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The coronavirus may not have affected Africa as much as other parts of the world, but with schools and universities closed due to massive blockades across the continent, many children turn on television to keep up with their studies.
“Home School”, “Teachers’ Room “and” School on TV “are just some of the distance education programs that private channels have launched to try to compensate for the closings.
“This is to prevent COVID-19 from winning where it hurts the most, in the area of knowledge,” Massamba Gueye, a research professor in Senegal, told AFP.
In Senegal, Futurs Medias, owned by singer Youssou Ndour, runs classes three times a day for all classes, including professional education.
“The resumption of school … is no longer on the agenda,” says the General Association of Students and Students of the Ivory Coast (Ageeci).
“The threat of a lost year is probably looming.”
Home schooling assisted by television broadcasts
In neighboring Burkina Faso, Burkinainfo’s private television broadcasts four times a day for students preparing to take the qualifying exams.
“We recorded the lessons, which we broadcast on television, basically the basic subjects: mathematics, physics-chemistry, philosophy and French,” says the channel’s director, Ismael Ouedraogo.
Experienced teachers volunteer to teach the classes, he said.
Formats vary across the continent, with an Ivorian start-up offering courses via text messages. Free at first, then it becomes a paid service.
Several private African institutes and universities are exploring distance education through the Internet.
“We plan to finish the school year in late May,” said Amed Moussa Diallo, president of Burkina Faso, chairman of the board of directors of the African Institute of Administration, which has also established online courses.
Traps
Despite optimism, distance education faces several difficulties, in particular poor internet coverage in many of Africa’s rural areas, and cost. Too often, students lack the technical means and funds to pursue courses.
“Most students do not have access to the Internet, especially as many have been asked to return home, often in remote locations,” says Professor Henry Tumwiine of the University of the Moon Mountains at Fort Portal. , Uganda.
“In sub-Saharan Africa, 89 percent of students do not have access to home computers and 82 percent do not have the internet,” UNESCO said in a statement, noting a “worrying digital divide in distance learning.”
“Furthermore, while mobile phones can allow students to access information and connect with each other and with their teachers, about 56 million students live in places that do not receive mobile network service, including almost half in sub-Saharan Africa “added UNESCO.
“I can’t afford a computer, so I’m lacking online courses,” said Alexander Mubiru, a 29-year-old student at Makerere Public University in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. “We are going to wait for the university to reopen.”
Television, therefore, is far from a miracle cure. The lack of interactivity between teachers and students is a major drawback. In addition to that, students cannot ask questions and teachers have no way of assessing students’ understanding.
Many parents believe that courses would be more valuable if they were coordinated with the school program and allowed for teacher-student interaction, as is possible with online teaching.
There is no television, there is no electricity.
“With home lessons, students must first get used to sitting down and being in front of their computers. They must practice the discipline, “said Makini Tchameni, director of the African American Academy in Burkina, which specializes in remote learning.
The Ivorian association Ageeci questions the practicality of trying to get students to do 1,300 hours a year and is also concerned about students struggling to keep up with lessons.
“Will they be able to master distance learning?” he asks, “especially those in the poorest districts where sometimes there is no electricity, no television, no radio, no internet.”
Students in Cameroon face chronic power outages.
“The city has been without electricity for a week,” said an official from Mozogo, a remote city in the far north of the country.
“The children are distressed,” says Gil Mahama, a Mozogo resident, father of eight children.
“Not everyone has a television. We are concerned that our children do not have the same opportunity to follow lessons on radio and television. ”
Some are trying to make the most of the current arrangements.
In Burkina Faso, high school student Khalil Nonguierma is delighted to be able to “stay in touch with the school” but is concerned about “lack of interactivity with the teacher who is only lecturing or correcting homework.”
“If we understand, it is good,” he says. “But if we don’t understand, we can’t keep up.”
by Patrick FORT avec les bureaux africains for Agence France-Presse (AFP)
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