The ManicaPost
Freedom Mutanda
Post Correspondent
IN line with the new normal, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education in Chipinge District has sought the help of development partners in ushering the online learning concept.
Chipinge has 90 primary schools and 52 secondary schools that are providing online lessons in an effort to fill the gap created by the national lockdown which seeks to stop the spread of Covid-19 cases in the country.
However, in an interview with the Chipinge District Coordinator of Non-Formal and Continuing Education, Mr Arlington Nhamo revealed that although online lessons are in progress at various schools, hurdles are still being encountered.
“We had problems with the provision of education in the wake of Cyclone Idai. The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated the situation. There is urgent need to help these pupils as they will still have to sit for their examinations at the end of the year. That’s why we had to engage some partners to provide inclusive education,” he said.
Mr Nhamo said so far, 30 teachers have benefited from a programme initiated by UNESCO to capacitate teachers in the delivery of online lessons in Chipinge.
“We have tried to capacitate teachers through UNESCO which has so far trained 30 teachers, 20 from primary schools and 10 from secondary schools. A total of 160 more will be trained in the coming weeks. The training is done online. Out of the 160, a total of 100 will come from the primary schools,” said Mr Nhamo.
“Many other organisations have also come on board for the same initiative, including the establishment of homework clubs where teachers send homework to their pupils through gadgets provided by the development partners. Ninety out of 135 primary schools and 52 out of 65 secondary schools are involved in these homework clubs.
“The District Schools Inspector, Mr Richard Gabaza, and myself monitor these clubs whose work is done via WhatsApp,” said Mr Nhamo.
Notwithstanding the strides made by the district in providing education to the pupils, more still needs to be addressed.
Mr Nhamo complained about network problems and the non-availability of smart phones for students to access the learning materials.
“In spite of the great strides made in online lessons, there are challenges such as poor network, unavailability of smart phones which have the right applications for online learning and the data bundles.
“In that regard, we call upon development partners to continue partnering us as we seek to empower our children who must not feel that they have been left behind,” he said.
However, the situation is dire for those with visual impairment, hearing impairment and those with mental health problems who need specialised care and equipment.
“We have always talked about inclusive education. Nevertheless, with the onset of the pandemic, pupils with physical and mental disabilities are in a Catch-22 situation. Thus we urge everyone to think about how best to cater for their educational needs in this pandemic,” he said.
Mr Nhamo called upon schools to invest in ICTs for the benefit of both the teachers and their students.
