The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic created a sense of “déjà-vu” within my organisation, Rising Academies. As we have been operating schools in Sierra Leone and Liberia since 2014, we could not avoid making the parallel with the outbreak of the Ebola crisis. Back then, we faced a similar challenge: how to ensure students continued learning even when they were out of school, with little to no access to TV or Internet, for an indefinite period of time.
While organisations (and governments) across the world were rushing to Internet-based solutions, we were absolutely convinced that radio was THE medium on which we had to invest to be able to provide a qualitative and inclusive learning experience to all students in our countries of operation, namely Sierra Leone and Liberia. Indeed, whilst Internet remains out of reach or unaffordable to the larger part of the population, radio is a distribution channel that most households in both countries have access to (UNESCO reports that 75% of households globally have access to radio and in sub-Saharan Africa between 80% and 90% of households have access to a working radio set). This distance learning solution could therefore provide an equal opportunity to students… And this is how we launched the Rising on Air radio programme! Knowing that in Sierra Leone and Liberia, only 1 in 20 young women with a primary-level education can read a simple sentence, we decided to focus on foundational skills: literacy and numeracy rather than tying the lessons to specific curriculum objectives for each individual grade level. To meet the immediate and pressing need for high-quality, engaging radio content, we did not start from scratch: we redesigned our proven structured curriculum content to make it appropriate for radio-based instruction.
When developing our content, we were conscious of the limitations of radio as a distance learning channel: real-time feedback from students is very limited which makes it difficult to adjust the pitch or pace of the lessons, and access to learning materials at home cannot be assumed. From the learner’s perspective, the listening skills and concentration required for audio-only learning can be a challenge. We have intended to offset those limitations in two ways: make our radio lessons as relevant as possible from a pedagogical stance and deliver complementary content by SMS.
First, about the structure of our radio lessons. They cover literacy and numeracy at five levels from K-12 (early years, lower primary, upper primary, junior secondary and senior secondary) but require no learning materials other than a pencil and paper. Each lesson begins with a safeguarding and health message aimed at keeping children safe during the crisis. Lessons are 30 minutes in length and follow a consistent and repeatable structure, with a cognitive break in the middle. This helps to create a daily routine and predictable pattern that students become familiar with, much like the importance of routines in a classroom. Finally, the lessons are interactive: rather than a teacher lecturing for 30 minutes, the teacher interacts with students in the radio recordings, providing an opportunity to ask questions, share answers and provide further explanation.
Secondly, to enhance the effectiveness of our radio programming, we developed a complementary 20-week series of SMS content. We focus on parents as the recipient of our messages and the role they play in supporting children as regular, engaged radio listeners and learners. The content of the SMS focuses on (1) increasing awareness of the radio programming (e.g. reminders about the time different lessons are aired, and on which radio frequency), (2) providing helpful tips for improving participation in radio lessons (e.g. ensure your child has a quiet place to listen, encourage an older sibling to join in for support) and (3) providing tips to support parents during a stressful time (e.g. advice to parents on creating a consistent routine for children while they are out of school).
Soon after we began supporting the national response efforts in Sierra Leone and Liberia, it became clear that many other countries and education providers were looking for solutions to similar problems. To support the response effort beyond the borders where we work, we decided to make all Rising On Air content freely accessible. We built out a platform on our website to share our full package of distance learning solutions, including downloadable and editable radio scripts, pre-recorded audio, technical guidance, SMS content, etc. Our radio scripts can be modified easily so that they can be adapted to the specific context of our partners. To meet the need for high-quality content in a wider range of geographies, we then also deployed this initiative in French and Arabic.
As of today, 29 organisations (including 5 national governments) across 18 countries have decided to use the Rising On Air radio programme as part of their Covid-19 response for distance learning. Indeed, this solution is very lean and easily scalable. Most of the radio infrastructure across the world has already been amortised so when the content is finalised, distribution costs become lower than any other alternative. Also, there are no hidden costs, neither for the consumer nor for the distributor, which creates trust and speeds up adoption. These characteristics, inherent to the radio medium, enabled us and our partners to reach students massively and rapidly.
With many countries starting to lift restrictions and looking to reopen schools, the focus is shifting from crisis response to the transition back to school and longer-term solutions. It is possible to envision that radio lessons will not just be a once-off response to the Covid-19 crisis but rather an enduring resource. Indeed, some organisations and governments in Sub-Saharan Africa are currently talking about introducing radio programmes as a complementary learning resource that could support the development of fundamental skills of literacy and numeracy even once schools reopen. Radio is a “last mile” distribution channel reaching almost all households even in low-income countries, and can therefore provide more equitable learning opportunities for students – especially in remote or hard-to-reach areas, contexts where teacher turnover is high, and/or communities where teacher training and capacity is low. Besides, for teachers’ professional development on its own, radio series could be a way to ensure continuity of training in remote areas.
Unexpectedly, this situation and the solution deployed was also an opportunity to tighten the bond with parents and make them more involved and aware of their kids’ learning. This was definitely a silver lining in this pandemic. Early feedback from parents was encouraging and suggested that they welcomed and valued receiving regular communications via SMS. As we know, parents play a pivotal role in supporting and encouraging their child’s learning, even if they themselves had limited educational opportunities. Providing parents with simple, actionable strategies and tips to support their children’s continued learning while schools are closed is crucial and remains important even once schools reopen. Trialling scalable approaches to engage parents has encouraged us to consider how we might continue to deliver and improve on these strategies going forward, enabling parents to become active supporters of their children’s learning.
Radio and SMS may be viewed by many as “old-tech” solutions. Throughout the Covid-19 crisis however, we have seen first-hand how they constitute bold solutions that can deepen student understanding of fundamental skills and reach parents in an incredibly scalable and cost-effective way. What if innovating in times of crisis was not necessarily about creating new tech but also reinvesting old tech to do good?
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Sarah Pariser is a PhD candidate in Education Sciences. She is also a Project Manager at Rising Academies Network, in charge of the Francophone contents and partnerships of Rising On Air Radio Programme.