Chronicle Editor
Leonard Ncube, [email protected]
EDUTECH, a local Information Communication Technologies company has introduced an all-in-one interactive solution learning desk for use by schools as a key driver towards the establishment of smart schools.
The Second Republic under President Mnangagwa targets to have smart schools by 2030 where all learners should be able to learn and access material from anywhere using digital technology.
Edutech has partnered with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to provide solutions towards attaining the vision which also feeds into the national Vision for an Upper Middle Income Society by 2030.
EduTech provides interactive innovation solutions for schools and has partnered Government in equipping schools with top-notch digital gadgets towards meeting the educational transformation goals as a key to socio-economic transformation and attainment of an upper-middle-income vision by the year 2030.
Last year EduTech designed a foldable solar mobile classroom which is being rolled out to 1 000 schools countrywide with the main focus on rural schools to address the shortage of learning infrastructure and improve the pass rate.
The organisation also came up with an innovation challenge for primary and secondary schools in which winning institutions are capacitated with fully equipped innovation hubs worth US$25 000 each.
The company has over the years been providing tablets, mobile scanners, data management, and research software and projectors to schools, school administrators, inspectors, and directors countrywide.
This comes as the Second Republic has identified digital transformation as one of the key drivers of socio-economic development.
Speaking at the recent National Association for Secondary Heads (Nash) conference in Victoria Falls, Edutech chair and chief executive Mr Luke Musambasi said the interactive solution desk fitted with a desk, tablet, mouse and keyboard is meant to enhance teaching and learning alike.
He said EduTech is a driver of smart classroom solutions and has been a frontliner in learning technologies.
“We are saying our learning should be affordable and teaching should be interesting. So as Edutech, we came to Nash 2024 launching the new interactive desk in which we are saying a learner can have an all-in-one desk which is going to solve issues of furniture and interactive tablets.
“So these are products that we are saying should penetrate at least rural schools to meet the demands of Vision 2030 for smart schools,” he said.
Mr Musambasi said schools especially in the rural community can also use interactive boards that use virtual reality and a projector where kids can learn the same things in the digital skills period.
This he said will make sure the country meets the target of the Ministry of building smart schools beyond 2030.
He said all schools, whether low-end or high-end are catered for.
“This is an interactive solution desk that is locally made. Instead of buying individual tablets, we built an interactive desk with solar-powered sockets and an in-built tablet that has a keyboard and mouse and can be folded off to clear desks for other uses.
“The tablet has applications needed for research. We can provide an agreement structure based on enrolment and we go a step ahead in establishing income-generating projects for the school whereby the school can get income from the project not from school fees,” he said.
The facility gives access to the Zimbabwe School Examination Council and Cambridge learning material.
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