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Anurag Reddy, “Embedding Technology in Education: The Potential of India’s Solutions in East Africa,” ORF Occasional Paper No. 306, March 2021, Observer Research Foundation.
In the last few decades, developing countries like India and those in Africa have made strides in improving access to education, resulting in increased enrolment of many first-generation learners. However, a significant proportion of these enrolees, lacking in instructional support, eventually fall behind curriculum.[1] This, along with teacher shortages[a] and poor teaching quality, ultimately leads to low learning levels;[2] indeed, within the same grades, experts find a notable degree of heterogeneity in learning levels.[3] Current patterns of education spending and methods of instruction in these countries are unable to bridge the gap between student learning levels, and the levels of curriculum, instruction and pedagogy.[4] This paper analyses persistent challenges in education in India and East Africa, and the role that technology can play in bridging the gaps in learning and teaching at scale.
In particular, technology-aided instruction is showing potential. In India, for example, Mindspark by Educational Initiatives, currently used by 350,000 learners in government schools across India, displayed 200-250 percent gains in learning outcomes in students in a randomised control trial.[5] Such a promise, coupled with rapid digital adoption across the country, has led to the emergence of a vibrant EdTech sector (Education Technology or ET)[b] that ranks third in the world, after the US and China, in terms of overall funding. The sector is home to some 4,450 ET startups as of 2020.[6]
In East Africa –– a region which faces similar challenges in education systems –– technology efforts have not had the desired effects on learning outcomes and teaching quality at scale. Domestic EdTech innovators have found it difficult to build effective products due to infrastructural barriers and lack of government support.[7] ET and technology-aided learning efforts by governments (through donor support and development partners) have been primarily viewed through the prism of providing hardware, without addressing the wide range of obstacles that impede the effective adoption of technology in education. These issues include providing contextualised and interactive digital content, developing teacher capacities, transforming teacher attitudes,[8] ensuring community buy-in,[9] and making technical support available at all times.[10]
This paper evaluates three technology-aided interventions that have shown some degree of success in certain parts of India: a) Hybrid Learning Programme by Pratham; b) Mindspark and Large Scale Education Programmes by Education Initiatives; and c) MDML (Multi- dimensional- multi- level) approach by Tide Learning. The paper finds that the success these tools have met so far in improving learning outcomes and enhancing teaching quality is driven not only by technological innovation. Rather, it is an outcome of interventions led by education researchers and civil society through extensive research and experimentation over several years. They have evolved from a larger ‘ecosystem’ that has allowed for close engagement between a vibrant civil society, education researchers, and technology innovators. This paper argues that these interventions, solving similar challenges, using varying degrees of technology could find relevance in East Africa.[c] After all, developing human capital through education and capacity building has been at the heart of India’s development cooperation with Africa. India could expand it to the realms of primary and secondary education.[11]
The paper does not look at the subject through the trade lens of market access and barriers for Indian education initiatives, but seeks to understand how the state of education, and in particular student learning levels, can be improved in East Africa through Indian technology-aided interventions. The paper is based on extensive research of secondary literature and government documents, augmented by interviews with stakeholders in East Africa and India. The paper highlights Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania as they have a nascent K-12 ET sector and are better positioned in a continent whose markets are far from mature for ET products.[12] Through policies and programmes[13] in place and provision of infrastructure in public schools,[14] the focus countries have displayed the political will to integrate ET into education. They continue to invest in internet connectivity and rank in the top half amongst countries in Africa.[15]
Like in most developing economies, student enrolment rates in East Africa are increasing but learning levels remain inadequate. A considerable percentage of students in each of the three countries are unable to read basic texts or solve basic numeracy problems as determined by national curricula.[16] Furthermore, children from rural and poor households, and those who attend public schools[d] display far lower learning outcomes.[17] Shortage of teachers (especially in secondary school level) further exacerbates the challenges, as do low teacher capacities and poor teaching quality.
To be sure, East Africa has embraced ET, through both private sector innovation and government initiatives supported by donors. ET in the region, however, faces various hurdles and has yet to deliver on its promise at scale.
Both individual and household uptake of EdTech has been low for various reasons: a) unreliability and lack of availability of electricity supply and internet connectivity; b) lack of access to devices; and c) high costs of mobile and internet data.[18] (See Table 1) Majority of those accessing the internet use their mobile phones, with 2G being the dominant technology. The three countries rank in the bottom 16 percent, globally, in terms of affordability of internet data. Furthermore, households lack access to digital devices—a pattern that was revealed by the schooling-from-home measures instituted as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Kenya, for example, only 20 percent of students are able to access their online school.[19]
Owing to such infrastructural barriers, ET with higher-tech features (interactive digital content) has witnessed minimal adoption. Indeed, the two most widely used EdTech products in the region are a TV show and an SMS-based learning app.
Table 1: Population with access to electricity and internet, dominant mobile internet bandwidth, and cost of internet data
| Country | % of population with access to electricity | Individuals using internet (% of population) | Dominant technology | Mobile–data-voice basket price as a percentage of Gross National Income Per Capita |
| Kenya | 75 | 23 | 2G/EDGE | 7.5 |
| Rwanda | 34.7 | 22 | 2G/EDGE | 19.9 |
| Tanzania | 35.6 | 16 | 2G/EDGE | 13.8 |
Source: Author’s own, using various open sources.
Government buy-in is crucial for scaling and creating significant impact in the region.[20] Governments are the largest providers of education in the region, with majority of students enrolling in public education systems (See Table 2). Moreover, they also have the means[e] to provide ICT infrastructure in schools, which most individual households cannot afford. However, bureaucratic red tape and conflicts of interest prevent ET innovators from catering to public schools. In Kenya, for example, ET innovators –– who are generally considered third parties –– have had to wait an average two years to get their content approved by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD). [f] This acted as a huge barrier for private sector participation in EdTech. The process has been refined in recent years, and today it takes about four months to quality-assure third-party content.[21] The related challenge is that KICD produces content in collaboration with its own partners who are given contracts for installing content in devices of public schools. This leads to a conflict of interest with ET innovators for whom the biggest market is public schools.[22]
Table 2: Percentage of primary and secondary schools owned or aided by government in East Africa
| Country | % of primary schools owned or aided by government | % of secondary schools owned or aided by government |
| Kenya | 64 | 84.5 |
| Rwanda | 83.4 | 82 |
| Tanzania | 96 | 86.5 |
Source: Author’s own, using various open sources.
