Efforts to improve the teaching and learning of information communications technology to young people in Africa has received a boost with the naming of firms from 10 countries for the EdTech project launched by MasterCard Foundation. The Foundation’s Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in Information, Communications, and Technology (ICT) said the named 12 will benefit from the Centre’s support to expand operations and improve teaching and learning of ICT in secondary schools across the continent. The Fellows were selected after an Africa-wide Request for Proposals late last year.

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Innovators were invited to submit proposals that either: enhance and increase accessibility and affordability of professional development for in-service teachers, which also minimizes their out-of-classroom time; or create and deliver enriched learning content that improves quality, relevance, and accessibility to both in-school and out-of-school secondary school learners.

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Peter Materu, Chief Program Officer at the Mastercard Foundation says, “The announcement of these first Fellows at the Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning is a milestone moment in the work we are carrying out in Africa. Bringing together these talented entrepreneurs and supporting them as they innovate to drive excellence in teaching and learning offers new opportunities with great potential to raise the bar in African education and benefit tens of millions of students.”

The Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning is a five-year initiative. It was launched in 2018 as part of the Foundation’s Young Arica Works strategy to enable 30 million young people, especially young women, to find dignified and fulfilling work by 2030. The Centre aims to spark innovation and promote promising practices in the use of information and communications technologies for teaching and learning, and to catalyze significant improvements in education across the continent.

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The edutech companies will receive a comprehensive package over the next year that includes customized mentorship, financial support, the opportunity to test, validate and scale their business, and a USD40, 000 grant to aid in the development of their solutions.

Those selected are O’Genius Priority, Rwanda. O’Genius Panda is an educational platform where students use computers to perform laboratory experiments equipping them with experiential and practical science knowledge. Others are HITCH Nigeria which is an educational video platform that provides underserved African schools with curated, high quality educational content. AkooBooks Audio, Ghana which is a platform and experience provider that transforms African books into engaging audiobooks that are accessible on mobile phones and Eneza Education Ghana provides learning and revision materials via SMS/USSD on basic feature phones.

Others are iCog Labs, Ethiopia which provides coding and soft skills training to young people in 15 Ethiopian cities, and M-Shule, Kenya which is the first personalized, mobile learning platform in Africa to connect learners with tailored tutoring, training, assessments, and data through SMS. Also named as part of the scheme is Siyavula Education, South Africa, which is a customized online learning platform that uses the latest research on motivation, sequencing, and cognitive science to optimize student study habits and improve test scores.

There is also the Dr. C.L. Smith Foundation from South Africa which hosts the platform Zibuza.net and aims to improve teacher capacity by providing a common platform for teachers that allows them to connect with their peers and other education stakeholders. It is an online professional learning community that gives teachers access to high-quality teaching resources like lesson plans, classroom activities, past exam papers and memos, courseware, tools, and files.

Another winner is Kytabu from Kenya which developed technology that enables students to access short and engaging curriculum content in text, audio, and video formats through a mobile application. Litemore also of Kenya has developed a mobile-first data management platform that allows students’ access to Kenya’s best instructors anywhere, at any time.

Instill Education from South Africa is a mobile teacher-training platform that provides educators with bite-sized and practical content using an approach that reinforces learning and deepens retention, while Chalkboard Education of Ghana offers low tech software and services for institutions to create and track training programs on mobile, without the internet.

Speaking on the development, the Head of the Mastercard Foundation Centre for Innovative Teaching and Learning in ICT Mr. Joseph Nsengimana says that MasterCard is very proud and excited “to have this first group of leading African innovators in EdTech with us,” adding that “these companies are working to expand the use of ICT to address some of the most pressing issues facing education in Africa today. We will give them access to the customized mentoring and financial support they need over the next year so that they can test, refine, and validate their products. With that, they can grow their businesses and help to improve learning outcomes throughout Africa.”

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry