From commitment to action: Advancing the use of AI in education in Africa
Artificial intelligence (AI) has the potential to address some of the biggest challenges in education. AI can support individualized education, students with disabilities, first language learning, curricula development and school-level administrative tasks. However, AI can also perpetuate pre-existing structural inequalities and bias in school systems, widen the digital divide and, in particular for minors, create privacy concerns.
Recognizing these potential risks and rewards, the African Union’s Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy identifies education as one of the priority sectors for AI expansion. The strategy calls for more knowledge about AI use cases, policies and competency frameworks in education and more sharing of evidence-based successful practices. IDRC-supported work aligns with that call through partnerships like Artificial Intelligence for Development (AI4D), the Global Partnership for Education Knowledge and Innovation Exchange (GPE KIX) and Centre investments in educational technology (Edtech) capacity-building.
Harnessing responsible AI for education
AI4D has supported the development of innovative, responsible AI-enabled assistive technologies for learners with physical disabilities. A tool developed by Kenya’s Maseno University in collaboration with deaf communities translates between English and Kenyan sign language to facilitate communication between deaf students and their peers and teachers in mainstream schools. Several other supported projects leverage machine translation and text-to-speech technologies to make educational content in English, French and local languages more accessible for neurodiverse learners and learners with visual impairments.
RobotsMali, an IDRC-supported educational non-profit organization in Mali, used a combination of ChatGPT, machine translation and human editors to produce over 180 culturally relevant children’s books in less than a year in Bambara, a local Malian language. The organization estimates that its production costs were a fraction of what they would have been had they used other methods to create the books. They represent a first step in promoting literacy in Bambara and preserving the traditional language.
Similarly, the GPE KIX project, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) Teacher and student education for Primary Schools, combined open educational resources and AI in the development of high-quality, culturally relevant science textbooks for primary school in Benin, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. AI tools assisted in drafting initial content based on each country’s curriculum requirements, suggested culturally relevant examples and contexts, and aided in the translation and localization of materials.
The true potential of these educational innovations will not be fulfilled without the proper implementation of AI-enabled tools into education systems, starting with the essential step of educating policymakers and decision-makers on both the risks and potential benefits of using AI. Africa’s Continental Artificial Intelligence Strategy recognizes that if AI is to be widely adopted in education in Africa, national AI competency initiatives for teachers and students are critical.
From innovation to implementation
As part of AI4D, the Senegal-based advocacy firm Niyel has been working with governments in francophone Africa to deepen parliamentarians’ understanding of AI and responsible AI policies. In October 2024, following the launch of a French-language guide for policymakers in AI and education as well as UNESCO’s AI Competency Framework for Students, GPE KIX Africa 21 Hub and UNESCO hosted a two-day seminar in Senegal on that challenge. Ministers of education and representatives from 25 francophone and lusophone African countries attended the event. Professor Mamadou Kaba Traoré, deputy director of the Integration from Material to System (IMS) lab at the University of Bordeaux in France, led workshops designed to help country representatives develop AI competency frameworks tailored to their needs.
“[S]kills repositories are highly relevant tools for drawing up an inventory of required skills that educational strategies can be based on, and for assessing strengths and needs to define required training initiatives,” Traoré explained. “However, difficulties remain in properly identifying these skills, as well as in structuring a rational process for implementing reference systems from their conception to their operationalization in training programs.”
Country representatives made a strong commitment to addressing the challenges associated with developing and operationalizing national AI skills repositories, with a focus on collaboration and synergy between countries.
The focus on skills and capacity strengthening aligns with IDRC’s most recent investment in educational technologies through the EmpowerED initiative. EmpowerED will support Southern ministries of education to identify their learning needs, improve their capacities to generate and use AI innovations and Edtech-related evidence and help support the development of AI and Edtech-enabling policies. Recognizing the context-specific challenges of widespread Edtech use, EmpowerED operates through three regional initiatives led by local partner organizations in Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia. These regional networks of research institutions will leverage policy opportunities and existing capacity within specific countries, ensuring impact and policy buy-in. Ensuring that national ministries of education feel prepared to respond to a changing digital and AI landscape is key to the success of responsible AI and other educational innovations.
IDRC will continue — through EmpowerED, the AI4D program, GPE KIX and other IDRC programming — to facilitate the development of responsible AI education policies and innovations, knowledge exchange and country support in Africa and throughout the Global South.
An earlier version of this article appeared on the GPE-KIX website in January 2025.
Contributors: Sophie D’Aoust, program officer, IDRC; Abbey Gandhi, knowledge translation program officer, IDRC; Mélodie Petit, communications consultant, GPE KIX Africa 21 Hub; Mamadou Kaba Traoré, deputy director, IMS lab; Matilda Dipieri, knowledge sharing officer, IDRC.