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European Xtramile Centre of African Studies
(EXCAS)
EXCAS Working Paper
WP/21/012
ICT dynamics for gender inclusive intermediary education: minimum
poverty and inequality thresholds in developing countries
Forthcoming: Telecommunications Policy
Simplice Asongu
Department of Economics, University of South Africa,
P O Box 392, UNISA, 0003 Pretoria, South Africa
E-mail: asongus@afridev.org
Mouna Amari
Department of finance ISAAS, LARTIGE,
University of Sfax, Tunisia
E-mail: amarimouna86@gmail.com
Anis Jarboui
Department of finance ISAAS, LARTIGE,
University of Sfax, Tunisia
E-mail: anisjarboui@yahoo.fr
Khaireddine Mouakhar
Director of Middle East Projects at EM, Normandy Business School,
Métis Lab, Le Havre , France
E-mail: kmouakhar@em-normandie.fr
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2021 European Xtramile Centre of African Studies WP/21/012
Research Department
ICT dynamics for gender inclusive intermediary education: minimum poverty and
inequality thresholds in developing countries
Simplice A. Asongu, Mouna Amari, Anis Jarboui & Khaireddine Mouakhar
January 2021
Abstract
This study examines linkages between information and communication technology (ICT)
dynamics, inequality and poverty in order to establish critical masses of poverty and
inequality that should not be exceeded in order for ICT dynamics to promote gender inclusive
education in 57 developing countries for the period 2012-2016. Poverty is measured with the
poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of the population) while inequality is
proxied by the Gini coefficient, the Atkinson index and the Palma ratio. The ICT dynamics
are measured with ‘internet access in school’, ‘virtual social network’, ‘personal computers’
‘mobile phone penetration’, ‘internet penetration’ and ‘fixed broadband subscriptions’. The
empirical evidence is based on interactive Generalized Method of Moments estimators from
which thresholds are computed contingent on the validity of tested hypotheses. First, the Gini
coefficient should not exceed 0.5618 in order for ‘internet access in school’ to positively
affect inclusive education. Second, the poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of
the population) should remain below 33.6842% in order for ‘internet access in school’ to
favorably influence inclusive education. Third, the Palma ratio should not exceed 3.3766 in
order for internet penetration to favorably affect inclusive education. Fourth, for personal
computers to increase inclusive education, the Gini coefficient, Palma ratio and poverty
headcount (% of the population) should not exceed 0.4781, 3.5294 and 17.7272, respectively.
The study confirms the significant role technological deepening plays in advancing inclusive
education by means of policies that reduce poverty and income inequality, with potentially
wider applicability to other developing economies. The study has provided poverty and
inequality levels that should not be exceeded in order for personal computers, internet
penetration and ‘internet access in school’ to promote gender inclusive education.
Paper type: Research paper
Keywords: Inclusive, Education, Inequality, Technology, Thresholds.
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1. Introduction
Information and communication technologies (ICTs), over the past decades, have been
anticipated to improve the quality of education, the deepening of knowledge, and inclusive
development (UNESCO, 2015, 2017). Corporate sustainability is also associated with
inclusive development, which encompasses “marginalized people, sectors, and countries in
social, political and economic processes for increased human well‐being, social and
environmental sustainability, and empowerment”. Hence, inclusive education has gained
renewed interest among scholars and policy makers, in the light of the fact that it is central to
most SDGs (sustainable development Goals) (Asongu & Odhiambo, 2020)
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. According to the
definition presented in the post-2015 development agenda published by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP), inclusive education refers to the pooling of the strengths,
qualities, or skills of people in a community (World Bank, 2015). This dynamic relationship
aims to make sure that all children, mainly those with special needs, can develop their full
potential, autonomy, and self-determination by guaranteeing them access to the necessary
learning activities (Ainscow, 1991). It encourages the whole community to favor the
integration of all children in the various spheres of activity by favoring and promoting
accessibility to activities in the natural environment for all children with or without
disabilities. Inclusive education aims to support these people in their joint efforts for the
education of the child. Inclusive education provides, among other things, tools that allow
these people to sit together, clarify their mission, develop common educational projects
(objectives or intervention plan), naturally support themselves in their role, learn from others
and ensure children's educational success (Ajuwon, 2008; McConkey & Mariga, 2010a). The
whole world attaches great importance to inclusive education. Despite this relevance, in low-
income countries, there are many gaps in terms of equality among pupils and students with
disabilities and special needs. Recent literature corroborates the perspective that in low- and
middle-income countries, the fight against poverty is an essential factor for successful
attempts to implement inclusive education systems (Bicaba et al., 2017; Asongu et al., 2019).
