Meta Description: Digital inclusion is a blueprint for guiding and addressing communities’ readiness to take up the digital age fully. Participating in technology will enrich Individual’s and community’s lives and ensure that none is left behind as we transform education in Africa.
Education isn’t a privilege but a human right. Hence, there is a need to link the digital divides ensuring that every child benefits from the digital transformation. On the other hand, the Covid 19 pandemic has accelerated the change in digital education in Africa. For this reason, millions of youths and children accessed education during the lockdown and helped to transform education in Africa
Digital literacy is “the capacity to use communication and information technologies to evaluate, create, find, and communicate information with technical and cognitive skills.” This means that digital inclusion correlates with digital literacy, where people can access and use information and communication technology to perform administrative procedures through e-government and financial services and make payments using technology.
Why Africa should Prioritize Digital Literacy
Digital evolution is underway globally; digital literacy is a continuous challenge as digital technology enters every economic sector. Furthermore, most African countries have agricultural-based economies; hence, farmers increasingly require Agritech to observe their farm produce, use technology to care for their crops, check prices online, and sell them.
Additionally, technology frequently reshapes work, films adopt new production methods, societies evolve, and markets expand. Besides the business aspect of digital literacy, it’s also primary in education. Due to this reason, online resources are rich and more efficient in educational materials than physical libraries.
Again, some laboratories and other experiment materials can now be accessed virtually worldwide through vrs, thus reducing costs. Hence Africans need to adapt to digital life and transform education in Africa.
Current State of Africa’s Digital Literacy
The rate of digital literacy is determined by access to digital means. The penetration of the internet in Africa has been rising drastically since 2020. But, despite the lag in mobile and internet penetration in Africa, growth is increasing as Africans show outstanding commitment and zeal to embracing rapid technological change, its flexibility, and connecting the global digital demarcate.
Accordingly, as digital penetration remains low compared to the other continents, digital literacy that can transform education in Africa is also behind. But, different initiatives have been placed in Africa to leverage affordability and accessibility. Various institutions, NGOs, and schools are pushing to break this African digital divide to increase the population’s digital literacy for capacity building.
Several companies have proposed to train software developers in Africa. Their business models target digitizing Africa by training software developers using free online tools, advancing human capacity by investing in Africa’s best talents and transforming education inAfrica. And then, once they are qualified, they are engaged by those companies to work for their clients globally. Hence, this will reduce labor gaps globally and kick-start careers for youths without debts and leaving their countries in Africa.
Final Verdict
Poverty is the most significant barrier to transforming African education through digital literacy. The lack of affordable digital infrastructure costs and the inability to access sufficient information technology support results in poor education. For this reason, schools have purposed to provide unceasing access to the ICT framework by requiring additional costs from the students.
But this practice is primarily criticized as discriminating against those that can’t afford it in lower-income regions. Additionally, infrastructure remains a significant issue in most parts of Africa to digital inclusion to transform education in Africa since electricity coverage has not reached various areas of the continent.
Therefore, African governments must improve their infrastructures to improve digital learning in Africa. This write-up has added more light concerning digital inclusion to transform African education. For more informational content like this, follow us.