ET innovators need government permissions to offer services and products to public schools. Governments often seek evidence on the efficacy of ET products to provide permissions. To generate evidence, ET innovators need access to classrooms and schools to pilot and test their products which, again, need government connections and support. This creates a “vicious cycle for ET entrepreneurs to scale and show results on the efficacy of their products. Development partners like the World Bank or UNICEF are not going to invest in someone who doesn’t have proven results.”[23]
While private ET innovators have yet to achieve scale, governments in East Africa have embarked on various ET initiatives through the support of development partners and donors.[24] These projects have provided infrastructure and hardware to enable public schools to adopt ET.
Governments in East Africa consider the procurement and provision of hardware as the Holy Grail and view the adoption of EdTech through an approach that prioritises hardware[25] over other elements.[26] This approach—coupled with expectations of quick results—has proven unsustainable, stifling the promise of ET in improving systemic challenges in education.
Indeed, hardware and technology provision is only part of a longer chain of equally important challenges:[27]
Digital content developed by education and curriculum development boards in Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania[28] tend to be less interactive and engaging. Often they consist merely of digitisation of textbooks[29] or recorded lessons of teachers in classrooms.[30] As to the content procured by government through development partners, they often lack local context. This highlights the need for a strong local EdTech ecosystem in the region.[31]
Stakeholders are of the view that there is a need to improve and design content that is rich, interactive, aligned to local curricula and contextualised to local settings, sensitivities and culture.[32] Content contextualisation, in particular, is important to ensure children focus on learning. According to the founder of TIDE Learning,[g] “If students are needed to master a particular concept or solve a question through the use certain animation objects that are foreign to local cultures, students end up focusing on the ‘new’ object instead of actually learning.”[33]
The digital content developed should also be compatible with technological capacities of devices and ICT infrastructure in various regions.[34] Platform interfaces must be designed in a manner that is easy to use for all children and teachers. A study conducted in Uganda that tested two products with different focus groups, found that applications were sometimes not compatible with the hardware, and students often experience problems with rudimentary actions like swiping on a touchscreen.[35] During the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kenyan learners and teachers preferred to use the messaging app, WhatsApp as a medium to access and disseminate lessons, rather than access lessons through the Kenya Education Cloud and Remote Teaching and Learning Project.[36]
Teachers’ attitudes and skills are extremely important for the effective adoption and use of ET. While public schools in East Africa still lack the hardware, the bigger challenge is for teachers to use existing products.[37] Capacity-building among teachers for the adoption of ET entails both, building ICT and pedagogical skills to effectively integrate ET into teaching and learning. Teachers in East Africa often lack both.[38] Current trainings are short and one-off conducted in parallel to ET deployments. A consultant working with the EdTech Hub[h] in Kenya says that current training modules focus more on how to use the hardware, and less on how to integrate such hardware into teaching.[39] Tanzania also adopts such an approach.[40] Such fragmented approaches to skill building do not address the specific needs of teachers in ET integration teaching and prove to be ineffective in the long run.[41] The lack of adequate training for teachers, and the weak integration of technology into the education systems, often result in computers being merely locked up in school rooms. In time, these computers become obsolete without giving returns on the investment.[42]
In Rwanda, according to a stakeholder from a civil society organisation, teachers need to be trained so that they can maximise the potential of the government’s One Laptop per Child (OLPC) programme.[43] As East Africa aims to move towards a knowledge economy, with Rwanda and Kenya adopting a Competency Based Curriculum (CBC), the countries plan to integrate ET at all levels. The imperative is to move from ‘training’ to ‘continuous professional development’.[44] To this end, countries recognise the need to re-design teacher training to impart effective and contemporary pedagogical practices through ET to improve education delivery.[45]
The education value chain consists of various stakeholders whose participation is necessary for achieving successful learning outcomes. According to a USAID report, ‘First principles: Community Engagement in Education Programs’, community involvement and ownership in school management boosts accountability on student learning outcomes and school resources. People tend to contribute resources available within the community for education which enhances sustainability of initiatives and eventually leads to success over time. [46]
Equally crucial is the awareness and commitment of parents and local communities to the potential of ET in improving student learning outcomes.[47] The point is to “demystify” the use of ICT in education.[48] An ET consultant and school owner in Kenya believes that community engagement is important to reverse the sceptical attitudes of parents towards their children using devices to access learning.[49] This is even more crucial today as lockdowns force students to learn from home and many may not immediately go back to schools once they reopen. Supporting home and community learning will therefore be important for the region.[50] To this end, providing access to devices, available within the community, to children outside school can benefit learning. [51] Such community-shared infrastructure, in the long run, can also help support adult learners and out-of-school youth by providing them with requisite skills that will allow them to participate in building an informed society.[52]
Indeed, community and parental engagement so far has been low. For example, in Tanzania, only 50 percent of parents visited their children’s teachers in 2017.[53] This pattern needs to be reversed, as the role of parents is crucial in complementing the efforts of ministries and development partners in improving learning.[54]
The challenges outlined in this part of the paper underline the fact that adopting and scaling ET is not only a design process, but more importantly, a “whole philosophy trying to be solved.”[55] The procurement of the right hardware and digital content is as important as developing teacher capacities, transforming teacher attitudes, ensuring community buy-in, and making available technical support at all times. This necessitates engagement not only between governments and the private ET sector, but also with civil society organisations who should be equal stakeholders.
This section discusses the work of three Indian organisations whose innovations and interventions have resulted in a certain degree of improvement in student learning outcomes. All the organisations have a technology component, albeit to varying degrees, in their intervention and have shown scale in low-resource settings. They work in both online and offline modes, and their content is compatible for basic and low bandwidth purposes. In the following paragraphs, this paper examines how these innovations have succeeded, and explores their potential in being applied in East Africa.
