technology work for the limitations in our educational system.

Tablets of knowledge

In 2013, governor of Osun state, Nigeria, Rauf Aregbesola, announced the launch of a digital learning tablet initiative for senior secondary students in the state which has been lauded as sub-Saharan Africa’s first.

Endorsed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the Android 4.0 tablets housed state-recommended textbooks, past questions from the West Africa Examination Council exams, the national Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) and a virtual library including a few ‘educative’ games.

An original 50,000 tablets had been imported possibly from China and the United States at the start of the initiative. The government was responsible for both the hardware and content aspects of the project and about $US500,000 was devoted to making the e-textbooks tobe pre-installed in the devices although it is still unclear how much the entire project cost the state. 100,000 more devices were going to be locally assembled according to the then state governor. Named Opón Ìmò, which loosely translates to “tablet of knowledge” in Yoruba, the tablets are said to have contributed to improved performance in exams including WAEC and UTME as well as saved parents and the state government billions of naira in textbook purchases.

However, as an ad-hoc teacher at one of the government schools in Osun in 2014, I came in contact firsthand with some of the failings of the initiative. Students often complained about the quality of the tablets adding that repair and maintenance systems the government had put in place were oftentimes inaccessible. Teachers