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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Senior Health Reporter
ZIMBABWE is on course to improve maternal health outcomes with the roll out of the new e-learning platform for midwife training.
In June this year, the Ministry of Health and Child Care in partnership with the United Nations Population Fund and support from the Health Resilience Fund (HRF) launched the e-Learning platform for all nurse and midwifery training institutions in Zimbabwe.
The advancement of technology platforms and internet availability has created opportunities for educationists to harness Information Communication Technologies for the improvement of education services.
It is envisaged that the development of the e-learning platform will ensure, among other things, standardisation of all learning content for all nursing and midwifery schools in Zimbabwe.
It will improve access to learning content by students through web and mobile platforms and enhance research and collaborations among students and tutors.
UNFPA East and Southern Africa regional director Ms Lydia Zigomo said the progress that had been registered since the launch of the programme was commendable.
She was speaking during a tour of the e-learning centre at Sally Mugabe Hospital school of midwifery.
“Midwifery is an important part of the health package that is required for Zimbabwe if we are to get on top of maternal deaths and ensure that mothers and their children survive and that they give birth to healthy babies. I am positive that this e-learning module can break barriers and ensure consistent standards of training in midwifery practice and learning for nursing students going through the modules around the whole country,” Ms Zigomo said.
She commended the commitment by the Government to ensuring that health workers had access to the best training which would result in better service delivery for improved health outcomes. Ministry of Health and Child Care director of nursing services Sister Nyaradzai Chiwara said Zimbabwe was catching up with regional and international best practices through the e-learning platform.
“We have got a total of 22 midwifery schools in Zimbabwe but we only started with six schools for now. But we want to expand because our compact was approved. This will help us achieve universal health coverage and ensure that we leave no one behind,” she said.
Sister Chiwara said there were plans to double the number of midwives accessing the platform and also reach the other schools which were not yet on the platform.
With access to the platform, she said the students could research and come up with solutions to combat the country’s high maternal mortality.
Students taking part in the e-learning pilot programme expressed their joy at being part of the project.
Student midwife Steve Chiwunyi said the platform had revolutionised the way they were learning.
“We have the e-learning platform and we can access it anytime we want even at home. We are now able to learn the same information countrywide where e-learning is being done and this is helping us because where we didn’t understand we can always go back and revisit those topics,” he said.
Another student midwife Caroline Mavezera also commended the progress they had made since they started using the platform.
“I am benefiting a lot since I can access the e-learning portal at my own pace or even in the comfort of my home. We’re getting tutorials from the platform. It’s helping since we’ll be adding to the information that we would have received from the tutors in class,” she said.
The setting of the e-learning platform is part of the interventions being implemented under the HRF which is supported by the Governments of Britain, Ireland and the European Union through an initial investment of US$273 000. It builds from work that began through the Health Development Fund which preceded the HRF.
The platform is equipped to handle up to 2,000 users and comes complete with a range of teaching aids like discussion rooms, forums, anti-plagiarism software, quizzes, and exam formats.
While the immediate focus is on midwifery, the vision extends to incorporating other health workers onto the platform, ultimately strengthening the entire healthcare system.
Online Reporter