Pratham, one of India’s largest NGOs, has extensive presence in the country’s education landscape. It works both at the grassroots with communities, students, teachers, parents and youth, as well as with governments on large-scale projects. The NGO is well-known for its two pioneering initiatives: the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER)[56] –– the only source of data on children learning outcomes in the country,[57] and the Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) programme that fosters foundational skills in numeracy and literacy in children with inadequate learning levels. In 2018-19, Pratham partnered with the governments of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and West Bengal to help children acquire foundational skills.[58]
The TaRL intervention has had a significant impact in improving the foundational skills of children across India. In 2014-15, the TaRL (through the Read India III Learning Camps) intervention reached 424,190 students (in grades 3-5) directly and over 6 million students indirectly through state or district government partnerships.[59] The Read India III Learning Camp resulted in the following: a) an increase in reading among children by 51 percent; a 37-percent decline in the number of children who could not identify letters of the alphabet; and b) a 33-percent increase in the number of students who could subtract and multiply.[60] Pratham’s activities, through a succession of Read India phases between 2005-2008, have reached nearly 30 million children.[61] Several studies by Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL),[i] comprising of rigorous and randomised evaluations have shown evidence on the efficacy of the TaRL intervention.[62]
Activities and learning materials in the TaRL intervention are tailored to the individual’s learning levels and are based on Pratham’s pedagogical philosophy—the Combined Activities for Maximized Learning (CAMAL)[63] which involves group activities and “learning by doing.”[64] Using the CAMAL pedagogy,[65] and building on its wide-ranging know-how and success in its education programmes across India, Pratham in 2015 launched its ET intervention, called PraDigi Open Learning – a tablet-based hybrid learning programme that includes the Foundational Course and Assessment mobile applications.[66]
Pratham initially forayed into ET in 2005 through the computer-assisted learning (CAL) in municipal schools.[67] They installed computers with maths-focused software that had well-designed games to sustain the interest of the child while also adapting to their learning levels.[68] While the programme showed a positive impact on math scores,[69] the gains were short-lived[70] and the use of computers eventually reduced as teachers prioritised completing the curriculum during school hours.[71]
Pratham believed that technology allows for a non-linear exploration of knowledge, while classrooms are more rigid, and placing technology in classrooms would end up “distorting” or “suppressing” its true potential.[72] Pratham therefore took an approach (through the Hybrid Learning programme) wherein devices are provided to children outside school hours, and communities are co-opted to take ownership of children’s learning in villages. Groups of children (of around five each) in villages are provided with tablets and guided by youth volunteers from the community to engage in “choice-based” learning. The group activities aim to prepare students for school, life and work through computational and creative thinking, communication and collaboration.[73] Engaging village leaders, generating awareness and providing education ratings for villages, motivates people in the community to act, and provide ad-hoc spaces for children to learn in groups.[74] The community facilitates learning activities and assessments where children conduct project activities and present them to a live audience or their parents, especially during village fairs. Report cards at the group and village levels are issued. Group members help each other in completing the activities.[75]
Pratham’s internal assessment found a 12 percentage-point increase in performance amongst children who engaged in the Hybrid Learning programme as compared to those enrolled in school curricular subjects.[76] The intervention has presence in 2000 villages,[77] reaching 300,000 learners through 18,000 tablets.[78]
Pratham’s digital learning applications in the Hybrid Learning programme are available for free and accessible by anyone. However, the availability of digital devices in rural India is a key challenge. Pratham’s approach seeks to address this by striving to create a conducive social structure within communities so that digital devices/smartphones that are available in the communities are shared to enable children groups learn. Financing and purchasing of a kit (comprising of three tablets and one Raspberry Pi local server) by communities is often a challenge. Pratham is iterating innovative models of ownership by tapping into retail fundraising, microloans from Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and incentivising youth groups within communities. Youth in communities are provided with courses for their own development and in turn are asked to mentor and work on the education of young children by providing their own devices.[79]
Pratham is working in 10 African countries through direct government partnerships and indirectly by partnering with local CSOs to implement its TaRL initiative. It works directly with governments in Nigeria, Cote’D Ivoire and Zambia. The first and largest TaRL pilot intervention is in Zambia. With internal programmatic data showing improvement in learning outcomes,[80] the Ministry of Education has now scaled 227,000 learners in 1,800 schools (nearly 20 percent of total in the country) with plans to further expand it after the re-opening of schools.[81] These programmes are helping Pratham figure the social structures in local communities in Africa. While there have been improvements in learning, Pratham has also witnessed unlearning as well due to reticence in children groups. Sustaining these learning outcomes by understanding communities through local stakeholder partnerships is a crucial challenge that Pratham is tackling. This can provide the requisite know-how to launch ET initiatives in the region.[82]
Pratham’s approach of working with communities has been helpful during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Pratham’s ET products were able to facilitate learning for children by leveraging the extensive networks in communities across India through staff, volunteers and NGO partners. Lessons, on a daily basis, are disseminated on WhatsApp and its open content repository is also accessed through an Android App (PraDigi). Pratham has also created a repository of SMS questions for those with access to basic phones and community volunteers are able to regularly relay feedback for product iterations.[83]
The Co-Founder of EdTech East Africa mentioned that, “not every child will get back when schools reopen. It is important to be able to support those outside of school through community based learning and ET tools.”[84] The Executive Director of Uwezo Tanzania (who visited a Pratham village community learning camp near Aurangabad), stated that, “If India can support learning (in Tanzania) the way Pratham is doing in applying technology, you can support learning of out of school children in communities and such an intervention can a breakthrough in Tanzania.”[85] Pratham’s Hybrid and Open Leaning programmes have shown that students can learn outside formal education structures.[86]
The Hybrid Learning Programme’s application and content builds on Pratham’s expertise in education and understanding of children’s problems in low-resource settings. This, coupled with its approach of creating conducive social structures to empower communities with their own children’s learning has proven successful.
