Why is edtech failing in South Africa?

Nonku Nyathi, Injini

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Bringing more technology into schools is often framed as a lifeline for overburdened teachers, particularly in rural settings, where classrooms are often overcrowded and there are limited resources and support. When digital tools arrive, the promise is that these technologies will lighten the load, but this isn’t always the case. Instead, they can create new pressures and challenges for already overstretched teachers, especially if the technology is introduced without the right foundations in place.

With edtech, there are first-order and second-order barriers, says Rael Futerman, co-founder and chief learning officer of the experiential learning platform Cartedo. First-order barriers are systemic challenges, the ones that usually make news headlines – a lack of data or devices, poor internet connectivity, infrastructure issues, affordability and unreliable electricity supply.

“First-order barriers are the everyday obstacles that are very visible. Addressing these barriers doesn’t mean reinventing teaching; it starts with making sure the basics are in place for technology to be used successfully in the classroom.” Second order barriers are human and cultural challenges that can block the effective integration of technology into schools. For example, some teachers have fixed beliefs about what teaching should look like. This influences how they use, or don’t use, technology in the classroom. Some fear that digital tools and learning platforms could eventually replace them. Other barriers, says Futerman, include poor training and digital literacy, a lack of confidence, limited support, and resistance to change.

When a new solution is brought in, they do the most human thing, which is to reject the thing they don’t know and stick to the thing they do know.

Glenn Gillis, Sea Monster

According to Nonku Nyathi, senior partnerships and ecosystem lead at edtech accelerator Injini, entrepreneurs develop solutions that reach classrooms, but then there’s a big drop-off in use shortly afterwards. “When we dig a little deeper, it comes down to behavioural challenges. This is particularly true in an under-resourced context where teachers are not as familiar with technology as we might expect.” A teacher in a rural community who has never owned a computer or tablet may be expected to teach a packed classroom using a device with which they’re unfamiliar. “In contexts with more resources, people are familiar with technology and so they’re more open to using it. But in these settings, tools that are otherwise seen as very innovative and helpful can end up being quite disruptive.”

Kate Rinehart-Smit, principal behavioural designer at ideas42, a non-profit design and consulting firm, says teachers, principals and school management teams often have so much on their plates, and are stretched so thin that “they perceive these products as an additional burden, rather than a tool that can save them time and support learning”.

This is not to say that technology can’t help solve teaching challenges, but we can’t approach this as a technology problem, says Futerman. He mentions the One Laptop per Child initiative, which made headlines a decade ago and promised to provide laptops to primary school children across Africa. “While this goal was noble, the project missed the mark because putting cheap laptops in front of children fails to consider the many other factors that need to be resolved to improve outcomes.”

According to a 2021 study, three secondary schools in Emfuleni, in the south of Gauteng, were given smartboards, computer labs and/or tablets, and internet access was provided by the Gauteng Department of Education in 2015. Five years later, when this research was conducted, School A had 13 smartboards, but none were working. Internet access was only available in the administration block, and the computer lab was empty. School B also had an empty ICT lab and only had internet access in the administration block. Of the 10 smartboards installed, only one was connected to the internet, because the routers had been stolen. And School C had 25 dysfunctional computers in the lab and 10 smartboards, several of which were dysfunctional. Meanwhile, in Waterfall and Bedfordview, also in Gauteng, students and teachers at the private Reddam House schools have spent much of 2025 trialling technologies as part of the institution's edtech offering.

Teachers can now use an AI lesson planner that will generate objectives, resources, and a self-marking quiz. Pupils can attend lessons in the metaverse. This VR tool also provides teachers with diagnostic information, which helps them better understand where a student might need extra help.

Rinehart-Smit from ideas42 says at Reddam, the environment and context make it easy to embrace technology, but in Emfuleni, an area with socioeconomic challenges, the environment makes it almost impossible. “We need to remember that getting people to change their ways and learn new things is hard. If someone can’t log in easily, or change a password, or has trouble finding the information they’re looking for because the platform isn’t intuitive, this can be enough for a user to abandon the solution entirely.”

Glenn Gillis, co-founder and CEO of gaming studio Sea Monster, says some teachers might not be computer-literate, and they haven’t had the opportunity to engage with technology as much as others. “When a new solution is brought in, they do the most human thing, which is to reject the thing they don’t know and stick to the thing they do know, even though they can clearly see that what they are currently doing isn’t working.”

Try to understand the challenges they face and incorporate them into the product design.

Rael Futerman, Cartedo

For too long, teaching has been primarily focused on content, and teachers spend most of their time working through the curriculum, so that students can walk away knowing everything they should know, says Gillis. But if we focus less on the content and more on the user, we can change how teachers teach – and how students learn – and incentivise, reward and engage them in meaningful ways.

Many well-intentioned edtech initiatives treat teachers as passive recipients rather than active collaborators, says Nyathi, from Injini. Edtech creators must remember that they’re dealing with people, and innovating for people means taking a human-centred approach, she says. “Imagine you were in a situation where you have a massive challenge that is making your everyday life difficult. And then someone comes along and tells you that they have this incredible technology that will make this problem go away. Would you take it? Of course you would. But if the solution isn’t developed with the context in mind, a disconnect is inevitable.” Edtech providers should get to know their end-users, she adds. “You need to be in the weeds and see what challenges your user is encountering daily, to actually understand how the technology might be integrated into their day. Too often, tech is designed for an ideal environment, but show me any school where that environment exists. We often say that if you think you are spending enough time with your user, spend more time with them and then spend even more time with them.”

Rinehart-Smit has similar views. “Someone has an innovative idea they think will change the landscape, but they don’t engage with the end-user enough up front,” she says. Having an idea, creating a solution and putting that solution in the hands of users does not guarantee adoption. Technology that doesn’t solve a real challenge that teachers or principals face will probably fail, she says.

As edtechs move the role of teachers from a “sage on the stage” to a “guide on the side”, it’s important to provide teachers with the training and guidance they need to take on this new role, says Cartedo’s Futerman. “There’s no doubt that a semantic shift is needed as the knowledge is now in the technology, and teachers must be taught how to be facilitators of technology.” He believes edtech companies should pursue a more people-centric approach to technology development. “A more human-centred approach would be to start working on a technology and then go and speak to the people you’re hoping will use it. Try to understand the challenges they face and incorporate them into the product design. You’re not trying to force or push anything on anyone; rather, you’re revealing where the hurdles lie and then create something to solve those problems that is driven by the user.”