A secondary school teacher in Nigeria posted the following on an education forum: 'I teach a class of 65 students with only 20 textbooks. Every day I write ...

(a) Two perspectives in tension [2]

The teacher's personal and local perspective, grounded in daily classroom experience and concrete resource shortages (65 students, 20 textbooks, no internet) [1], is in tension with the national or global perspective of politicians and charities who speak of a digital revolution and donate technology without understanding or addressing the ground-level realities that make such technology unusable [1].

(b) Two reasons why donated technology might fail to improve education [4]

Any two of the following, each worth [2]:

1. No internet connectivity: The school lacks internet access, which is essential for most educational software, online resources, and digital content. Without connectivity, the tablets are little more than expensive paperweights, unable to fulfil their intended educational purpose [1+1].
2. No teacher training: Teachers have not been trained on how to integrate tablet technology into their lessons. Even willing teachers cannot use unfamiliar devices effectively without instruction, meaning the technology sits unused in a locked cupboard [1+1].
3. Insufficient quantity: Ten tablets for 65 students means that at any given time, the vast majority of learners still cannot access the technology. This ratio is too low to meaningfully change teaching or learning practices across the class [1+1].
4. No maintenance support: Electronic devices require ongoing maintenance, software updates, repairs, and eventual replacement. Schools in under-resourced settings typically lack the technical support and funding needed to keep devices operational beyond the initial donation [1+1].

(c) How a government education minister might respond [3]

A minister might argue that the digital education strategy is a long-term, phased plan and that infrastructure such as internet connectivity and electricity is being rolled out progressively across the country [1]. The minister might also point out that nationwide policy cannot address every individual school's situation instantly: budgets must be allocated across thousands of schools with competing needs, and improvements at the school level take time to reach all communities [1]. From the minister's national perspective, progress is measured in aggregate metrics such as the total number of schools connected or devices distributed, which may show positive trends even when specific schools like the teacher's still lag behind [1].

(d) Why individual teacher accounts are valuable despite representing only one viewpoint [3]

Personal accounts provide concrete, detailed evidence of how policies actually work at the point of delivery, revealing gaps that national statistics may conceal behind averages and percentages [1]. They can expose mismatches between policy intentions and real outcomes, such as the disconnect between donating tablets and the absence of supporting infrastructure, prompting more targeted investigation and more effective policy design [1]. Although one teacher's experience is not statistically representative of all schools, it highlights specific, actionable problems that policymakers might otherwise overlook when viewing the education system only through aggregated data [1].