Chronicle Editor
Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, Senior Reporter
MORE than 77 000 users have been registered on the Zimbabwe Learning Passport, a tech platform enabling high quality, flexible learning to ensure continued learning in the face of disruptions caused by Covid-19 pandemic.
The learning passport was originally designed to provide education for displaced and refugee children through a digital remote learning platform.
The product which is a collaboration between Unicef and Microsoft, is now expanding to more countries to offer country-level curriculum for children and youths.
The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and Unicef launched the Learning Passport in Zimbabwe on 11 March this year.
In a recent report, Unicef said more Zimbabwean users are going on the platform.
“The Zimbabwe Learning Passport has registered 77 327 users to date and 3 993 lessons and 117 assessments have been uploaded on the platform to date. To increase its utility, promotional campaigns for the LP using radio and social media platforms are on-going,” the report said.
With the learning passport learners continue to learn even when schools are closed due to disruptions such as lockdowns to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
The content on the Learning Passport was created by a selected group of senior teachers from the ministry who developed key exam content material and uploaded it onto the platform.
In the first phase of content development, the levels covered were Grade 6-7, and Form 3-4. After going through approved quality checks, the content was immediately uploaded on the portal to allow quick access for learners.
The Zimbabwe Learning Passport also contains a digital library of teaching and learning resources from the national curriculum as well as open education resources from a wide range of partners, mapped to complement the local curriculum.
There are about 4,6 million learners in Zimbabwe.
The report also shows that the Education Ministry has completed printing 50 000 copies of the English Language Modules (Levels 1 and 2) and modules for Open and Distance Learning for secondary level.
“The printing of Combined Science and Mathematics modules is now in progress and delivery of all the material is expected by the end of this month. The distribution of 700 000 Grade 7 Self-Study Guides for English and Mathematics to disadvantaged schools, which commenced in August, is underway with 112 424 study guides distributed to date. Up to 350 000 learners are projected to benefit from these distributions,” added Unicef.
It said a million learners have benefited from the ongoing radio and online platforms which the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education rolled out in partnership with Unicef to counter learning disruptions caused by Covid-19 pandemic.
In a recent report, Unicef said the ongoing lessons on radio and the learning passport were helping learners to catch up on their school work.
“About 1 183 791 learners which include 591 071 girls and 592 720 boys out of the targeted 4,6 million learners have already been reached with radio lessons in the country since January 2021. Radio lessons are also ongoing in different communities especially rural areas and 750 000 learners are projected to benefit from radio learning in the disadvantaged communities,” said Unicef. — @thamamoe
Online Reporter