The African Homework Index 2026
Between March and June 2026, 11,253 students across 100+ countries asked ScanSolve 46,658 homework questions over WhatsApp — 71% of them from Africa. This is the first public index of what students across the continent actually ask for help with. The headline finding: Mathematics is the most-requested subject in every single country, but the second-most-asked subject changes sharply by nation — Physics in Nigeria and Cameroon, English in South Africa and Ghana, and Chemistry uniquely cracking the top three in Kenya.
Which countries ask the most homework questions?
ScanSolve’s student base is concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa, led by Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya, Ghana and Cameroon. India is the largest non-African community. The table below shows the top countries by number of students, the homework questions they asked in the period, and the three subjects each country requests most.
| Country | Students | Questions | Share of students | Top 3 subjects |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 2,103 | 7,705 | 18.7% | Mathematics, Physics, Computer Science |
| South Africa | 1,763 | 8,512 | 15.7% | Mathematics, English, Computer Science |
| India | 1,643 | 4,543 | 14.6% | Mathematics, English, Computer Science |
| Kenya | 1,281 | 6,365 | 11.4% | Mathematics, English, Chemistry |
| Ghana | 1,173 | 4,775 | 10.4% | Mathematics, English, Computer Science |
| Cameroon | 494 | 3,562 | 4.4% | Mathematics, Computer Science, Physics |
| Ethiopia | 302 | 736 | 2.7% | Mathematics, English, Physics |
| Uganda | 298 | 1,485 | 2.6% | Mathematics, Physics, English |
| Zambia | 119 | 583 | 1.1% | Mathematics, English, Biology |
| Tanzania | 108 | 447 | 1% | Mathematics, English, Physics |
What subjects do students ask about most?
Across all 100+ countries, Mathematics accounts for 26.9% of every subject-classified question — more than English (12.4%) and Physics (10.2%) combined for second and third place. Computer Science ranks surprisingly high at 9.9%, ahead of Chemistry and Biology, reflecting a fast-growing demand for coding and ICT help.
How does subject demand differ by country?
The regional differences are the most revealing part of the data. Mathematics tops every country, but the runner-up reveals national curriculum emphases:
- Nigeria & Cameroon & Uganda over-index on Physics — consistent with science-heavy WAEC/GCE exam tracks.
- South Africa, Ghana & India rank English second, ahead of the sciences.
- Kenya is the only country where Chemistry breaks the top three, displacing Computer Science.
- Computer Science is unusually strong everywhere — it is Cameroon’s second-most-asked subject and top-three in five countries.
When do students ask for help?
Question volume more than tripled from March to April 2026 as the platform scaled, then held steady through May — the heart of the second-term and mid-year exam season across much of the continent.
Students message in 6+ languages including English, Arabic, French, Swahili, Hindi, Bengali.
Why this data is unique
Most education statistics for Africa come from enrollment figures or standardized-test results — not from what students actually struggle with day to day. Because ScanSolve receives homework questions directly over WhatsApp (a channel reachable on any phone, without an app or data-heavy website), this index captures genuine, in-the-moment demand from students who are often invisible to US-centric edtech data. It is, to our knowledge, the first public dataset of cross-country homework demand sourced this way.
Methodology
Figures are aggregated and fully anonymized from ScanSolve’s WhatsApp homework-help stream over 2026-03-04 to 2026-06-01 (n = 46,658 questions from 11,253 students). Country is inferred from the international dialing prefix. Subjects are classified automatically from the solved answer; 28,933questions received a confident subject label and form the subject-share denominator. No personal data, phone numbers, or individual questions are published. Percentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding and the “Other” country bucket. Data as of June 1, 2026; refreshed quarterly.
Cite this report: ScanSolve. “The African Homework Index 2026.” June 1, 2026. https://www.getscansolve.com/research/african-homework-index
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