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Young innovators under the banner SMBLO, have launched digital learning management system that enables schools to educate their students online.
The system provides schools with the ability to create lessons, tests and assignments, create virtual classrooms with automated reports.
This management system was created during the countrywide lockdown, a period of uncertainty of what would become of the education sector during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Based on statistics conducted by the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Zimbabwe has 902,327 students in pre-primary, 2,788,693 in primary, 1,953,352 in secondary and 1,354,863 in tertiary institutions. This translates to almost 7 million students who will be out of school during this time.
Said co-founder Amanda Marufu:
“We have worked hard to create a working solution to ensure that school kids do not suffer from this pandemic. The SMBLO team came together compelled to develop a working solution by the beginning of the Second Term. The platform was created with simplicity in mind, creating an easy to use solution for everyone regardless of tech proficiency.”
The other co-founder are Nigel Misi and Tawanda Chitongo.
Having released preliminary videos on WhatsApp approaching their launch they were able to garner support from parents and schools alike gaining them a total of 1000 registered students.
SMBLO has also been in talks with schools in the rural areas of Zimbabwe and are working diligently to create programs that will allow students from low income homes to access the platform while adhering to social distancing.
These include the Sponsor-A-Student Program and the development of a data provision system that will give data to the students that need it.
At a cost-effective $1 per month fee, this is a solution that was created to make sure that there is no child left behind in the quest to educate all.
Online Reporter