Innovations in Education How mobile phones are helping adults learn to read and write in Niger The problem Niger, a landlocked nation in sub-Saharan Africa and one of the poorest countries in the world, has an alarmingly high illiteracy rate. In a population of over 15 million, 72% of adults over the age of 15 are unable to read or write. The problem is worse in rural areas, where nearly nine of out ten adults are unable to recognize letters or numbers. In its work in these regions, Catholic Relief Services (CRS) noticed that illiteracy was preventing farmers from increasing their production rates and using market information to buy and sell their agricultural products.
Participants learning about how to use the mobile phone. Photo by CRS staff.
The CRS approach Between 2008 and 2011, CRS carried out an adult literacy program as an add-on to a multi-year food security assistance program in the regions of Dosso and Zinder. The intervention provided about 6,700 adults in 134 villages with literacy education over an eight-month period, three hours per day, five days per week. All classes taught basic literacy and numeracy skills in the native language of the village, as well as functional literacy topics. As a component of the larger literacy program, CRS piloted in half of the target villages a mobile phonebased project known as ABC – Alphabétisation de Base par Cellulaire, or “basic literacy using cell phones” – in collaboration with Tufts and Cambridge universities. Participants followed the same curriculum as those in non-ABC villages, but with a few modifications: 1. a mobile phone was provided to groups of literacy participants (one mobile phone per group of five people)
A woman practices reading and writing using the mobile phone. Photo by CRS Staff.
2. the project taught how to use a simple mobile phone, thereby allowing adult learners to practice reading and writing in local languages via Short Message Services (SMS)
3. as part of a community’s agro-enterprise activities, the project facilitated group access to market information via mobile phones. To evaluate the impact of the project, data were collected before and after the pilot program to compare both education and other livelihood outcomes of literacy participants in ABC vs. non-ABC villages.
Results According to the data, adult literacy participants achieved a first grade writing level and a second grade math level after eight months of classes. Those who used mobile phone learned even more quickly – their writing and math test scores were 9 to 20% higher than those in villages receiving regular literacy classes. Also, evidence suggests that those who used mobile phone retained literacy skills better: seven months after the end of classes, average math test scores were still higher among mobile phones users. These effects appear to be driven by the effectiveness of mobile phones as a motivational and educational tool. Students in ABC villages used mobile phones in more active ways and showed a higher interest in education. Beyond its impacts on education, the ABC project also had positive effects on household migration, agricultural production
YayĂŠ Seyni, a farmer in central Niger, checks a cell phone for the prices of beans at local markets. Lane Hartill/CRS.
and marketing, village associational membership and mobile phone usage. Participants in ABC villages received higher prices when selling livestock. Additionally, family members of ABC participants engaged in more off-season migration, an important source of income and means of coping with drought in Niger. Finally, households in ABC villages produced more types of crops and sold more of their cash crop (mainly gombo), thereby earning $10-$20 more per year. These results are all the more surprising given that Niger experienced a severe drought in 2009/2010, the period of this project. The reasons for these changes are due to increased involvement in village community life and the use of mobile phones for information on shocks, agricultural production and migration.
Looking Ahead The widespread growth of mobile phone coverage in many developing countries offers an opportunity to incentivize and facilitate the acquisition of literacy and numeracy skills by illiterate adults. The incorporation of mobile phone usage may help prevent the rapid loss of literacy skills that often occurs following regular adult literacy programs. By teaching students how to use mobile phones, adult learners can practice their literacy skills outside of class by sending and receiving text messages, making phone calls and using mobile money applications. All of these require basic fluency with the numbers, symbols and letters on cellular phone keypads. Mobile phone technology could also affect returns to education by allowing households to use the technology for other purposes, such as obtaining price and labor market information and facilitating informal private transfers.
For more information on CRS programming, contact pqpublications@crs.org or go to www.crsprogramquality.org.