By Bustop TV
Government through the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has today partnered with United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)and launched an online learning platform.
The online platform is popularly known as the Learning Passport (LP).
In a press release UNICEF said the E-Learning platform will improve access to education.
“The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and UNICEF launched the Learning Passport in Zimbabwe today. The Learning Passport addresses the challenges faced by millions of children and youth worldwide to access continued, quality education in times of crisis and when access is limited to traditional learning,” reads the press statement.
UNICEF Zimbabwe representative, Laylee Mishiri added, “It is a new solution designed to close the learning gap – a tech platform enabling high quality, flexible learning,” she said.
“The Learning Passport is a key innovation meant to enhance learning pathways, while providing critical continuous access to quality education.”
LP was launched by UNICEF and Microsoft, with the aim to close the learning gap caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The launch of LP in Zimbabwe comes at a crucial time when over 4.6 million learners in the country have been hit-hard by the novel corona virus restrictions and regulations forcing them out of school for an extended periods.
Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Cain Mathema hailed the introduction of LP.
“The Learning Passport has arrived when government has launched its National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1) which focuses on initiatives around inclusive education as well as innovative technologies that support alternative learning approaches from Early Childhood Development upward,” he said.
Zimbabwe is set to officially reopen schools this month.
The cabinet announced the schools calendar which will see exam classes opening on the 15th of March, followed by the rest of other students 7 days after.
According to the data that was provided by UNESCO, globally, the deadly pandemic forced more than 190 countries to close schools with over 1.57 billion students failing to attend lessons in their classrooms.
