COMMENT: E-learning will remain long after Covid-19

For almost two years now, education systems around the world have been forced to adjust, or to change entirely as necessity leapfrogged many of the countries’ systems technological capabilities in a bid to change and adapt to the Covid-19 environment and even brace for a post-Covid-19 era.

There are vast opportunities for developers who can come up with applications that ensure inclusivity of the education systems at minimal cost. Imagine fashioning an application that delivers education to the majority of the globe at a fraction of the current costs, not to mention the shortcomings of current systems that leave the majority out due to costs and network challenges.

In Zimbabwe we have seen schools being forced to close and suspend face to face learning indefinitely due to rising cases of Covid-19. There are attempts by the Government and other partners to improve access to education through the use of radio lessons.

Radio lessons belong to an old tried and tested model but they also rely on gadgets that have to be bought, and also need to be powered, not to mention poor transmission in certain areas around the country. This means the available means to reach our pupils and students across the country face their own different challenges.

We believe that there is an urgent need for technological interventions that help bridge the gap between the poor and the rich, the rural and the urban, so that education is accessible to all.

We can never know how long Covid-19 will be with us, but what is certain is that before a major percentage of our population is vaccinated, we cannot expect to rid ourselves of the monster that Covid-19 has become.

It is against this background that new ways of ensuring equity and efficiency in learning are needed fast or else this generation’s education will be badly affected with disastrous consequences.

We have already seen the social ills of not having children in school, with rising cases of teenage pregnancies, drug abuse and other evils, but in the longer term the youth of today would have become the parents of tomorrow, and having missed certain key socialisation points in their lives.

We note that as part of enforcing Covid-19 lockdown regulations, face to face teaching, including private lessons that have become quite prevalent, have been banned. The desperation of parents, who are trying to secure their children’s future in an era where formal education has also been blighted by work stoppage by educators, is forcing many to turn to private lessons to catch up. This has health repercussions though.

Online learning remains the safest option but access to such kind of learning remains quite prohibitive for many. Also, since online learning is fast becoming the new normal, the old model of teaching will have to give way to the new way through training of educators so that they deliver using the new methods.

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