Mindspark by Educational Initiatives (EI) uses technology-aided instruction to create a personalised adaptive learning (PAL) product, in which the pace of learning is adjusted and instructional approach is optimised to individual learners’ needs.[87] It is a software product that was developed over 10 years and contains a repository of 45,000 questions[88] that were built based on 18 years of extensive research on children’s cognitive pedagogical processes.[89] An independent third-party assessment conducted by J-PAL in showed that children who used the software displayed 200-250 percent gains in learning outcomes.[90] Mindspark is a Harvard Business School case study and one of the most promising ET products for low resource settings globally, and is currently used by 350,000 students across Indian government schools.[91] EI believes that teachers are important partners whose participation is crucial for the success of Mindspark; to this end, they are working to attract greater investments for teacher training and support.[92]
Through its Large Scale Education Programmes (LSEP), EI works with governments to undertake assessments of student learning and teacher needs; deploy Mindspark; and develop individual educators’ and systemic capacity to drive large-scale transformation in education systems.[93]
Assessments have been at the core of EI’s work and form the basis of the development of Mindspark. Unlike ASER, assessments in EI’s LSEPs not only provide insights into student learning outcomes, but also help teachers identify misconceptions and critical gaps in student learning.[94] Teachers are provided with practice worksheets and lesson plan recommendations to offer remedial support.[95] Such actionable data at a systemic level also allows for changes in curriculum.[96] Teacher needs assessment identifies strengths, weaknesses, and professional development areas for teachers, and helps the system align training with their needs. With East Africa moving towards a community-based curriculum, countries seek to transform their teacher training, and the LSEP initiative could be extremely beneficial for the region.
Furthermore, LSEPs also help build systemic capacities in creating assessments and formulating questions. For example, in Tamil Nadu, EI’s intervention helped teachers understand how their own questions could capture learning gaps in children. Teachers are now able to create assessments themselves for subsequent assessments in the state. After the project ended, teachers continue to be in State Resource Groups, leading state textbook reforms while continuing their role as educators/teachers. Institutionalising capacities is helping a new cadre of teachers to be trained in assessments.[97]
A deep understanding of the creation of assessments and question-making, and children’s misconceptions have been the core strengths and work of EI since its founding. EI’s extensive educational research and insights obtained from assessment projects in the last 18 years have been the foundations for the creation of Mindspark. The economist, Karthik Muralidharan once remarked that what sets Mindspark apart is that it is a project created by educators who have come to the domain of technology, instead of a tech company getting into education.[98]
TIDE Learning employs a “whole of ecosystem approach” that addresses most of the challenges that are encountered in East Africa –– both in terms of learning and teaching, and ET adoption. TIDE Learning’s programme has reached more than 2,000 schools in Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka in India, and it also implemented a programme called PALEC (Programme d’amelioration de la lecture, l’ecriture et le calcul) in Cote D’Ivoire in partnership with the Ministry of Education –– adapted from TIDE’s MDML (Multi- dimensional- multi- level) methodology.
Through its methodology, TIDE seeks to overhaul classroom and pedagogical practices by encouraging and focusing on the child’s self-paced learning. The local curriculum is adapted and pedagogical practices are designed in a manner that addresses learning needs of all students. The use of ET through tablets is one of the many teaching learning methodologies (TLM) that students use to learn. The teacher acts as a facilitator of learning by managing and directing students on what to do to direct their own learning. This provides enough time for teachers to address the different learning levels in the classroom. Given the introduction of a complete new methodology of imparting learning, TIDE, in all its projects, builds capacities of stakeholders and provides tools for monitoring and support. Teachers are provided with effective pedagogical skills, through rigorous and continuous teacher professional development over three years.
Evidence from Cote D’Ivoire shows that the teaching learning processes are boosting the confidence of teachers. The local curriculum was broken down into easy and manageable tasks that has enabled uninterrupted teaching and processes. Teachers are able to better identify learner needs and address them effectively and are well prepared and ready with TLMs prior to each class. The tablets are used by children once a day for assessments and enable teachers to effectively track student learning.
TIDE also engages the local communities, who it sees as “key influencers”. In Cote D’Ivoire, TIDE schools organise fairs where students are able to translate lessons into reality through role plays (for example as shopkeepers exchanging money) and local elders talk to children on their local culture, history and environment.[100] Preliminary evidence from Cote D’Ivoire suggests that students who attended PALEC schools out-performed their peers who attend formal schools. The use of tablets has built digital literacy skills for students and the overall curriculum delivery has helped them develop socio-emotional skills of collaboration, teamwork and problem solving. Moreover, teachers are encouraging students’ inputs and voice in class.
Pratham already has presence in East Africa, albeit in a form where it works directly with governments and through partners to implement TaRL solutions.[101] EI has undertaken assessments in Tanzania, and TIDE’s preliminary success in Cote D’Ivoire could be further expanded to other parts of the continent. Since East Africa is dependent on donor funding to implement ET initiatives, India’s development cooperation can be the best way to scale its innovations.
India has engaged in various initiatives aimed at improving Africa’s human capital: among them, the Indian Technical and Economic Cooperation Programme and tele education through the Pan African e-Network Project. However, these programmes cater only to tertiary level education, whereas in East Africa, the problems in education begin at the primary and secondary levels. For example, during the 2017 and 2018 academic years, more than 50 percent of students in Kenya obtained grades D and below in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education examinations. This hinders them from progressing to higher education or pursuing any professional course, more so from gaining meaningful employment.[102]
This paper offers the following set of recommendations for India to promote its EdTech ecosystem in Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania:
Significant populations of children in India and East Africa are enrolled in public education systems mostly located in low-resource settings. For EdTech to succeed, the infrastructural and economic constraints, available technological capacities, and socio-cultural realities and structures of these regions necessitate technology interventions that comprise an ecosystem approach or are built on an entire ecosystem that addresses each of these issues. This would entail building teacher capacities, transforming teacher attitudes, creating content contextualised to local and cultural settings, and involving local communities to take ownership of children’s education while adopting technology and models that are compatible with available infrastructure in the different regions.
This paper explored three Indian interventions that have been able to tackle these issues with a fair degree of success in improving learning levels of children at scale. The paper demonstrated that these interventions are the result not only of exceptional technology, but of the extensive work done by the respective organisations and their talent pool of researchers for public education systems that has allowed them to evolve into innovators of teaching and learning methodologies. In the process, they have built EdTech products and/or used technology tools in their interventions to further catalyse improvements in learning outcomes.
