Education during the COVID-19 crisis: opportunities and constraints of using EdTech in low-income countries

Key points:

• Technology can help mitigate the effects of the educational crisis and closures of schools, but ed-tech is not a silver bullet and governments need to have realistic expectations about what it can achieve
• The digital divide means that internet and mobile network access varies greatly in middle- and low-income countries
• Governments can provide immediate support by informing teachers about simple grassroots platforms where they can share their own ed-tech solutions
• Educational TV and radio broadcasts in combination with SMS are effective communication channels between educators and students when the internet connectivity is poor or not available
• It will be important for education authorities to begin planning how in 12-months’ time they will diagnose and treat the learning gaps that have emerged during the crisis.