The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes the central importance of access to Information and Communications Technology (ICT) for development and also to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education. Many developing countries, including Kenya, are looking not only to expand access to ICT, but also to use the increased internet access to catalyze increased access to information for the education sector and improve the achievements of Kenya’s children.
This study, titled, ‘poa! Internet: Community internet in low-income areas of Kenya’ showed that improved access to unlimited data has changed the way students and teachers use the internet for teaching and learning. Students using poa! Internet at school are more likely to benefit from ICT training during school hours and made more use of the internet for private purposes, including accessing educational content. However, there was no evidence that the internet was being used to enhance learning outside of ICT training. Improvements in school ICT infrastructure may be needed to translate better internet access into enhanced student achievement.
The study was part of a joint program run by the European Investment Bank and the Global Development Network, initiated in 2016, that deployed African researchers to assess the development impacts of the EIB’s work in African and Caribbean countries, allowing the bank to enhance its contribution to sustainable and inclusive development while simultaneously enhancing local research and evaluative capacity.
Name of the Asset | The impact of private sector projects in Africa Studies from the EIB-GDN Program (Study from Cycle I: poa! Internet: Community internet in low-income areas of Kenya)
Type of Asset | Paper in the Volume: The impact of private sector projects in Africa: Studies from the EIB-GDN Program (Cycle 1).
Date | 2019
Author | Charles Yaw Okyere
Country and/or Region | Africa, The Caribbean and The Pacific (ACP) countries
Name of the Program | EIB-GDN Program in Applied Development Finance
Download the Full Report | Cycle I