The political economy of private sector-led edtech production and its implication for education futures in Nigeria

Thesis

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated disruption of education has inspired an increased public discourse on the ‘digital transformation’ of education, and the potential of education technology to democratise access to education in Nigeria. On one hand, the federal and state governments are attempting to introduce new national digital education strategies and intervention programmes. On the other hand, is an increase in private sector led edtech investment and product development which has coincided with the increased use of educational technologies (edtech) and a growing market of education technology in the country. While there is also a growing body of literature investigating the politics of edtech and the rise of private edtech companies and investors, the majority of these studies are conducted outside the Sub-Saharan African region. This implies that the growing activities of private sector edtech companies and actors within Sub-Saharan African countries like Nigeria remain under-researched. To bridge this gap, this study investigates the political economy of private sector led edtech production in Nigeria and its implication on the imaginaries of education futures in the country.

Using a qualitative case study research design, the study examines the discursive constructions of edtech promoted by private edtech startups in Nigeria and the imaginaries of education futures embedded in such discourses. Through a purposeful sampling that locates the top performing edtech companies in Nigeria based on industry insight, this study engaged the founders of ten edtech companies in Nigeria as research participants. Qualitative data were collected through online semi-structured interviews and analysed using critical discourse analysis. The study identifies and discusses the 'technical fix' narrative about edtech and the 'neoliberal utopian blueprint' of education futures promoted by edtech startups, both of which were found to be consistent with emerging evidence in critical edtech research (Van Dermijnsbrugge & Chatelier, 2022). The study concludes by emphasising the need for the Nigerian education community – policymakers, administrators, teachers, academics as well as private actors – to engage in constructing alternative education futures that can challenge the neoliberal education agenda emerging from the burgeoning edtech industry in Nigeria.

Authors: Falajiki, C

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-bm22jzk0o
• Type of award: MSc taught course
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: education futures; edtech; DSC2024; political economy; nigeria; DSC
• Subjects: Education; Technology; Politics and government; Economics