Collaboration needed to make access to EdTech cheaper – Stakeholders

The e-learning coordinator at Ola College, Cape Coast, Mark Aikins Valentine, has called for more to be done to make access to EdTech cheaper for stakeholders in the education sector.

Speaking during the EdTech Monday segment on the Citi Breakfast Show, Mr. Valentine said students are willing to engage in e-learning “but the challenge has to do with data.”

Though some Edtech platforms have benefited from subsidies on data, he said, “there is more to be done”.

Mr. Valentine thus said, “policymakers should be making sure they partner with telcos.”

“The way to go is to talk to the telcos. Probably they could subsidise the cost of internet on certain platforms most of our teachers use for teaching and learning, so this access issue can be dealt with once and for all.”

Also on the show, Ethel Sakitey, the Regional Director for Worldreader, a non-profit organisation that brings high-quality, affordable digital learning to communities where books are scarce, stressed the need for partnerships within the educational space to boost access.

“We actually need to build a very strong ecosystem of actors within education, EdTech, development partners, NGOs, and corporate entities, and we need to work to address the issue of cost.”

“We need a lot more to go to the hinterlands and the underserved communities so that we can deal with the issues of equity and cost,” she said.

EdTech Monday is an initiative of the Mastercard Foundation Regional Centre for Teaching and Learning in ICT.

The show on Monday, July 26, 2021, was on the theme ‘Top education challenges that technology can address’.

About the Mastercard Foundation

The Mastercard Foundation works with visionary organisations to enable young people in Africa and in indigenous communities in Canada to access dignified and fulfilling work.  It is one of the largest private foundations in the world with a mission to advance learning and promote financial inclusion to create an inclusive and equitable world.

The Foundation was created by Mastercard in 2006 as an independent organisation with its own Board of Directors and management.

In Ghana, after more than a decade of working with the private sector and government to promote financial inclusion and education through its Scholars Program, the Mastercard Foundation launched Young Africa Works, a 10-year strategy to enable 3 million young Ghanaians, particularly young women, to access dignified and fulfilling work by 2030.

Young Africa Works in Ghana aims to:

• Enable the growth of women-owned enterprises through business development services, access to finance, and access to markets.
• Enable young people to acquire skills that are needed by businesses in growing sectors of the economy, and strengthen the quality of education to prepare students for the world of work.
• Scale digital training and strengthen technology-focused employment opportunities.

EdTech Monday is one of the initiatives of the Foundation’s Regional Centre for Teaching and Learning in ICT, aimed at leveraging technology to advance teaching and learning.

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