Many Cabo Verdeans own or have household access to tools for e-learning during the COVID-19 pandemic – televisions, radios, mobile phones, and computers – but rural and poor households are at a significant disadvantage, a new Afrobarometer survey shows.
Most of the country’s mobile phones have access to the Internet, and a majority of citizens go online every day, the survey shows. But substantial rural-urban and poverty gaps persist in device ownership, Internet access, and Internet use.
Following the closure of schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Cabo Verdean government is leveraging technologies such as television, radio, and the Internet to provide remote-learning opportunities for students. Although Cabo Verde is rated the fourth-most-literate country in Africa, these findings suggest that poor and rural citizens may have challenges accessing the government’s e-learning platforms.
