Embracing Distance Education in Cameroon: Ensuring Continuity during COVID-19 Crisis
Executive Summary
The search for solutions for educational continuity has then established distance education as the most secure mode of learning for this period of crisis. The training of educators in alternative educational services (tele-education, digital education, online learning/teaching, etc.) was therefore essential to ensure this continuity.The Cameroonian government has thus, in collaboration with its partners, developed and adopted a national response plan to the impact of Covid-19 in the education and training sector. This plan aimed to ensure the completion of the school year, the organization of end-of-year exams and the preparation for the reopening of schools and universities in a safe and protective environment. This was possible thanks to the contribution of the audiovisual channels. The covid-19 crisis through its harmful effects has now sounded the death knell for the virtual monopoly of the traditional mode of the education system in Cameroon.In addition to broadcasting lessons and activities on radio and television, educational resource formats (digitalized school lessons, video clips) have been put online on platforms such as monecolenligne, myschoolonline, distance-learning Education and Sukuluonline.
Implementation
In the aftermath of covid-19, the digitization of teaching has given the opportunity to initiate a major change in the Cameroonian education system. While classes have resumed face-to-face, in addition to television and radio classes, several digital tools (social networks, forums, collaborative platforms, etc.) have been added in order to support in parallel the delivery of classes or the conduct of lessons and activities, monitoring and evaluation of learners, while ensuring full coverage of the programmes. The passage of distance education has seen the involvement or development of certain web platforms that offer various and varied teaching/learning methods.
Among these platforms we can note: Websites that offer courses (PDF) in downloadable digital versions; Youtube channels that offer educational video content; The monecoleenligne platform which provides content (text, video) to teachers and learners in Primary and Nursery education, community preschool centres, functional literacy centers and non-formal basic education centres; The Sukulu-online platform of the Imaginecole project which offers educational resources built around educational grains which are video capsules not exceeding 03 minutes.
Digitalization, which is gradually becoming part of the habits of the educational community, requires that prerequisites be established. Thus, the Cameroonian State, with the support of international organizations, NGOs and civil society, has put in place policies aimed at: Encourage national initiatives, by pooling and federating existing platforms, so as to offer educational resources to learners and teachers, provide local and contextualized content, and train teachers and support them in the development of digital content and distance learning approaches.
Stakeholders and partners involved
Several partners work with the Ministries of Basic Education and Secondary Education in order to ensure the continuity of education and the quality of Early Childhood Education and Protection services: CONFEMEN, the Ministry of National Education, Youth and Sports of the Republic of France, the International Organization of La Francophonie and Unicef which have initiated projects in West and Central African States (Monecoleenligne, ImaginEcole etc鈥).
The Global Partnership for Education with the World Bank provides funding for the projects. UNESCO provides training for teachers in the production of Digital Educational Resources. Local and international technical operators such as CANOPE and TACTILEO. The Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, for the issue of Internet access and the supply of domain names and spaces for data storage. ICESCO, UNICEF for the provision of digital equipment
Impact
Under the impetus of the onset of covid-19, distance education in all its forms has had a considerable impact on educational policies in Cameroon: The discovery and appropriation of digital tools (distance learning platform, chats, discussion forum, collaborative spaces) and new teaching and learning models by the educational community; Strengthening the multi-risk resilience of the education system in the face of crises with the provision of modern recording studios for the design of course materials; Capacity building for teachers; Providing schools with digital equipment; The involvement of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in improving the Internet access offer for the benefit of establishments; The involvement of other related ministries such as the Ministry of Water and Energy, the Ministry of Decentralization and Local Development, the Ministry of Scientific Research and Innovation
Innovations
Harnessing the Internet and Technology for Early Childhood Learning
The widespread use of the Internet has opened up a significant amount of knowledge to a much wider range of learners than ever before. Teachers and facilitators can use the Internet by providing learners with digital educational resources, such as interactive lessons, videos and educational games. Many education systems today use a 鈥渉ybrid鈥 model through which many lessons are done online. Testing, assignments, collaborating with learners and parents, and research can all be done from a computer with internet access. Even for non-hybrid classes, the Internet is used as a complement to conventional learning. Platforms such as Sukulu-online or monecolenligne bring together several digital educational resources accessible to both teachers and learners. Teachers via these platforms can produce, modify or share resources and disseminate them. However, the appropriation of such tools requires the mobilization of the entire educational community, material resources (equipment) and the greater involvement of decision-makers, in order to have a sufficient quantity of quality educational resources for the benefit of our learners.
Constraints
Sensitization and Popularization: Monecolenligne and Sukulu-online require that they be sufficiently popularized by the various actors, namely public institutions, UNESCO and other partners.
The Energy and Digital Divide: We note a low rate of access to the Internet and to computer equipment in certain localities of the country, which at the same time suffer from a lack of electrical energy.
Resource production: The need to produce sufficient educational resources for the benefit of both subsystems (Anglophone and Francophone).
Funding: The mobilization of human resources, the design and production of digital resources, the needs in terms of computer equipment, communication and Internet access, require considerable financial means.
Distance Learning: Catalyst for Educational Transformation in the Digital Age
Distance education is intended to be a response to the pedagogical disruptions caused by crises; The transformation of Education goes through digital technology, and the actors of education, who are mainly teachers and facilitators, need to be trained; The need to produce enough local and contextualized content for learners.