Given similar challenges in its education systems, India is better positioned to understand the concerns of countries in East Africa. Education-policymakers in the region are of the view that India will be capable of giving their countries a mix of solutions to a varied range of challenges in adopting technology for primary education. At the same time, given East Africa’s challenges as analysed in this paper, transfer of technology alone will not work. India should transfer the broader ecosystems that have evolved around such products to help solve the education challenges in the region.
[a] Kenya’s Teacher’s Service Commission (TSC) estimates an overall shortage of 96, 345 teachers –– 38,054 at the primary level and 58,291 at the post primary school level. This was also highlighted in Uwezo Kenya’s 2016 assessment. TSC estimates that by 2023, shortages are expected to increase to 84,478 for secondary schools and 34,941 for primary schools. Source: National Education Strategic Sector Plan 2018-2022, Ministry of Education, Republic of Kenya. https://www.education.go.ke/images/NESSP/NESSP-2018-2022.pdf
Similarly, according to the 2019 educations statistics of Tanzania, the country had a Pupil to Teacher Ratio (PTR) of 58:1 and a pupil–qualified teacher ratio (PTQR of 59:1) in government primary schools (which make up 96 percent of total primary schools) and a PTR of 54:1 and PTQR of 55:1 in all primary schools. This is below the recommended level of 45:1. Source: https://www.tamisemi.go.tz/storage/app/media/uploaded-files/13-summaryprimaryschoolsptr-2019.pdf and Uwezo (2019): Are Our Children Learning? Uwezo Tanzania Learning Assessment Report, 2019, Dar es Salaam, Twaweza East Africa, https://www.twaweza.org/uploads/files/Tanzania%20Report%20FINAL3%202019%2013-12-2019%20Print%20Ready+zm.pdf
[b] EdTech or Education Technology refers to the practice of using modern technology tools to implement innovative educational approaches for student learning and classroom teaching – with the aim of improving inclusion or providing engaging or individualised learning experiences. EdTech can be implemented at various levels of education and could take different forms, including:
[c] The paper focuses on three countries: Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania. Henceforth, when the paper refers to ‘East Africa’, it means these three.
[d] They comprise majority of the population in these three countries.
[e] Governmental means include budgets, as well as assistance from donors and development partners. The ICT infrastructure referred to here include devices, electricity, and internet connectivity.
[f] KICD “evaluates vets and approves the curricular and curriculum support materials for basic and tertiary education, as well as offering curriculum based consultancy services in basic and tertiary education and training.” For more, visit: https://kicd.ac.ke/about-us/background-history/
[g] TIDE Learning is an education organisation in India that has been working on Early Childhood and Primary Education for the last 10 years. They have pioneered an innovative, affordable and scalable pedagogical model that overhauls classrooms and current approaches to allow children learn at their own pace. See: https://tidelearning.com
[h] The EdTech Hub is a global non-profit research partnership set up by the UK Aid Direct (funded by the former Department for International Development (DFID), now Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO)) and the World Bank Group –– that aims to build evidence through rigorous academic research on the use of technology in education primarily focusing on the global south. For more visit: https://edtechhub.org/about-edtech-hub/
[i] J-PAL is a global research center that aims to inform policy through evidence in order to reduce poverty. Through a network of more than 200 affiliated university professors, the organisation aims to answer important questions in order to reduce poverty by conducting randomised impact evolutions. See: https://www.povertyactionlab.org
[1] Karthik Muralidharan, Abhijeet Singh, and Alejandro J. Ganimian., “Disrupting Education? Experimental Evidence on Technology-Aided Instruction in India,” American Economic Review 109, no. 4 (2019), https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20171112
[2] Lant Pritchett, and Amanda Beatty., “Slow Down, You’re Going Too Fast: Matching Curricula
to Student Skill Levels.” International Journal of Educational Development 40, (2015), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijedudev.2014.11.013
[3] “Disrupting Education? Experimental Evidence on Technology-Aided Instruction in India”
[4] Paul Glewwe, and Karthik Muralidharan., 2016. “Improving Education Outcomes in Developing
Countries: Evidence, Knowledge Gaps, and Policy Implications.” In Handbook of the Economics of Education, ed Eric A. Hanushek, Stephen Machin, and Ludger Woessmann, vol. 5, (Amsterdam: Elsevier), 653– 744.
[5] “Disrupting Education? Experimental Evidence on Technology-Aided Instruction in India”
[6] DataLabs by Inc42, “The Future Of India’s $2 Bn EdTech Opportunity Report 2020,” Inc 42, 2020, https://inc42.com/reports/the-future-of-indias-2-bn-edtech-opportunity-report-2020/
[7]Tom Kaye (Consultant, EdTech Hub, Kenya) in discussion with author, August 21, 2020 and Author’s interview with the lead of a leading civil society organisation in Kenya that works closely with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Government of Kenya and DigiSchool Programme of Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in adoption of education technologies in Kenya’s public education system. The interviewee spoke under the condition of anonymity September 17, 2020
[8]Caspar Groeneveld (Consultant, EdTech Hub, Kenya) in discussion with author, August 20, 2020
and Joseph Nsengimana (Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT, Mastercard Foundation, Rwanda) in discussion with author, September 8, 2020.
[9]Dr. Kilemi Mwiria (Former Assistant Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology, Kenya and Former Presidential Advisor on Education, Kenya) in discussion with author, August 26, 2020.
[10]Author’s discussions with multiple stakeholders from East Africa
[11] “Human Capital at Heart of India’s Partnership With Africa: PM Modi,” NDTV, https://www.ndtv.com/india-news/human-capital-at-heart-of-indias-partnership-with-africa-pm-modi-1237747.
