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Zimbabwe rural schools have finally bridged the digital-divide as remote schools get solar and, computers.This means the Zimbabwean government has managed to enhance digital learning to every facet of its communities reaching the uttermost parts of Rurals so as to leave no one behind.
This comes after Dzvairo Primary School benefitted from the greening education push as one of about 150 schools in Zimbabwe benefitting from a solarisation and computerisation programme being rolled out across the country.
“We have been craving digital teaching and learning for a long time. This is a dream come true. With electricity and the internet in the near future available, pupils can easily access numerous educational resources and research,” said the head of the school, Tendai Takaendesa.
Headmistress Takaendesa stood next to giant solar panels that power the computer lab, administrative room, teachers’ houses and a community cell phone charging kiosk. The school also received 30 laptops from the government.
COVID-19 pandemic disrupted learning in 2020, with many pupils, including a 12-year-old at a rural Zimbabwean school thought his dreams of a brighter future were over. Unlike his urban peers, the pupil and millions of other children in rural areas had no access to both electricity and the internet to engage in online or radio lessons.
“It was a very bad time for us. We couldn’t come to school and we would sit at home with nothing to do because we didn’t have any access to learning,” said the rural pupil, who aspires to become an engineer, a job he hopes will help get his family out of poverty.
Dzvairo Primary School’s students had never touched or used a computer, but after a few tips from a development worker during the commissioning of a computer lab at the school, the students could not take their hands off the machines.
“This is what we have been waiting for all these years. I can’t wait to write my Grade 7 examinations next year,” said one student.
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