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Mukudzei Chingwere

Herald Reporter

Government is on an accelerated push to ensure every pupil accesses e-learning services as a way of aligning the standard of education to best international practices.

Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Mrs Tumisang Thabela emphasised the importance of smart education when she officiated the donation of e-learning equipment and system to Dudley Hall Primary school and Nyavira Secondary School in Norton.

She said the equipment “enables our pupils to engage in highly interactive lessons in a classroom environment”.

“The innovation we are talking about today comes at a time when our ministry is seized with the need to address children’s access to education through e-learning.

“Taking into account effectiveness, efficiency, accountability and inclusion, no learner must be left behind as we move forward in providing education with a focus on equity,” said Mrs Thabela.

“The smart e-learning model allows the teachers to conduct lessons, to distribute learning materials, monitor students’ activity on the targets thereby promoting improved teacher-pupil interaction, a thing that would improve learner-teacher outcome.”

Satewave Technologies donated equipment valued at US$29 000 which include, tablets, charging cabinets, laptops, access points, classroom management systems, and Haitalk online education system.

They also donated robots to build ICT skills for young children from the age of eight years and above.

Satewave Technologies is into smart city concepts aimed at using technology-based models.

Speaking after the donation, Madam Maggie Feng, Satewave Technologies managing director said the installed system allows teachers to remotely monitor students.

“Our system is also interactive as it has multi-media features which keep the class interesting and also promotes non-formal education.

“Satewave Technologies and Haier are in full support of Zimbabwe’s national e-learning strategy which will see rural schools having internet and electricity through solar,” she said.

“The smart e-learning system is able to work offline through the access point which stores files enabling the classroom to continue without disturbance.

“The rural schools will benefit from this feature as they currently have limited access to the internet. We want to include all students and they should be able to continue getting key ICT skills even in areas where the internet is a challenge,” said Madam Feng.

She said the e-learning programme was also successfully rolled out by their Haier, technical partner in Ghana and Kenya. Zimbabwe will be the first country in the SADC region to benefit from this project.

Zimbabwe’s education system is highly rated and further improvements to it will increase the demand for locally trained human resources.