Understandings of Education in an African Village: the Impact of Information and Communication Technologies

Could information communication technologies (ICTs) improve learning in rural Africa? When exposed to new technology, how do children, adults and teachers use it to represent their lives and opportunities?

Research from the University of Sussex's Centre of International Education shows what happened when residents of a Ghanaian village were given their first chance to collect and show digital images of their lives. The study not only brought out attitudes towards ICTs and the community's problematic interaction with currently available schooling, but also explored the implications of technological change for development initiatives.

Ethnographic research in the community painted a bleak picture of demoralisation and under-resourcing of education. Teachers posted to the village feel disappointed and uncommitted. They are often absent. Pupils are mostly unable to follow lessons, due to problems such as the lack of understanding or coverage of previous work and difficulty in understanding English, the language of instruction. Corporal punishment is frequent. Many children – especially girls – drop out or attend infrequently because they and their families see few real returns to basic schooling.

It is not the lack of schools that is affecting enrolment and retention, so much as the decision of families not to invest in ‘worthless' goods. The quality of the schooling available is not worth the effort and commitment needed from parents and children. Decentralisation of education is not working as the community involvement it depends on comes from a misplaced, over-romanticised view of what motivates communities.

The report also notes that in the village:

• successful education is equated with examination passes and migration to towns
• parents feel that schools and teachers are responsible to the state, not to them
• migration means that people do not necessarily wish to invest in the community where they live and educate their children
• erosion of traditional matrilineal family structures (where descent is traced through mothers and their blood relatives) means that the responsibility for children's care and education is often blurred.

Could ICTs revive faith in education? The report highlights the enthusiasm with which villagers embraced opportunities provided by the project, developed positive images of their way of life, valued local knowledge and took pride in links to a prestigious global community.

The research is not optimistic about the capacity of information technology to bridge the digital divide either globally or within low income countries. However, within a context where technology is available it has some important suggestions for practice. It speculates on how accessible village information technology centres – powered by solar power and satellite communication technology – might catalyse community spirit and inspire culturally appropriate virtual learning environments (VLEs) based on user participation and interaction.

Greater access to ICTs might also enable schools to tackle parts of the curriculum – such as health education around HIV/AIDS – that are difficult to deliver by conventional methods. Dispersed families could keep in touch and farmers access vital marketing information. ICTs could motivate teachers to stay in the profession and further their own education even when living in rural areas.

Making a reality of this dream will require Ghanaian education planners to:

• link community and school development initiatives more closely
• do more to make school management committees representative and encourage greater participation of women
• ensure that experimental and pilot work in using ICTs in schooling prioritises teacher training
• realise that 'media literacy' is about helping people to actively create and work with, not just passively consume, media products
• explore how the public and private sectors might work together with the donor community.