ARTUZ Unveils Learning Model For Rural Schools

The Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) has unveiled a digital learning model for the benefit of learners in rural schools.

ARTUZ president Obert Masaraure said the model was being piloted in Binga District, in Matabeleland North Province. He said:

This intervention ensures that we have uploaded all the content and all the books needed by learners and they have access to Wikipedia and access to all research materials from different academies created by teachers with videos on different subjects and all materials covered by the Zimbabwe School Examinations Council is there.

What this means is that when we commission the set of the server and other related materials to a particular school, they can connect their desktop to that local internet we would have created and they can be able to access these learning materials.

This is going to be a game changer, particularly in communities that have always been left out because even if there is no electricity, the server itself does not use much battery power.

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It just needs five volts to set it running which means that even with a power bank, learners can be able to access the internet.

Masaraure said the initiative is also meant to alleviate the challenges caused by a shortage of teachers and reading materials in many rural schools.

ARTUZ project technician Edwin Magaramombe said:

I work with a volunteer organisation called Open Source Software, which campaigns on the idea that there is such a big digital divide across the world and this model will bridge the gap.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, learners in rural schools missed out when e-learning was being promoted as an alternative to in-person classes which were suspended to curb the spread of the coronavirus. | NewsDay