PRESIDENT Mnangagwa has assured the nation that his government will starting next year push for a phased approach to free education that will be wholly funded by the State, after noting a number of bottlenecks that were causing learners to drop out of school.
In his weekly article published in full in this paper, the
President said he is going to ensure universal access to education against a
background of challenges posed by the shift from face-to-face type of delivery
to digital or online learning that has been exacerbated by the Covid-19 new
normal.
The President said the unequal socio-economic footing and
the need to move in the tide of technological advancement in the education
sector in the face of other pressing issues has seen a worrying trend where a
number of learners were dropping out of school.
This, he said, has raised questions on the accessibility
and availability of gadgets, data and electricity, prompting the government to
intervene with a solution of having everything set to ensure primary education
is made free by next year and that learning gadgets and online books are
provided through line ministries.
“The gadgets which have become key platforms for the
learner, are hard to come by; data is expensive; electricity is either
unavailable or unaffordable.
Not many families afford solar panels. Yet learners have to
enrol daily into virtual classes which require a totally new living and
learning milieu. It is thus not surprising that we are experiencing many
dropouts from our educational system,” said President in his article.
He said government was not divorced from that reality and
was concerned about the negative development, which requires urgent solutions.
“Against the foregoing and starting next year, government
will push for a phased access to universal free education wholly funded by the
State.
We must make primary education free and universal next
year, in 2023. This entails more than government just taking over payment of
school fees for all pupils in primary school.
“It means meeting the full costs of transiting to a new
dispensation where technology mediates learning. Each primary school-going
child has to have access to a tablet at government expense.
Equally, primary schools will have to have access to
electricity and electronic signals for online teaching. This is a huge public
intervention we no longer can postpone anymore,” said President Mnangagwa.
He said while learning materials will continue to be
availed in hard copy, a transition to electronic textbooks must be accelerated.
“This new direction and responsibility to government means
all ministries, facilitated by the Ministry of Finance and Economic
Development, must weigh in with supportive infrastructure to realise this
educational goal which is in line with our Vision 2030.
I will develop a particular interest in checking the pace
at which rural schools in historically depressed areas are assisted to make
this vital transition.
This will be a key marker for the success of our programme.
Our private sector should, as much as it can, complement government in its
quest to deliver on this programme,” he said.
President Mnangagwa said he was going to direct the
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Ministry to rework and adjust
the ICT Policy so that data for essential services, principally education, is
availed at affordable tariffs.
“The same holds for our Energy Policy which must ensure
electricity services and manageable tariffs for all our schools, starting with
primary schools where education will be free, starting next year. Both
conventional and green power should be harnessed towards this goal.
“Our rural electrification programme must be intensified to
bring power to the classroom where learning takes place. Hard behind this must
be ICT services so our thrust is seamless,” he said, adding that funding models
were going to be explored although they are going to be largely local.
Sunday Mail
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