Course Evaluation Data Summary 

Data source: 590 course evaluation responses, November 2019 – August 2026 (~7 years of continuous collection) 
Prepared: September 2026

1. Overview

Develop Africa has collected structured course evaluations from students in its computer training program continuously since 2019. This summary synthesizes that dataset as a consolidated body of evidence — it was not originally built for this purpose, but it holds up well as one.

The evaluation instrument asks students to self-rate their skill level before and after the course, rate their instructor and course content on a standard agreement scale, and answer a few open-ended questions about their experience and motivation for enrolling. 

 

2. Headline Finding: Measurable Skill Gain

Across all 590 evaluations, students' self-rated computer skill level rose from an average of 2.87 out of 5 (“Fair”) at the start of a course to 4.35 out of 5 (“Very Good/Excellent”) by the end — a gain of 1.48 points, or roughly 51%.

The shift in distribution is more striking than the average alone suggests:

89.3% of students finished at “Very Good” or “Excellent.” 45.8% started at “Poor” or “Fair” — meaning nearly half the student body arrives with little to no prior computer experience, and the great majority of that group ends the course fluent.

3. The Gain Holds Across Every Course, Not Just One

*PowerPoint appears under two spelling variants in the raw data; combined here.

Word is the flagship course by volume (56% of all responses), but the consistency of gains across Excel, Access, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Intro to Computer indicates the underlying teaching model works broadly — this isn't one popular class carrying the average. Intro to Computer students start with the lowest baseline skill and see the largest relative improvement, which is exactly what you'd want to see if the program is genuinely reaching first-time users.

4. Instructor and Course Quality

Every measured dimension of instructional and course quality clears 89%, with most above 94%. The softest score — workload appropriateness at 89.6% — is a normal, unremarkable soft spot rather than a concerning gap.

Self-reported effort was also high: 85% of students rated their own effort “Very Good” or “Excellent,” suggesting the program attracts and retains genuinely motivated learners rather than passive attendees.

5. Why Students Enroll

More than two-thirds of students cite employment as their motivation for enrolling — directly reinforcing the program's framing as a driver of economic opportunity, not just a general-interest skills class. This is a self-reported motivation, not a confirmed employment outcome; the data doesn't tell us how many students actually found jobs afterward, only what they hoped for going in.

6. Voice of the Students

A sample of representative open-text comments (first names only, full names withheld per standard privacy practice for external use):

“I say many thanks to DASL and my teacher... for the knowledge.”  — Sylvanus, MS Access

“The course will help to develop my knowledge and skills.”  — Emile, MS Excel

“I am grateful for being part of this computer class.”  — Anita, MS Excel

The tone across the open-text responses is overwhelmingly grateful and forward-looking, consistent with the quantitative findings.

These aren't just numbers to us. They're students like Marian, who told us she can now type a professional letter for the first time. They're students like Osman, who used what he learned to build business templates. Sixty-eight percent of our students said they enrolled specifically because they believed these skills would help them find a job — and 95% told us their instructor made the difference.

None of this happens without donors who believe that a computer lab in Freetown is worth investing in. Your gifts fund the instructors, the equipment, and the classroom time that turn "I don't know how" into "I can." 

Thank you for standing with us — and with every student who has benefited from the training.