The arrival of COVID-19 in Africa promised to claw back gains made in the education sector, as schools remained closed and curriculum interrupted. To keep learning happening during the lockdown, stakeholders in the industry have come up with numerous policies and guidance, such as rolling out online-based courses, and use of television and radio broadcasts. More than often, the majority of the students are left out as their households cannot afford these platforms. We interviewed Ellen Carney, Geneva Global’s Associate Program Director in Uganda and Ethiopia, on the Frontline+Education platform that offers possibilities of addressing these challenges.
The SMS Paradox: An Argument for Dumb Pipes
As it turns out - most of human infrastructure is built on (arguably) secure, dumb pipes. It’s what enables us to rely on infrastructure without constantly worrying that it’s being used against us. Confidence in the security of dumb pipes is why we drink water from taps (or bottles), trust pharmacists, and express some of our most personal things to our loved ones, over the phone. In fact, one of the things that makes Signal such a growingly popular app is that its lack of commercial motivation means that it doesn’t have to make the revenue-driven turn to user exploitation. Signal can stay smart about being intelligently secure, dumb (wilfully ignorant, really) pipes.