eBusiness Weekly
Enacy Mapakame
Local ICT company, Edutech has partnered Government in provision of ICT products for primary and secondary education sector to enhance their use and promote technology driven growth at grass root levels.
The project will be rolled out in January next year and run till October at a cost of $170 000.
Edutech chief executive officer Luke Musambasi, said the idea was to create a technology compliant and competent education system. This he said, was also in line with the Vision 2030 agenda, of transforming Zimbabwe into an upper middle income economy.
ICTs have been identified as a key enabler for Vision 2030 due to their role in national development, they play a pivotal role in the growth of an economy as services are now used in almost all sectors of the economy, ranging from commerce, agriculture, health, education among others.
“Education plays a key role in economic development and our partnering with the ministry in implementing progressive solutions for the nation learning community directly contributing to the transformative educational reforms, job creation, talent nurturing and nationalisation initiatives. “Edutech as “Innovative Interactive Specialists” provides interactive learning solutions and services across the learning life-cycle to educational institutions,” said Musambasi.
Musambasi said the programme seeks to capacitate research resource centres and administrators in the primary and secondary education sector.
The partnership should equip each province with top of the range digital equipment to allow manageable research for provincial education directors, district school inspectors as well as schools inspectors.
To maximise the use of research centres, a total of 365 combined schools inspectors, district schools inspectors, provincial education directors will be equipped with techno tools — each a package that includes Top Notch Tablet Pc, Scanners, Projectors and Research Software.
“This is to capacitate the administrators so as to bridge the Information Divide Gap that currently exists between learners, facilitators and administrators.
“We have realised the need of Quality Research works, Recommendations, Implementation and Feedback so as to improve our education system: and only through quality, fully capacitated research centres can we help towards meeting the National 2030 Economic visions and goals,” said Musambasi.
ICT has been identified as a key enabler to economic growth with its services used in all the key sectors of the economy such as mining, agriculture, education, health as well as industry and commerce.
According to the World Bank, there is a strong correlation between ICT growth and GDP growth. Emphasis is mainly on access to internet and broadband services to enhance research and development.
In a 2009 report titled “Extending Reach and Increasing Impact,” a 10 percent increase in broadband penetration accounted for a 1,38 percent increase in per capita GDP growth in developing economies.
