Moffat Mungazi
Ray Bande in BUHERA
GOVERNMENT, in cahoots with development partners, is bridging the rural-urban digital gap with the provision of Learning Passport in remote parts of Manicaland province.
The introduction of the Zimbabwe Learning Passport is changing mindsets and providing a gateway to a better future in Zimbabwe’s rural areas, such as Mutasa, Makoni and Buhera districts of Manicaland province.
In such disadvantaged regions, the combination of lack of electricity and internet connectivity, textbook shortages and poverty has for decades robbed millions of children of quality education and a prosperous future.
Designed and launched in March 2021 by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, in partnership with UNICEF and Microsoft, the Zimbabwe Learning Passport is equipped with contents from the national curriculum developed by a selected group of senior teachers from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education.
Users also have access to content from credible global sources. In an interview on the sidelines of a media tour of schools that benefitted from the Learning Passport programme, Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education Director for Communication and Advocacy Mr Taungana Ndoro commended UNICEF and Microsoft for successful implementation of the Learning Passport programme.
“We are truly grateful to our partners, UNICEF and Microsoft for enabling the Learning Passport programme permeate in some remote parts of the country. It is a fact that some rural schools have been lagging behind in terms of their pass rates all because of the gap in the use of technology.
“However, we are witnessing a marginal improvement in the performance of rural schools because of efforts that being implemented by Government working closely with development partners such as UNICEF and Microsoft’s Learning Passport,” said Mr Ndoro.
Learners in several schools where the Learning Passport was implemented started using the platform in November 2023 after the school was solarised through the Education Development Fund TEACH programme implemented by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in partnership with UNICEF, with funding from the UK Government.
Online Reporter