‘Fund ICTs, AI in education budget’

Farirai Machivenyika

Senior Reporter

FUNDING for the education sector in next year’s national Budget should provide resources for the procurement of the latest information communication technologies, including the adoption of Artificial Intelligence to ensure the country does not lag behind global developments, stakeholders in the sector have said.

Apart from that, Government has been urged to adopt mobile e-libraries and laboratories for rural schools to bridge the gap between them and urban schools in accessing such facilities.

This came out during an education sector 2025 budget priority workshop convened by the Zimbabwe Network of Early Childhood Development Actors (ZNECDA) in conjunction with the Southern Africa Parliamentary Support Trust (SAPST).

SAPST programmes officer Mr Reginald Chaoneka said it was important that Government addressed the issue of ICTs and AI in the forthcoming budget.

“There are new things that are emerging in our education sector like AI and how it is disrupting the way we are used to operate.

“And as we discuss, we should also have that in mind on how we adopt the use of AI in the various syllabuses from primary school level to university because this is the way the world is going and we should capacitate our children and ourselves with the new trends that are coming up,” he said.

Education expert Dr Vincent Chakunda said new technologies were altering the traditional way of learning.

“Where we used to have large buildings for libraries, that might not be necessary going into the future given developments being made in the ICTs sector.

“So, we should look at innovative ways to improve access to these, which is where adoption of mobile e-libraries for schools in rural areas, which can be used by several schools. We must also address the issues of access to power, which has made it difficult for institutions in rural areas to adopt ICTs,” he said.

In his remarks, Mr Clemence Nhliziyo from the Campaign for Female Education called on Government to timeously release budgetary allocations for the education sector, especially those under the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM), which assists under-privileged children.