BY HARRIET CHIKANDIWA INFORMATION Communication Technology (ICT) ministry secretary Beaullar Chirume has told Parliament that they have partnered with the Postal and Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz) to roll out various e-learning projects to schools across the country to promote e-learning and the smart education strategy.
Appearing before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on ICT, Chirume said: “The ministry in collaboration with sector players, and particularly Potraz through the Universal Services Fund (USF) has rolled out various e-learning projects to schools over the past years as a way of making ICT services universally accessible to unserved and underserved areas in Zimbabwe.”
She said the ministry will collaborate with TelOne, NetOne, ZARNet and other private telecommunications players to provide fast bandwidth and sufficient ICT infrastructure.
Chirume said 1300 schools countrywide will be connected, while 2897 secondary schools have already been connected.
“The scope of the project will include the provision of functional websites equipped with e-Learning management system materials, voice over Internet Protocol (VolP) telephony, e-mail services and tele-education/video conferencing facilities.”
She said the project is being rolled out in collaboration with the Primary and Secondary Education ministry.
“In this regard, the ICT ministry through Potraz has engaged Internet service providers for the provision of internet connectivity to 1 500 rural schools across the country,” she said.
