By Ghost Writer
Child rights organizations and teachers’ unions in Burundi are expressing mounting concerns at what they deem as uncontrolled use of digital technologies by school learners.
Why so? They are worried that unrestricted access to online content risks negatively affecting children’s education through unwarranted –and sometimes wayward- distractions.
For that, a number of those public-minded institutions are now pilling pressure on the government to act with speed and expediency and tame the rising tide of learners spending long hours on devices whose content may be injurious to their minds, thereby ruining their future.
Breaking Burundi published a story on June 3, 2026 in which it named a number of organizations that were urging the ministry of education to urgently ensure parental guidance to young people on consuming digital content. They are warning, the paper noted, that excessive and unrestricted use of smartphones and the internet was the harbinger for mental and moral destruction of a young and gullible Burundian generation.
Titled, ‘Burundi Child Rights Groups Call for Controls on Learners’ Use of Digital Devices’, the article by Francine Iradukunda mentioned the coalition Education for All (Bafashebige) as opining that while digital tools have become increasingly essential to modern learning, their misuse poses significant risks to young users. “Children can easily be distracted by digital devices such as smartphones and computers,” coalition president, Jean Samandari, was quoted as saying.
The Bafashebige boss sounded an ominous warning: “Instead of using these tools to support their education, children may spend their time on other (unrelated) activities. By the end of the school year, this can lead to poor academic performance or even failure.” According to Samandari, the Ministry of Education should act now, “while Burundi is still in the early stages of integrating digital technology into education (curriculum), compared to more developed countries where learning through digital tools is already widespread.”
A similar warning bell, according to Breaking Burundi, was also gonged by the National Federation of Child Rights Organizations in Burundi (FENADEB) which advocates for stronger parental involvement in monitoring children’s online activities. Its spokesperson, Ferdinand Simbaruhije rendered a stinging indictment on parents: “Many of the negative behaviours adopted by children on social networks can be traced back to a lack of parental guidance and insufficient vigilance regarding children’s use of digital technologies.”
For her story, reporter Francine Iradukunda roped in a quote from Antoine Manuma, the president of the National Federation of Education Sector Unions in Burundi (FENASEB) acknowledging the educational value of digital technologies, and urging parents and educators to remain vigilant to ensure moral values are respected, and that students do not become distracted by online content at the expense of learning and knowledge acquisition.
However, the Breaking Burundi article needs more recent and relevant information as to correctly present the problem and lend it some context. The reporter should have responded to a number of lingering questions. For example, how widely are digital devices used in Burundian schools, and at what levels of education?
Two, if the use of digital devices is part of the educational curriculum, how was it designed, when, and by whom? And what is the impact of their use so far?
Three, what aspects of the educational curriculum are digital-aided, and how deeply do their designs and applications go in implementation?
Four, on what confirmed knowledge are the Child rights organizations and teachers’ unions in Burundi basing their arguments? The Breaking Burundi story did not provide any findings of a researched study on the benefits and dangers (if at all) of incorporating digital technologies into educational pedagogy on the concentration span and cultural behaviours of learners.
Sadly for the reporter, plugging in a casual (and feeble) quote from the spokesperson of the Ministry of Education did not add any value to the story. “We have observed this situation as well … This issue is among our priorities, and appropriate measures will be taken,” said Jean Christo Irambona. What situation? What measures? The story did not say. Also, it did not mention some countries elsewhere as examples where digital learning had taken root. Or where, as in Sweden, governments are re-evaluating “digital-first” education and scaling back screen time to combat declining learner literacy rates and attention spans.
Lesson learnt? The Breaking Burundi article under analysis failed to widen the scope of harvested voices to include quick research on the magnitude of the problem for context.
