Can tech help solve some of Africa's education problems?

As UNESCO holds its second Mobile Learning Week, DW takes a look at how technology is being used in African countries and what can be done to take advantage of Africa's mobile connectivity.

Kapenda Ndimuwanakupa recently completed secondary school in Windhoek, Namibia. The 19-year-old was also recently in Germany on a media internship, which he partly "crowdfunded" using a video that he posted on YouTube. Media-savvy Kapenda is a direct result of his continent's digital revolution in recent years.

"We all got taught how to use computer and [...] information networks, like Google for example, to search information that you can use for class work and doing projects," he told DW.

Kapenda was attending a state-run school in Windhoek. And his school wasn't that unique in its computer education, he says.

Schools experiment with tech

Despite Namibia being one of the richest countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Kapenda's educational experience is becoming less of an exception in other cities in Africa. For three years now, education authorities have been experimenting with media labs in over 60 secondary schools in Abuja, Nigeria, according to Iyke Chukwu, a teacher-trainer for digital learning with the Federal Capital Territory Secondary Education Board. But most teachers aren't all that enthusiastic about technology, he says.

"[W]hen you bring these ideas, the initial reaction is resistance because they are looking at cost,"Chukwu added.

Teachers are expected to buy their own laptops that they would use at work. And with their low salaries, it would take teachers a few years to pay for a laptop. Companies like HP have stepped in, offering special programs that allow teachers to pay in installments.