[12] Lee Crawfurd, “Why the COVID Crisis Is Not Edtech’s Moment in Africa,” Center for Global Development, https://www.cgdev.org/blog/why-covid-crisis-not-edtechs-moment-africa
[13]For Kenya, refer to Republic of Kenya, Ministry of Education, National Information and Communication Technology Strategy for Education and Training (Nairobi: Ministry of Education, 2006) http://nepadkenya.org/documents/MOE-ICT%20in%20Education.pdf
and Ministry of Education, “Digital Learning Programme”, Ministry of Education, Republic of Kenya, https://www.education.go.ke/index.php/programmes/digital-learning-programme and
For Tanzania: United Republic of Kenya, Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, Information and Communication Technology Policy for Basic Education (Dar es Salaam: Ministry of Education and Vocational Training, 2007) https://www.tanzania.go.tz/egov_uploads/documents/ICT_Policy_for_Basic_Education_sw.pdf&
For Rwanda see, Republic of Rwanda, Ministry of Education, ICT in Education Policy (Kigali: Ministry of Education 2016) https://reb.rw/fileadmin/Policies/ICT%20In%20Education%20Policy.pdf & Republic of Rwanda, Ministry of Education, Implementation Framework for ICT in Education (Kigali: Ministry of Education 2016) https://reb.rw/fileadmin/Policies/ICT%20in%20Education%20Implementation%20plan.pdf
[14]For Rwanda, refer to: Eric Kimenyi, Rachel Chuang, and Abeba Taddese, EdTech in Rwanda: A Rapid Scan. EdTech Hub Country Scan, 2020,, https://docs.edtechhub.org/lib/TYBTWI8K
and Republic of Rwanda, Rwanda Education Board, 2019 Rwanda Education Statistics, (Kigali: Rwanda Education Board, 2020)
For Kenya, refer to: “National Education Strategic Sector Plan 2018-2022” and Jennifer Otieno, Abeba Taddese, EdTech in Kenya: A Rapid Scan, EdTech Hub Country Scan, 2020., https://docs.edtechhub.org/lib/CQ5E3ESF.
For Tanzania, refer to: Caspar Groeneveld, and Abeba Taddese, EdTech in Tanzania: A Rapid Scan, EdTech Hub Country Scan, 2020, https://docs.edtechhub.org/lib/PW7BBS8G.
[15]GSMA Intelligence, The State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2019, GSM Association, 2019, https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/GSMA-State-of-Mobile-Internet-Connectivity-Report-2019.pdf
[16]For Kenya, refer to: Republic of Kenya, Ministry of Education, National Education Strategic Sector Plan 2018-2022and Uwezo, Are Our Children Learning? Uwezo Kenya Sixth Learning Assessment Report, Nairobi, Twaweza East Africa, 2016, http://www.uwezo.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/UwezoKenya2015ALAReport-FINAL-EN-web.pdf
For Rwanda, refer to: UK Department for International Development, Annual Review: Learning for All, 2018, Kigali, UK Department for International Development, Retrieved from: shorturl.at/fhkwK
For Tanzania, refer to: Uwezo, Are Our Children Learning? Uwezo Tanzania Learning Assessment Report. Dar es Salaam: Twaweza East Africa
[17] “Are Our Children Learning? Uwezo Tanzania Learning Assessment Report” and “Uwezo Kenya Sixth Learning Assessment Report”
[18]Jennifer Otieno (Co-Founder, EdTech East Africa) in discussion with author, August 31, 2020
and Joseph Nsengimana (Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT, Mastercard Foundation, Rwanda) in discussion with author, September 8, 2020.
[19] Uwezo, Are Our Children Learning?The Status of Remote Learning among School going Children in Kenya during the Covid-19 crisis, Nairobi, Usawa Agenda, 2020, https://palnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Usawa-Agenda-2020-Report.pdf
[20]Joseph Nsengimana (Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT, Mastercard Foundation, Rwanda) in discussion with author, September 8, 2020. and Author’s interview with the lead of a leading civil society organisation in Kenya that works closely with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Government of Kenya and DigiSchool Programme of Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in adoption of education technologies in Kenya’s public education system. The interviewee spoke under the condition of anonymity September 17, 2020.
[21]Author’s interview with the lead of a leading civil society organisation in Kenya that works closely with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Government of Kenya and DigiSchool Programme of Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in adoption of education technologies in Kenya’s public education system. The interviewee spoke under the condition of anonymity September 17, 2020.
[22]Jennifer Otieno (Co-Founder, EdTech East Africa, Kenya) in discussion with author, August 31, 2020
[23]Tom Kaye (Consultant, EdTech Hub, Kenya) in discussion with author, August 21, 2020
[24]“EdTech in Kenya: A Rapid Scan,” for Tanzania, refer to: “EdTech in Tanzania: A Rapid Scan” and for Rwanda, refer to: “EdTech in Rwanda: A Rapid Scan”
[25]Joseph Nsengimana (Director, Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT, Mastercard Foundation, Rwanda) in discussion with author, September 8, 2020 and Caspar Groeneveld (Consultant, EdTech Hub, Kenya) in discussion with author, August 20, 2020
[26]Caspar Groeneveld (Consultant, EdTech Hub, Kenya) in discussion with author, August 20, 2020
[27]Caspar Groeneveld (Consultant, EdTech Hub, Kenya) in discussion with author, August 20, 2020
[28]Joseph Nsengimana (Director, Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT, Mastercard Foundation, Rwanda) in discussion with author, September 8, 2020, Jennifer Otieno (Co-Founder, EdTech East Africa) in discussion with author, August 31, 2020, and Author’s interview with the lead of a leading civil society organisation in Kenya that works closely with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Government of Kenya and DigiSchool Programme of Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in adoption of education technologies in Kenya’s public education system. The interviewee spoke under the condition of anonymity September 17, 2020.
[29]Joseph Nsengimana (Director, Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT, Mastercard Foundation, Rwanda) in discussion with author, September 8, 2020.
[30]Author’s interview with the lead of a leading civil society organisation in Kenya that works closely with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Government of Kenya and DigiSchool Programme of Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in adoption of education technologies in Kenya’s public education system. The interviewee spoke under the condition of anonymity September 17, 2020.
[31]Joseph Nsengimana (Director, Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT, Mastercard Foundation, Rwanda) in discussion with author, September 8, 2020 and Author’s interview with the lead of a leading civil society organisation in Kenya that works closely with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Government of Kenya and DigiSchool Programme of Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in adoption of education technologies in Kenya’s public education system. The interviewee spoke under the condition of anonymity September 17, 2020.
[32]Authors interviews with multiple stakeholders in East Africa
[33]Sandeep Menon (Founder, TIDE Learning) in discussion with author, September 22, 2020.
