by Michel Leroy, Dortmund University, Germany and Sara Namusoga-Kaale, Makerere University, Uganda.
The Erasmus+ project “Communicating Migration and Mobility: E-Learning Programs and Newsroom Applications for Sub-Saharan Africa” (CoMMPASS) aims to design and develop an online course for aspiring and practising journalists from Sub-Saharan Africa, in four languages: English, French, Portuguese and Kiswahili. In this newsletter article, we will explain why and to what extent the impact of this kind of project, whatever the challenges, is crucial for education and development in Africa.
The EU-funded CoMMPASS project addresses the role of the media in reporting on migration and mobility, while promoting the development of an African narrative on these issues. Over three years till 2026, a consortium of six partners in Africa (Makerere University and Ugandan Christian University in Uganda, Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences and University of Livingstonia in Malawi, and Université Joseph-Ki-Zerbo and Université Thomas-Sankara in Burkina Faso) and two in Europe (Dortmund University and ISCTE-Instituto Universitário de Lisboa in Portugal) will design and launch an innovative and interactive e-learning tool to facilitate better coverage of migration and mobility. It is therefore a large-scale project that will involve the different regions of West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa, in different cultural and linguistic spheres.
This distance learning and media-enhanced course will train both aspiring and practising journalists in covering migration issues in ways that are research-based, use reliable data sources, comply with ethical journalism, communicate with the audience proficiently and, if possible, practice collaborative journalism. Associated partners include a number of other African countries (Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Cameroon, Ethiopia, and Guinea-Bissau to name but a few) and other non-higher-education institutions, including UNESCO.
The self-paced 14-module course is currently being finalised. It draws loosely on the global handbook Reporting on Migrants and Refugees produced for UNESCO, adapting it to the African context and focusing on it. It will be put online as a test version in English in the coming weeks before being updated and finalised early next year and then translated into three other languages, namely, French, Portuguese and Kiswahili.
In Africa, the development of media-enhanced teaching practices gained momentum in the 1990s, thanks to various financial partners, particularly the World Bank. In many countries, however, this experience can be traced back further than that, and is built on the experience of distance education (or so-called téléenseignement in French-speaking Africa).
A few figures give an idea of what is at stake in this part of the world: on average, less than one out of ten students in Africa has access to higher education. As a reminder, the African Union’s objective in Agenda 2063 is for at least 70% of all secondary school graduates to have access to higher education by that date. We are a long way off.
There is huge population pressure here, with estimated growth of 20-40% over the next five years. One figure alone gives an idea of the scale of the problem: around 100,000 Ivorians pass their A-LEVELS (baccalauréat) every year. That’s almost as many as the capacity of all the country’s universities, public and private, and all levels included.
According to scholars, there are generally four types of challenges in terms of impact. The first is technical, with potentially limited access to electricity, the internet and the technological devices needed to connect. The second obstacle is institutional and relates to cumbersome accreditation processes, especially when they involve different countries. The educational appropriation of the tool (and digital literacy) are also crucial issues. Last but not least, the content quality issue is obviously a precondition, in particular for a project that encourages an African narrative on migration and mobility in Africa, published by Africans on an African platform.
The preliminary studies carried out showed that a number of preconceived ideas needed to be dispelled. For example, our target group, Masters students, are older than we thought. Almost a third are over 35. Three quarters already use e-learning often or occasionally, which is a clear indication of the shift that has taken place since COVID-19. In the overwhelming majority of cases, students own the equipment they use to go online, that is, either a laptop or a mobile phone. At the same time, 28% of respondents are somewhat or very dissatisfied with the current online courses offered by their university.
Here perhaps even more than elsewhere, impact matters. While the impediments have already been documented several times in specific African areas (often the same big players), less attention has been paid to the drivers of adoption, especially in universities of small or medium-size countries. It is essential to reflect this diversity and not to lose sight of the digital divides. It is also key to bear in mind that technology is disruptive. Just one example: in Kenya, the penetration of smartphones has increased by 7 percentage points in one year, and the curves for smartphones, which offer full Internet access, and feature phones are about to intersect, if they haven’t already. Finally, it’s all about our audiences: their willingness, their reluctance, their (pop) culture.
Maximising impact also means adapting teaching practices to provide more personalised support for those who are furthest away from these new teaching methods. And not losing sight of the fact that, at the end of the day, here more than anywhere else, that’s where the difference lies.
Do you want to connect with us? Contact: michel.leroy [at] tu-dortmund.de or snamusoga [at] gmail.com
Editor’s note: Michel Leroy gave a presentation entitled “Media-enhanced teaching practices:
an opportunity for inclusion or a challenge for the Global South?” in the panel “Extending the impact of media-based learning” during the 2024 Media & Learning conference.
See all of CoMMPASS in 180 seconds in this video.⤵️
Authors
Michel Leroy, Dortmund University, Germany
& Sara Namusoga-Kaale, Makerere University, Uganda