According to recent literature, researchers have described technology adoption as a channel
which can enable developing countries to skip some stages of income inequality and the
technology exclusion in order to achieve inclusive education and development (Sofia &
Christos, 2015). The dramatic increase in access to ICTs has been accompanied by numerous
studies on their contribution to inclusive development and poverty reduction. The positioning
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Gender parity education, inclusive intermediary education, gender parity intermediary education and inclusive
education are used interchangeably throughout the study.
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of this research on the impact of ICT proxies and inequality on inclusive education is based
on many factors. Against this background, the present research is positioned on determining
the inequality thresholds that reduce the positive effect of ICTs on inclusive education in
developing countries.
The closest study in the literature to the present research is Asongu et al. (2019) which
has assessed nexuses between ICT, income inequality and inclusive education in a sample of
42 African countries for the period 2004-2014. The present study departs from the underlying
research in at least four fronts: (i) The focus is beyond the scope of African countries because
the present study focuses on developing countries. (ii) Owing the data availability constraints
(e.g. in the use of virtual social networks), this study employs data for the period 2012-2016.
(iii) By extension, more ICT dynamics are engaged in this study contrary to Asongu et al.
(2019) because ‘the use of virtual social network’, ‘internet access in school’ and personal
computer ownership are also taken on board. (iv) The relative pro-poor measures (i.e.
inequality dynamics) used by the underlying study are complemented with an absolute pro-
poor measure (i.e. poverty headcount ratio).
The rest of the article is structured as follows. In section 2, the literature review is
presented by defining inclusive education as a goal of sustainable development in the context
of this research. Then, the hypotheses of this study are discussed in the same section, followed
by an explanation of the methodology in section 3. Section 4 presents and discusses the
empirical results. The study concludes in section 5 with implications and future research
directions.
2. Literature review
2.1 Inclusive education as a sustainable development goal
Inclusive education represents a fundamental channel for the success of a sustainable
development strategy. In most sub-Saharan African countries, the education system is
suffering from partial special education (Anastasiou & Keller, 2011; Caldin, 2014). In these
countries, the national educational systems adopted are limited in addition to special and
inclusion services that are much undeveloped. International statistics show that a low
percentage of the children with special needs in the attendant countries obtain any form of
basic education (Carew et al., 2019). According to Kniel and Kniel (2008), pupils and
students with disabilities do not spend many years achieving basic education in a formal
setting or are not even opportune to have the limited years of basic education in the light of
the restricted opportunities in the country. It is worthwhile to note that the United Nations
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Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and multilateral donor
institutions grant both technical and financial support in order to tackle concerns associated
with deficiency in appropriate infrastructure and lack of trained teachers. Statistics confirm
the perspective that countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are in need of projects of sustainable
program evaluation in order to supervise students with limited abilities and special needs to
the special education system (Clouder et al., 2019). Researchers have suggested that
combining technology tools with teachers’ capabilities will solve the problem of inequality in
the education system especially in the emerging context (Srivastava & Shree, 2019). It has
been shown that to manage this digital transformation needed in schools, there is also need for
the adoption of a new strategy of education (Hamburg, 2019). Researchers have shown that
inclusive development is often guided by fighting against poverty and the promotion of
inclusive education (Asongu et al., 2019).
Recently, studies have confirmed that there is a significant difference between rural
and urban schools in adopting inclusive education. However, rural schools show a poorer
likelihood of implementing the accessibility requirements for an inclusive education system
principally, in resource rooms and training in sign language. The existing literature (Tikly,
2011; Le Fanu, 2014; Moreno et al., 2015) confirms the apparent gaps rural areas have in
educational opportunities when compared with urban areas, especially in the association with
poverty. Also, recent research has been conducted on the benefits of digital tools in the
educational areas of therapy and health to complement patients that are being treated for
motor, sensory and cognitive disorders. Southgate et al. (2018) have investigated the nexus
between inclusion and virtual immersive environments. The existing literature review of
inclusive education shows that the diffusion of innovation and technology in schools can
reduce the inequality between students and pupils with disabilities especially in developing
countries. Each pupil or student can be integrated into ordinary schools if there are
appropriate mechanisms that can facilitate the accommodation of these students with special
needs and disabilities. Moreover, it allows for the disadvantaged as well as persons
constrained with disabilities to contribute towards societal development by liberating the
maximum of their potentials (Bakhshi et al., 2013; Ametepee & Anastasiou, 2015; Asongu et
al., 2019).
In the light of above insights from the extant literature, the following testable
hypotheses can be formulated:
