Beyond the basics: The potential of ICT for primary education

The rapid technological leapfrogging across Francophone Africa, characterised by mobile-first adoption amidst severe resource constraints, has catalysed ambitious digital education reforms that frequently outpace traditional infrastructure. This unique socio-economic landscape serves as a critical empirical frontier for studying ICT in education, as it provides a rigorous setting to evaluate the cross-cultural validity of global frameworks. This study investigates the relationship between ICTs and educational performance in 14 Francophone Sub-Saharan African countries, using the PASEC 2019 dataset. A hierarchical linear model was employed to account for the multilevel structure of the data, considering variations at the student and school levels. The results revealed that the presence of ICTs in the home environment, including computers, smartphones, and TV sets, was positively associated with student test scores in reading and mathematics. In contrast, while computer halls in schools and school internet connections demonstrated a positive link with student performance, the availability of computers within classrooms had a negative association with test scores. These findings suggest that while ICTs can be powerful tools for enhancing education, their effective integration into the classroom environment requires careful consideration and planning. Policymakers should prioritize strategies to increase access to ICTs in homes and schools, while ensuring that these technologies are used effectively to support teaching and learning.