About
The IDRC Africa EdTech Initiative is a three-year programme designed to strengthen the capacity of Ministries of Education in select African countries to coordinate and collaborate with national education research organisations, networks, and groups. Its goal is to enable Ministries to co-design and drive context-specific EdTech research that informs evidence-based implementation strategies and national-level policy development, ensuring that technology investments genuinely improve teaching and learning outcomes. The initiative will initially focus on Kenya, Malawi, and Senegal, where partners have strong relationships with Ministries and a clear understanding of education priorities and EdTech evidence gaps.
Many Ministries are investing in EdTech in areas such as literacy and numeracy, data-driven decision-making, digital personalised learning, and teacher continuous professional development. However, challenges remain, including limited coordination among stakeholders, low in-house expertise to design and assess research, and delayed evidence that often arrives too late to inform budgeting and programme rollout.
The initiative is implemented through a collaborative partnership structure:
- Ministry of Education: Hosts EdTech Evidence Fellows, appoints a country focal person, chairs the EdTech working group, and endorses the research agenda and studies.
- EdTech Hub: Provides technical assistance on EdTech research and implementation best practices and oversees the research component of the initiative.
- Education Sub-Saharan Africa (ESSA): Supports education research organisations in building capacity to collaborate effectively with ministries.
- Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA): Leads ministry engagement, advocacy, and cross-country policy-level convenings.
- In-country education research organisations: Lead research design and implementation and produce reports to inform policy development, improvement, and best practices.
Through this partnership, the initiative ensures that ministries of education can generate actionable, context-specific EdTech evidence and translate it into practical policies and implementation improvements.
Key Themes in Our Work
- Capacity building and coordination
- Equity and inclusion
- Evidence-informed policy and implementation
Planned Activities
2025
Launch, planning, and initial research
- Launch and inception of the initiative
- Embed EdTech Evidence Fellow in each Ministry
- Map the national research landscape and engage national education research organisations
- Co-design the theory of change, monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) framework
- Conduct baseline research
2026
Implementation and learning
- Conduct in-country research studies
- Strengthen Ministry coordination mechanisms
- Conduct midline review
- Facilitate cross-country learning exchanges and provide technical support
2027
Completion, dissemination, and sustainability
- Complete research studies
- Publish endline report
- Disseminate findings through policy briefs, toolkits, and regional forums
- Plan for close-out and sustainability
