How digital infrastructure gap deepens learning inequalities in Nigeria

Education in Nigeria, especially the public school system, continues to suffer various setbacks due to poor budgetary allocation, corruption, and unpreparedness on the part of the government, parents, and stakeholders, among others.

The inability of many public schools in Nigeria to adopt e-learning cannot be overemphasized.

The failure of the system to adequately cater for the digital needs of its students has, as a matter of fact, hampered educational gains made toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the country.

According to the Digital Skills in Sub-Saharan Africa report recently published by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), in Sub-Saharan Africa, 230 million jobs will require digital skills by 2030.

Internet user penetration in Nigeria saw a slight increase between the years 2018 and 2022, going from around 26 percent to over 38 percent. As of 2022, the estimated number of internet users in the country was more than 108 million, according to a report by Statista, an online portal that provides data on the global digital economy, industrial sectors, and consumer markets, among others.

Smartphone usage, including mobile internet data access, is increasing in demand. In Nigeria, between 25 and 40 million people own a smartphone. This figure is expected to increase significantly by 2025, the report indicated.

In view of the above, it is still strange that digital literacy in Nigerian schools is at the crawling stage, while its counterparts in South Africa, Egypt, and elsewhere are already running.

For instance, Nigeria, one of Africa’s largest economies, has only about 111.6 million internet users, meaning that about 46 percent of its estimated population of 206.1 million people still lack access to internet connectivity, according to ScienceDirect, a subsidiary of Elsevier, the world’s largest scientific publisher.

Experts believe that a lack of information and communication technology (ICT) strategies and policies, low socioeconomic status, poor internet connectivity, low electricity, and a high poverty level are the primary drivers of digital gaps in Nigeria, especially in rural communities.

Even in the exceedingly rare cases where students have access to free or inexpensive data, poor internet connectivity is a major cause for concern.

Besides, considering the income level of an average worker in Nigeria, the cost of purchasing most digital devices such as computers and mobile phones is high, impeding access to digital learning.

With a N30,000 minimum wage most parents are not even getting from their employers, it leaves one to wonder how parents can afford to buy gadgets for their children.

Friday Erhabor, director of media and strategy at Marklenez Limited, said it all boils down to funding.

“It is all about funding. You can’t talk about digital infrastructure without adequate funding. From primary schools to secondary schools, all public schools are supposed to have e-libraries where students can access every resource across the globe.

The learning environment is supposed to be equipped with WiFi facilities, especially in tertiary institutions, for students to have unhindered access to the Internet for research. I think the major limitation is funding. “If we want to be globally competitive, that is the direction to go,” he said.

Although the measure to prevent a learning crisis through the adoption of e-learning, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, was commended, it, however, recorded poor outcomes in a certain context.

Massive school closures in Nigeria exposed the unequal access to digital technologies and the flaws in the administrative processes necessary for governments to effectively deliver online learning for their students.

Dideolu Adekogbe, an educationist, called on governments to, as a matter of urgency, sufficiently fund the development of public schools to ensure that all learners have access to an equitable and quality education.

“The government should prioritise education. The theme of the International Day of Education 2023 was “Invest in people, prioritize education.”

Nigeria can overcome the learning crisis caused by the digital infrastructure gap in its education system by increasing the education budget and monitoring and enforcing compliance with policies.

“Besides, it should provide adequate and relevant training in digital skills and enough digital tools in centres if they cannot be in all schools to cater to schools in a community,” she said.

In addition, Adegogbe said, “Governments should ensure proper supervision of the digital tools, maintenance and replacement if the need arises, and regular supply of power, among others, and not politicize education by appointing technocrats into the office and not politicians as a political reward.”

Moreover, she urges the government to develop a structure that will support collaboration with the private sector, such as private school investors, cooperative organizations, and philanthropies, taking stock and keeping a proper record of items bought, supplied, and donated to ensure that the contracts and processes of supplying these items are not circumvented by greedy individuals.

“Education development and its digitalisation should be a generational plan that is not politicised, such that any successive government can continue from where the other leaves off.” “That is the only time we will make progress in education,” she noted.

It is without a doubt ideal that the country has adequate educational technology provision for all learners, which is functional for improving teaching and learning outcomes.

Buttressing this fact, Victoria Peregrino, chairman of the Lagos State Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM), urged post-primary school teachers to invest in themselves in order to adequately teach and train students, thereby creating improved learning outcomes at all times.

The chairman said this at the capacity building workshop on digital literacy for public secondary school teachers in Lagos State, where she noted that teachers must be proactive, be prepared, and not solely lean on government-sponsored training, considering their zeal for continuous learning to keep pace with the demand for global best practices in our school system.

“In addition to this workshop, I want to encourage you to take advantage of other numerous online training opportunities for self-development and staying current on emerging trends in your chosen profession,” she said.

Peregrino disclosed that any individual that can effectively make judicious use of the mobile phone device can effectively use the virtual Zoom application for online training, adding that teachers, and indeed, students, must proficiently learn and know how best to use this device.

Research has shown that in both public and private schools, teachers are most often not prepared pedagogically when they are expected to continue teaching via digital learning platforms within a short period of time.

And this is basically due to the inability of the government and/or school owners to adequately provide for the teachers to develop their skills and the failure of some parents to equip their children to learn by equipping them digitally. It has been proven that the resources parents provide for their children’s learning massively influence the teacher’s capacity to teach the child.

If, for instance, a teacher has the needed tools but the students cannot access the tools needed for learning, then learning cannot happen.

Teachers obviously need to be adequately equipped, as do the schools, with the needed resources to deliver quality teaching and learning outputs.

Hence, teachers’ capability to deliver quality teaching can be improved when their needs, such as infrastructural and financial support, parental and community support, and pedagogical support, are met.

As the world continues to grapple with the many consequences of COVID-19 on global education systems, it is crucial to address the deficiencies within teacher education to prepare teachers for a pandemic.

Teachers are vital to the success of any education system, and there is a need for the ministries of education to address the challenges affecting teachers in their contributions to equitable and quality education for all learners.