Challenges of Online Learning in African Schools

Is the continent looking at a lost generation of students as Covid-19 forces the majority of education ministries to scrap the entire 2020 Academic year?Tamasin Forde speaks to Folawe Omikunle the CEO of Teach for Nigeria, a charity that places leaders into under-served primary schools as teachers. She says Covid has shone a light on their already crumbling education sector. Professor Lilian Salami is the Vice Chancellor of Nigeria’s University of Benin in Benin City. They closed in February like many across the country and she tells Tamasin they weren’t able to offer any remote learning for their students because of a lack of infrastructure in their area. And Philip Pleiwon is the founder of Imano, an online platform that aggregates open source free content from around the world as well as individual university syllabuses. He says higher learning institutions are now finally clamouring to get online. (Picture description - students chairs and desks are arranged in order to maintain social distancing at Agidingbi Senior Grammar School, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria. Photo by Adekunle Ajayi via Getty Images).