[34]Author’s interview with the lead of a leading civil society organisation in Kenya that works closely with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Government of Kenya and DigiSchool Programme of Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in adoption of education technologies in Kenya’s public education system. The interviewee spoke under the condition of anonymity September 17, 2020.
[35] Lovisa Hager, & Sara Almström., “Essential Factors for Usability and Acceptance of Mobile Learning in Ugandan Primary Schools : Minor Field Studies” (Bachelor’s Dissertation, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, 2019). Retrieved from http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-260130
[36]Tom Kaye (Consultant, EdTech Hub, Kenya) in discussion with author, August 21, 2020
[37] Jennifer Otieno (Co-Founder, EdTech East Africa) in discussion with author, August 31, 2020
[38]Authors interviews with multiple stakeholders from East Africa
[39]Tom Kaye (Consultant, EdTech Hub, Kenya) in discussion with author, August 21, 2020
[40] Lucian V. Ngeze, “ICT Integration in Teaching and Learning in Secondary Schools in Tanzania: Readiness and Way Forward,” International Journal of Information and Education Technology 7, no. 6 (2017), doi:10.18178/ijiet.2017.7.6.905
[41] Jonghwi Park and Maria Melizza Tan, Diverse Approaches to Developing and Implementing Competency-based ICT Training for Teachers: A Case Study, UNESCO, 2016, https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000246003
[42]Author interviews with multiple stakeholders from East Africa
[43]Author’s interview with a stakeholder from leading civil society organization in Rwanda who worked closely with the Rwanda Education Board in the roll out of the One Laptop Per Child Programme. The interviewee spoke under the condition anonymity on August 19, 2020.
[44]Caspar Groeneveld (Consultant, EdTech Hub, Kenya) in discussion with author, August 20, 2020
[45] Jost Uwase and Nick Taylor, Secondary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa Teacher Preparation and Support, Case Study: Rwanda, Mastercard Foundation, 2019, https://mastercardfdn.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/SEA-Teacher-Preparation-and-Support-Case-Study-Rwanda.pdf and and Republic of Kenya, Ministry of Education, National Education Strategic Sector Plan 2018-2022
[46] USAID, First Principles: Community Engagement in Education Program, USAID, 2011.
[47] Alcardo Alex Barakabitze, Edvin Jonathan Kitindi, Camilius Sanga and George Kibirige, “Exploring Students’ Skills and Attitudes on Effective Use of ICTs: Case Study of Selected Tanzanian Public Secondary Schools,” Universal Journal of Educational Research 3, no. 6 (2015), doi:10.13189/ujer.2015.030609
[48] Dr. Kilemi Mwiria (Former Assistant Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology, Kenya and Former Presidential Advisor on Education, Kenya) in discussion with author, August 26, 2020.
[49] Prof. Per-Olof Hansson (Senior Lecturer, Linköping University and Director of a secondary school in Kenya) in discussion with author August 19, 2020
[50]Jennifer Otieno (Co-Founder, EdTech East Africa) in discussion with author, August 31, 2020
[51]Joseph Nsengimana (Director, Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT, Mastercard Foundation, Rwanda) in discussion with author, 8 September 2020.
[52] Republic of Kenya, Ministry of Education, National Education Strategic Sector Plan 2018-2022
[53] “Uwezo Tanzania Learning Assessment Report”
[54] “Uwezo Kenya Sixth Learning Assessment Report”
[55]Joseph Nsengimana (Director, Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT, Mastercard Foundation, Rwanda) in discussion with author, 8 September 2020.
[56] It is a local-citizen led survey that collects data on learning outcomes of 600,000 children across every district in rural India
[57] Changing the Public Discourse on School Learning: The Annual Status of Education Report, The Bridgespan Group, Mumbai, https://www.bridgespan.org/bridgespan/Images/articles/bold-philanthropy-india/bold-philanthropy-india-aser-profile.pdf
[58] Pratham, “Teaching at the Right Level,” Pratham Education Foundation, https://www.pratham.org/about/teaching-at-the-right-level/
[59] Shushmita Chatterji Dutt, Christina Kwauk, and Jenny Perlman Robinson, Pratham’s Read India Program: Taking Small Steps Towards Learning at Scale, Washington DC, Centre for Universal Education, The Brookings Institution, 2016 https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/FINAL-Read-India-Case-Study.pdf
[60] “Pratham’s Read India Program: Taking Small Steps Towards Learning at Scale, 2016”
[61] “Pratham’s Read India Program: Taking Small Steps Towards Learning at Scale, 2016”
[62]Abhijit Banerjee, Rukmini Banerji, Madhav Chavan, Esther Duflo, and Michael Walton. Impact Evaluation of Pratham’s “Learning to Read” and “Reading to Learn” Interventions, J-PAL South Asia at IFMR and Pratham Resource Center, 2007., http://www.michaelwalton.info/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Read-India- impact-evaluation_proposal_October-2007.pdf.
Abhijit V Banerjee, Shawn Cole, Esther Duflo, and Leigh Linden., “Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments in India,” Quarterly Journal of Economics 122, no. 3 (2006), https://economics.mit.edu/files/804
Rukmini Banerji, and Michael Walton., What Helps Children to Learn? Evaluation of Pratham’s Read India Program in Bihar & Uttarakhand, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), 2011.
Abhijit Banerjee, Rukmini Banerji, James Berry, Esther Duflo, Harini Kannan, Shobhini Mukerji, Marc Shotland, and Michael Walton, Mainstreaming an Effective Intervention: Evidence from Randomized Evaluations of “Teaching at the Right Level” in India, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL), 2016.
[63] “Pratham’s Read India Program: Taking Small Steps Towards Learning at Scale, 2016”
“CAMaL (Combined Activities for Maximized Learning) is a teaching methodology developed by Pratham that combines reading, writing, and speaking activities so that these essential skills develop simultaneously. It also involves a practical and innovative teaching-learning process that helps children better understand and retain what they learn”, Retrieved from.
