The government of Gabon announced a partnership with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) to introduce digitalization in primary education. A meeting was held for this purpose between the Gabonese Minister of National Education, Professor Patrick Mougiama-Daouda, and the resident representative of Unicef in Gabon, Dr. Noël Marie Zagre. This initiative aims to make distance learning more dynamic through new technologies.

"The program will spread over five years. We plan to establish a mechanism that will help both students and teachers to get used to the digital tools. A first phase will see us implement the project in 3 schools per region," said Dr. Noël Marie Zagre.

The UNICEF Resident Representative also revealed that the program will later cover secondary and higher education. "It will take into account all aspects including staff training, infrastructure, and content to ensure that primary education can benefit from the digital," he said.

Gabon gradually started its digital migration process about a decade ago. With the advent of Covid-19, the country wants to accelerate its process.

Brice Gotoa

The government of Benin has adopted a new five-year multi-sectoral plan for digital migration. For the education component, the government has defined a technical framework to accelerate the digitalization of the sector. A workshop was organized for this purpose on January 27 by the Minister of Digitalization, Aurelie Adam Soulé Zoumarou (pictured).

It was attended by Salimane Karimou, Minister of Nursery and Primary Education; Eléonore Yayi Ladekan, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research; and Kouaro Yves Chabi, Minister of Secondary and Technical Education and Vocational Training.

According to Aurelie Zoumarou, the meeting enables participants to set “the fundamentals of the information system to be put in place, as well as the governance and the roadmap of the e-Education project.” She stressed that “per the vision of the government, the e-Education project must optimize learning and foster a better quality of the transmission of knowledge using digital tools.” The e-Education project is a sub-component of the Government Action Program (PAG) 2021-2026, in its fifth strategic axis: "promotion of quality education and technical and vocational training." Accelerating the project will help the government address the challenges faced by the sector during the coronavirus pandemic.

Once implemented, e-Education will contribute to improving the governance and management of education systems, introducing new teaching and learning practices, improving the monitoring and development of learners, making certificates and diplomas more reliable, strengthening teachers' capacities and skills, and improving research.

Adoni Conrad Quenum