EDTECH: Building Africa's Education Tech Infrastructure (Part 1)
African startups building the digital Infrastructure to educate young people.
To close the digital divides in Education and leverage the power of technology to accelerate learning, reduce learning poverty, and support skills development a focus must be placed in bridging the gaps in: i) digital infrastructure (connectivity, devices and software); ii) human infrastructure (teacher capacity, student skills and parental support); and iii) logistical and administrative systems to deploy and maintain tech architecture - worldbank.org
To effectively modernise education in Africa, copy-paste will not work. Solutions have to be built to tackle structural problems such as internet connectivity, income & teacher experience. After looking at more than 50 startups from Cape to Cairo, Lagos to Nairobi, these are the trends;
Africa’s Future
How do we educate Africa’s young people so that we benefit from this demographic dividend? As per UN estimates, by 2055 there will be 10 billion people on the planet and of this growth, 57% will be coming from Africa. This is 2055 but what about now? Right now 60% of Africa’s population is aged below 25. The whole world will look to Africa for talent.
We can turn this massive human capital potential for our own development if we educate them well. Its not just about statistics. Which is why Edtech startups are playing a very big role towards educating future leaders.
I looked at Educational technology startups that are largely building solutions for preparatory, primary and high school students.
Offline and Hybrid Edtechs
Supporting African teachers
Student Analytics
Homeschooling & Virtual learning
Beating connectivity problems
Besides low-income levels, Sub-saharan Africa has the highest data costs compared to other continents. How do you build virtual learning for Africa?
The average cost of data per gigabyte;
M-Shule a Kenyan startup has managed to scale an SMS based learning platform across East Africa. The startup has received grants from Google Impact Challenge, Mastercard foundation and EWB Ventures.
Knowledge is hard to scale in Africa, where 80% of the population doesn’t have smartphones or internet. M-Shule is an SMS knowledge-building platform that helps organisations deliver Learning, Evaluation, Activation, and Data tools across East Africa. M-Shule.com
M-Shule LEAD toolkit & How It Works
Here is how the startup has scaled,
How about tackling the data problem by having users access online content for free. Eduze provided a hardware device called the CLOX that can be installed at a school to allow students to access online study materials via their smartphones for free. The startup was founded in 2013 and raised from TED and other investors.
Here is a snip of how the CLOX device works,
Some startups have followed the model of allowing users to study online for free by getting their platforms zero-rated by telcos. One such startup is Syafunda from South Africa which aims to become Africa’s digital classroom by providing offline functionality in disadvantaged areas.
Here is how the company has scaled.
Foondamate is also trying to help lessen the data burden by bringing the classroom on WhatsApp. The startup has enabled over 200 000 students with limited internet access to study online.
Here is how they are doing it;
Homeschooling / After-school Learning / Virtual Learning
Exam preparations
Exam preparation is a serious thing that is actually an industry for some African startups.
Eneza Education for example has expanded to 3 African countries providing revision materials. Eneza fits into blended learning which is a hybrid system of virtual learning and the classroom. Students will attend lessons and turn to Eneza which is virtual when it comes to revision time. In Oct 2020 Eneza partnered with the Mastercard Foundation to provide an ‘‘Ask A Teacher’’ service to students via SMS.
Impact.
A Nigerian startup Pass.ng has also managed to scale its exam preparatory platform to help over 500 000 students. Pass.ng provides both online and offline tests. Desktop users can download an application that will be installed and used offline.
Teacher competency is a big contributor to passing exams. These platforms are evening the playfield by allowing students to access the best tutors and accredited examiners.
Maths Classes
"That awkward moment when you finish a math problem and your answer isn’t even one of the many choices."
— Ritu Ghatourey.
Maths is a big problem and many people fail it. That’s why some entrepreneurs decided to come up with a solution - dedicated platforms to teach you math and science classes.
Enter Watobe a South African startup.
Founders Erik Lönnroth and Henry Warren started Watobe as a way to overcome the poor learning outcomes all too often encountered in overcrowded, under-resourced schools around Africa. They wanted to ensure that children learn in a way that suited them in the digital age but didn’t lose the necessary human touch and guidance that all kids need to thrive.
Watobe operates on a freemium model. There are free and paid classes. Parents are also updated about their child’s progress. Watobe raised $636 000 from Twingle in May 2021.
Siyavula another South African startup is also in the same space offering maths practice and exam preparation solutions. Siyavula raised a $40 000 grant from Mastercard Foundation and another $1.5 million grant from Google. The platform is zero-rated for MTN/ Vodacom subscribers in South Africa.
Scale
Finding Tutors
Prepclass a Nigerian startup which has raised over $600 000 in funding helps parents and students to discover tutors - Uber for tutoring. The startup allows you to find a tutor from their database of over 50 000 tutors to teach your child at home. Alternatively, you can walk into their physical academies and learn a variety of subjects. To ensure quality service, they train their tutors about their teaching approach and other issues such as communication, social skills and subject proficiency.
The startup has generated $1.5 million in income for tutors.
Tuteria is also providing a similar model. You can book a tutor who will teach you at your home.
PART 2: Online lessons, Analytics, Teacher support and Learning Management Systems.
To avoid the newsletter being too long and getting truncated in your Gmail account, I will be finishing up the next part in a new substack.