustainable economies (Mauritius, Ghana, and Botswana, for example) constitute another group making remarkable progress. Perhaps the largest group is made up of those countries that are in transition from a sustained period of conflict and economic instability and are looking to ICT applications to help them meet myriad challenges—particularly the development of their human resource capacity. They are among the neediest in terms of assistance.

And, unfortunately, there remains a group of countries that are still plagued with political instability and internal conflicts that make progress on the ICT for education agenda impossible.

The ICT in education developments and initiatives chronicled in the country reports are due to many factors, including the sustained efforts of a variety of organisations over the years. But it is also evident that the shift from “projects to policies,” and the more systematic development that implies, would not be possible without the growing commitment to ICT in education on the part of government leaders across the continent. The following comments are illustrative:

 

Ms Elizabeth Ohene, Ghana’s Minister of State for Education and Sports at the opening of the first NEPAD e-school in Ghana: “The computer should no longer be seen as a glorified typewriter, but as a tutor, an organiser, a presentation agent, a search agent, a data processor, a remedial and e-learning interactive agent.”

 

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia speaking to an ICT conference in Addis Ababa in 2005:

“We were convinced that we should invest every penny we have on securing the next meal for our people. We did not believe serious investment in ICT had anything to do with facing the challenges of poverty that kills. Now I think we know better. We recognise that it is a vital and essential tool for fighting poverty—for beating poverty that kills—and ensuring our survival.”   

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