UNICEF Zimbabwe Hold 3-Day Tech-Workshop Dubbed “Re-Imagine Education For The Future”

UNICEF Zimbabwe along with key Ministries in the Government of Zimbabwe, major telecoms, and the private sector recently held a school visit as was part of a three-day “Re-Imagine Education” workshop. The workshop aimed to bring together various stakeholders to establish effective multi-partner mechanisms for better implementation of e-learning in Zimbabwe and to support the Government in harmonizing the various ICT and e-learning efforts currently being implemented by the multiple players in the country. This was also an opportunity for various players in the digital learning space to learn about Giga, a joint UNICEF, Microsoft and International Telecommunications Union (ITU) project to connect all schools globally to the internet.

The UNICEF Deputy Representative to Zimbabwe, Zeinab Adam, described e-Learning as an essential basic service for every child.

“Re-imagining education is all about ensuring that education is accessible, flexible, inclusive and sustainable, but also innovative. We need to ensure that all children, including those in remote and marginalised communities have access to education,” she said.

According to the UNICEF Zimbabwe Representative, Re-Imagine Education is driven by six key areas- greening education; world class digital learning solutions; connectivity; access to devices; affordable content and data; and young people engagement. This will afford students, parents, teachers/heads of schools, and education providers to receive and provide quality inclusive education.

Anchored in the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation’s finding, which states that by “2030 every adult should have affordable access to digital networks,” Giga is a major pillar for re-imagining education as it aims to connect every school to the internet by 2030.

Giga in Zimbabwe is a component of the Government’s National e-Learning Strategy that seeks to ensure that schools, especially those in remote areas like Dzvairo, get access to quality, inclusive online learning.