How Socio-Economic Status and Education Influences Media and ICT Use in Sierra Leone

Deprived of education and training opportunities and income generating activities during the ten year civil war that ended in 2002 In the survey, 60 percent of respondents were self-identified as belonging to the low socio-economic status category. However, there is some correlation between one’s socio-economic status and those who are able to get an education in Sierra Leone. Those with “no education” or just a “primary” education are more likely to have low SES and those with either some secondary education or higher, are more likely to have middle or high SES.

Socio Economic Standard (SES) is a major dividing demographic factor for access to media technologies and ICTs. In addition, the use of some ICT devices such as the internet and mobile phones (especially SMS texting) require a basic level of literacy- which makes one’s education level another dividing factor for ICT use. Higher education especially is very minimal-the country has two universities, the University of Sierra Leone, and Njala University, primarily located in Bo District, which was established as the Njala Agricultural Experimental Station in 1910 and became a university in 2005. Teacher training colleges and religious seminaries are found in many parts of the country.

The following report will illustrate how SES and education play a role in people’s media and communication habits.

• There is correlation between SES and the four provinces- those respondents in the Western province tend to possess a middle or high SES, whereas the respondents in the South are particularly disadvantaged. Also, as a result of a slight gender divide, men tend to be more educated than women.
• Besides access to education and higher socio-economic standards, an additional language barrier also exists for respondents with lower levels of education (Chart 1).

Chart 1

• Those with no education face a significant barrier in being able to speak Krio, which limits their ability to benefit from a number of media technologies and ICTs.

Access and Use

• Lack of economic development and access to education and income in turn limits access and use of media and communication technologies except for those with high incomes and secondary education. Indeed, computer and internet access remains rare even for the most privileged sections of society.
• Even television ownership and viewership is a luxury. In this scenario, radio is the most important and accessible medium for all Sierra Leoneans.

Chart 2

• Since radios are relatively cheaper than other mediums, more than 90 percent of respondents with middle and high SES have household access to radio. Access is only 69 percent for those with low SES. Although both medium and high income respondents are equally likely to have household access to at least one radio, those with high income are more likely to have access to more two or more radios at home.
• However, due to constant shortage of electricity, almost all of these devices run on batteries rather than electricity (see chart 2), although those with high SES are most likely to have radio sets that run on electricity. In terms of frequencies heard, shortwave has more audiences with high incomes, while FM or VHF is popular with all who listen to radio.

Chart 3

• Besides radio, very few mediums are able to reach most of Sierra Leone. The only other medium that comes a distant second are mobile phones. But household access to televisions, satellite dish and external antennas increase greatly between low/middle and high income respondents.
• Mobile phones are the second most import medium to be able to reach substantial portion of the respondents.

Chart 4

• Overall radio use increases gradually as education levels and SES increases (see chart 3).
• On the other hand, overall television use increases rather steeply as education increases- it triples from primary to “some secondary” and doubles between “some secondary” and “secondary complete and above”. People with high SES have substantially high viewership than those with lower SES. This probably has to do with the fact that those with better education tend to earn more and have more home facilities.
• Locations: Sierra Leoneans listen to radio at home listening at their neighbor’s or friends’ home is rare across all education and SES groups. In addition, the high income earning respondents who own televisions generally watch their televisions at home, and there seems to be no evidence of community viewing.

Chart 5

• As mentioned earlier, a language barrier is created by education levels. This in turn also affects their listening habits. Those who at least have some secondary education are most likely to listen to listen in English and Krio (chart 5). This might not be serious impediment, as some radio stations broadcast in a variety of languages, but the inability to comprehend some languages probably limits their choice in different types of programming.
• Other mediums use: And as would be expected, there were major differences by educational levels for newspaper readership. Hardly any respondent with “no education” had ever read a paper. Among those with only primary education, nine percent had ever read a paper. The proportions increase rapidly with educational achievement- 39 percent in “some secondary” and 79 percent with “secondary complete and above” category had ever read a newspaper before.
• Sources of News and Information: Information sources are influenced more by education levels than SES. National radio is the most important source of news and information for all Sierra Leoneans. In fact close to 80 percent of those the two highest educated groups name radio as their most important source of news (Table 1).

• For those with primary or no education, radio was still the most important source of information for most respondents, but certain other traditional sources such as town criers, word of mouth, as well as community/tradition leaders were important to some respondents too (table 1).
• The same trends are seen with health news too (table 1). Radio is most important health information source to the highest two education categories, while health centers/doctors/clinics, while next in importance, play a fairly diminished role. Other traditional features do not figure as sources at all.
• For those with “no education” or in the “primary” category”, radio and health centers/doctors/clinics are both their most important sources of information. Some respondents in the “no education” category also said they depend on traditional healers, neighbors, friends and family.
• New technologies such as internet and mobile phones are limited in their reach to all Sierra Leoneans and people do not list them as their most important sources of news and information (general information as well as health information). Even television fails to qualify an important source of information including high income television owners. And since literacy levels are low, newspapers are not prominent sources either.
• When it comes to pro-active radio listening through call in programs, those in the higher education categories are more likely to call in (9 percent with no education, 14 percent in “primary”, 31 percent in “some secondary” and 48 percent with “some secondary and above” category).