[64]Nishant Baghel, (Director, Technology Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, October 12, 2020
[65]Nishant Baghel, (Director, Technology Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, October 12, 2020
[66]Nishant Baghel, (Director, Technology Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, October 12, 2020
[67]Nishant Baghel, (Director, Technology Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, October 12, 2020
[68] J-PAL, Computer-Assisted Learning Project with Pratham in India, Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, 2004.
[69] 0.35 standard deviations in the first year (year 2) and 0.47 standard deviations in the second year (year 3). See “Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments in India.”
[70] “Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments in India.”
[71]Nishant Baghel, (Director, Technology Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, October 12, 2020
[72] John J-H Kim and Malini Sen, PraDigi Open Learning: Transforming Rural India, Boston, Harvard Business School Case 321-022, 2020.
[73]Annapoorni Chandrashekar (Senior Manager, Digital Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, September 2, 2020
[74]Samyukta Lakshman (Lead, Assessments, Digital Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, August 19, 2020
[75]Nishant Baghel, (Director, Technology Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, October 12, 2020 and Annapoorni Chandrashekar (Senior Manager, Digital Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, September 2, 2020
[76]Nishant Baghel, (Director, Technology Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, October 12, 2020 and Annapoorni Chandrashekar (Senior Manager, Digital Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, September 2, 2020
[77]Nishant Baghel, (Director, Technology Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, October 12, 2020 and Annapoorni Chandrashekar (Senior Manager, Digital Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, September 2, 2020
[78] Pratham, “Digital Initiatives,” Pratham Education Foundation, https://www.pratham.org/programs/education/digital-initiatives/
[79] Nishant Baghel, (Director, Technology Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, October 12, 2020
[80]Samyukta Lakshman (Lead, Assessments, Digital Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, August 19, 2020
[81] Emily Cupito, “Reflections on Seven Years at J-PAL Africa Working to Inform Policy with Evidence,” Teaching at the Right Level, https://www.teachingattherightlevel.org/reflections-on-seven-years-at-j-pal-africa-working-to-inform-policy-with-evidence/.
[82]Samyukta Lakshman (Lead, Assessments, Digital Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, August 19, 2020
[83]Samyukta Lakshman (Lead, Assessments, Digital Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, August 19, 2020 and Annapoorni Chandrashekar (Senior Manager, Digital Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, September 2, 2020
[84]Jennifer Otieno (Co-Founder, EdTech East Africa) in discussion with author, August 31, 2020
[85]Zaida Mgalla (Executive Director, Uwezo Tanzania) in discussion with author, September 11, 2020
[86] “PraDigi Open Learning: Transforming Rural India”
[87] Louis Major and Gill A. Francis, Technology-supported personalised learning: Rapid Evidence Review, EdTech Hub, 2020, 10.5281/zenodo.3948175
[88] “Disrupting Education? Experimental Evidence on Technology-Aided Instruction in India”
[89] Educational Initiatives, “Company Presentation,” Ahmedabad, Educational Initiatives Private Limited, https://www.ei-india.com/newEIWebsite/eiasset/pdf/ei-company-profile.pdf
[90] “Disrupting Education? Experimental Evidence on Technology-Aided Instruction in India”
[91] Anjali Das, “Mindspark Is Now a Harvard Business School Case.” Educational Initiatives, April 27, 2017. https://blog.ei-india.com/2017/04/27/mindspark-is-now-a-harvard-business-school-case/
[92] EI Working Paper Series– Issue 3, A Personalised Adaptive Learning Systems for Students, Ahmedabad, Educational Initiatives, 2009, https://www.ei-india.com/newEIWebsite/eiasset/pdf/adaptive-learning-system-for-students-issue-3.pdf
[93] Large Scale Educational Programmes, Initiatives that Create a Measurable Impact, Educational Initiatives, https://www.ei-india.com/newEIWebsite/eiasset/pdf/lsep-brochure-2018.pdf
[94] Sridhar Rajagopalan, “Twenty Down, Much More to Go!” Educational Initiatives, https://blog.ei-india.com/2020/09/24/twenty-down-much-more-to-go/
[95] EI Working Paper Series – Issue 8, Teacher Needs Assessment, Educational Initiatives, Ahmedabad, 2010, https://www.ei-india.com/newEIWebsite/eiasset/pdf/teacher-needs-assessment-issue-8.pdf
[96] Educational Initiatives, “Twenty Down, Much More to Go!”
[97] Gayatri Vaidya, “Building Teacher Capacity in Assessment Creation to Achieve Educational Reforms.” Educational Initiatives, https://blog.ei-india.com/2020/09/21/building-teacher-capacity-in-assessment-creation-to-achieve-educational-reforms/.
[98] Educational Initiatives, “Mindspark J PAL RCT results (Mindspark Centres),” YouTube Video, 3:12 min, February 25, 2020, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpChwrfYnI8
[99]This section is based on an interview with Sandeep Menon (Founder, TIDE Learning) on September 22, 2020 and the internal organization documents shared by him.
[100]Sandeep Menon (Founder, TIDE Learning) in discussion with author, September 22, 2020..
[101]Samyukta Lakshman (Lead, Assessments, Digital Innovations, Pratham Education Foundation) in discussion with author, August 19, 2020
[102]Republic of Kenya, Ministry of Education, National Education Strategic Sector Plan 2018-2022
[103]Joseph Nsengimana (Director, Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT, Mastercard Foundation, Rwanda) in discussion with author, 8 September 2020.
[104] “Milestones Achieved – DigiSchool,” ICT Authority Kenya, http://icta.go.ke/digischool/milestones/
[105] “About: The EdTech Hub,” https://edtechhub.org/about-the-edtech-hub/
[106]Caspar Groeneveld (Consultant, EdTech Hub, Kenya) in discussion with author, August 20, 2020
[107]Author’s interview with the lead of a leading civil society organisation in Kenya that works closely with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Government of Kenya and DigiSchool Programme of Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in adoption of education technologies in Kenya’s public education system. The interviewee spoke under the condition of anonymity September 17, 2020.
[108]Dr. Kilemi Mwiria (Former Assistant Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology, Kenya and Former Presidential Advisor on Education, Kenya) in discussion with author, August 26, 2020.
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Anurag Reddy was a Research Assistant working with the Centre for New Economic Diplomacy and the Technology and Media Initiative at ORF. Anurag tracks the ...
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