Laptops will improve learning in African schools, but caution must be taken.

Its a raging debate in many African countries. Should we provide primary school children in African schools with laptops? Will laptops help to improve the literacy skills of African students. In a number of countries such as Namibia, Kenya, and Rwanda, there are already some programs that have been rolled out to provide students with laptops. There could be several pitfalls to this.

First of all, many students in Africa lack access to basic things such as food, books, and clothing. How can African schools be at the forefront of providing laptops, and yet, the students are lacking the basic aids to learning? What needs to happen then is that schools should first ensure that they have the requisite infrastructure in place. Schools will have to be connected to the national grid. Many schools lack access to electricity, and this makes it even harder to ensure that the laptops are used efficiently.

Crucially, the development of curriculum is another aspect that will have to be looked into. Currently, multinational companies are installing content in these educational devices, ensuring some kind of educational colonialism takes place. This is one of the reasons why many governments and education policy makers are resisting the the adoption of laptops. What's more, teachers need to be trained afresh, as the teachers are currently not trained in computers. There will have to be a new skills acquisition by teachers in our schools, and this will ensure that teachers are abreast with today's development.

It would be important that laptops not act as the panacea to all the ills that encumber the African education systems. We could for instance start with a laboratory with a few computers, even as we empower teachers and build more classrooms and laboratories. This will be the only way to ensure that when the right time for laptops comes, the schools will be prepared to adopt the laptops, and use them to be globally competitive in the 21st century. Even as we adopt the use of laptops in African schools, we should not forget that teachers are still indispensable in this new educational system, and they must be part and parcel of the whole process.