Digital Solution for Education in Africa

– 6 – Digital Solutions for Education in Africa Setting the Scene Education systems in crisis | Education systems often turn out to be unprepared and vulnerable in the face of crises – be it the sudden arrival of refugee children or the need to pivot to remote learning in the face of a global pandemic. Threatening the continuity and quality of basic education around the world, the COVID-19 pandemic not only proved to be a global health challenge but also resulted in major socio-economic disruption. For instance, the state of global education – a driving force for social change and sustainable development – deteriorated dramatically as a result of pandemic-related school closures. In April 2020, during the first peak of the pandemic, these closures affected some 1.5 billion pupils in 191 countries, over 90% of pupils worldwide. The education systems hit the hardest by interruptions to teaching are those that are least robust and resilient. Already weakened education systems often were unable to adequately substitute the months of school closures, resulting in the absence of continuous basic education. Previous epidemics, such as the Ebola outbreaks in Africa, have already shown a common issue: even when schools reopen, many pupils do not return to class. This is a concern because continuous and quality basic education is key to development. The better the education children and young people receive, the more likely it is that they will have a positive impact on societal development through jobs or political participation. Unless these different issues are addressed, interruptions to teaching and learning will further exacerbate the pandemic’s negative effects, risking they are felt for decades to come. 3.