How much does a pen really matter? In the age of virtual learning, it can feel almost insignificant. Yet in East Africa, this simple tool often marks the line between participation and silence between a child who can express their ideas and one who must sit, watch, and wait.
As the world marked Global Education Week 2025 themed ‘Shaping a just, peaceful and sustainable future’ in November, it is worth remembering that such a future still rests on basic, inclusive access. No society can thrive when its youngest citizens lack the most elementary means to learn or communicate.
Africa’s education narrative is increasingly dominated by technology. There is justified excitement about digital platforms and virtual classrooms. But the success of these advances depends on a learner’s ability to read, write and follow the lesson in front of them. Without those basics, even the most promising innovations lose their power.
Education does not change through technology alone. It often starts with a pen, a teacher and the opportunity to express a thought. When a learner can write, they develop the confidence to ask questions. When they can ask questions, they begin to participate. And participation is the bridge to the just and sustainable future that Global Education Week calls for.
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A classroom becomes genuinely inclusive only when every child can take part. This is why basic tools matter. A school may have tablets, but if students cannot take notes or tackle exercises, technology becomes a glossy layer placed over fragile ground.
Many children in Kenya and the wider East Africa still arrive in class empty-handed, not because they lack ambition, but because their families are forced to prioritise food and transport over learning materials. Schools do their best to stretch limited supplies across crowded classrooms while also trying to keep pace with modernisation. For many learners, the basics are still a distant dream.
Foundational tools reduce the everyday barriers that undermine learning. They boost confidence for learners and help spark curiosity, qualities that shape problem solvers and independent thinkers we need in everyday society. Not to mention, they make every larger education investment more effective.
Policymakers and the private sector often overlook these tools because they seem low-tech or outdated. Yet the future workforce will rely not only on digital skills, but on the ability to think clearly, communicate effectively and adapt quickly. These abilities grow from self-expression (through putting pen to paper), and active participation in the classroom, and participation depends on having what is needed to learn.
Supporting access to simple learning tools is therefore a high-impact, low-cost investment in human capital. It strengthens learning outcomes and equips young people to enter the workforce with confidence and competence.
Simple tools have enabled thousands of students to participate fully in class, while creative programmes have empowered thousands more to tell their stories and build confidence. Our work with over nearly 3,000 teachers in over 200 schools across the country has enabled them to do their work with greater ease, benefiting from better-equipped classrooms. These successes show that real transformation doesn’t always begin with high-tech solutions; often, it starts with ensuring every child has what they need to learn.
Ms Lengema is General Manager of BIC East Africa
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By Paloma Lengema