The Organization of African First Ladies for Development (OAFLAD) launched the #WeAreEqual Campaign on Wednesday, August 23, 2023, at a banquet ceremony held in Namibia’s capital, Windhoek.
The campaign is aimed at closing the gender gap on the African continent in line with the African Union Agenda 2063, which seeks to eliminate all forms of violence and discrimination against women and girls in order for them to fully enjoy their human rights.
These rights pertain to social, economic and political rights.
Speaking at the event, Madam Monica Geingos, President of the Organization and First Lady of Namibia, stated that forty-five (45) African First Ladies have signed up to the organization, and thirty-seven are currently active.
She stressed that inequality manifests itself in every aspect of society, including health care, education, safety and security, and economic participation, and that future generations will have to deal with the consequences of inequalities that are not addressed today.
“There are so many women graduating out of universities, but the statistics are telling us they are not getting into the workforce, and when they do, they are not getting promoted… We must fix these disparities for the sake of our children and our sake as well,” Geingos said to huge applause from the audience.
She explained, according to the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) report on the gender gap, the world would need 135 years to completely close the gender gap between men and women.
The Vice President of Namibia, Nangolo Mbumba, delivered the keynote address at the event, which was attended by various stakeholders, including the Namibian Ombudsman, the Deputy Minister of Health and the Chinese and American Ambassadors to Namibia.
He noted that the organization, which was launched in Congo Kinshasa in June this year, brings together high-ranking government officials from the continent, the private sector, stakeholders, and partners to advance the interests of women on the African continent.
“Women and men both possess the same inherent dignity and the same rights and have the same potential to build our societies regardless of our gender. With this campaign, we want to bring home an essential truth: WE ARE EQUAL,” Mbumba declared.
The Vice President said that despite this truth, the reality faced by many women in Africa tells a different story, and Namibia is no exception.
He highlighted that no country has achieved gender parity because women and girls experience inequality in agriculture, land ownership, economic opportunities, income, politics, and other areas. He insisted that this impacts economic development. He added that although Namibia is the most gender-equal country in Africa and the eighth-most equal country in the world, more still needs to be done.
The #WeAreEqual Campaign is an initiative by African First Ladies to close the gender gap on the continent by supporting initiatives aimed at empowering women.
An incident involving a thirteen-year-old girl child at the Crowthorne Christian Academy in South Africa led to the schools’ closure and the re-sparking of debate on black aesthetics in a racially polarized country that still battles with systemic, systematic, and institutional discrimination against blacks, who make up the majority of the population.
Tynil Gcabashe, a thirteen-year-old student, had her dreadlocks on when the school made the racist decision to dismiss her from class, according to a media release from the Economic Freedom Fighters Provincial Communications Officer for Gauteng province, Dumisani Baleni.
This provoked the EFF to stage a picket at the school.
“The school principal is reported to have said the learner will not be allowed back to school unless her dreadlocks are shaved off, on the 14 August when the learner’s parents sought to resolve the issue with the school, a white racist male alleged to be the principal’s husband, acting on the instruction and permission of the school, violently handled both the mother and the young girl and pushed them out of the school. A video circulating on social media bears evidence to this effect,” the statement reads.
Baleni further said the Crowthorne Christian Academy has a policy that allows only learners with natural hair in the school.
“This policy is predicated on the racist notion that natural hair means relaxed and straightened hair inherent to white people, whereas curly hair and dreadlocks, characteristic of black people’s hair, are considered unnatural and therefore prohibited from the school,” Baleni stated.
Hendrick Makaneta, education activist and deputy chairperson of the Foundation for Education and Social Justice Africa, told Ubuntu Times that black aesthetics are not accepted as a universal standard because of the highly entrenched European culture in private schools. He said blacks are expected to accede to policies that were formulated by whites and that such policies do not acknowledge African hair, such as dreadlocks.
Dumisani Baleni in attendance at the EFF Gauteng Provincial Plenum, which was addressed by the President and Commander-in-Chief Julius Malema at the beginning of the year. Credit: EFF Gauteng
“Unfortunately, the thirteen-year-old girl was victimized for expressing her African identity,” Makaneta said.
“The fact that the school was allowed to develop policies that are not in line with the spirit of the constitution of the republic (South Africa) exposed the government’s failure to provide leadership,” he added.
Makaneta highlighted that although the autonomy of educational institutions to develop their own policies should be respected, the government ought to put correct mechanisms in place to monitor and evaluate the various policies adopted by the institutions from time to time.
The events that unfolded led to the closure of the school, which was found not to have the proper licenses to operate.
Spokesperson at the Gauteng Education Department, Steve Mabona, told Ubuntu Times that the incident with the thirteen-year-old is an isolated case of discrimination, and the department hardly hears of or deals with such cases.
“All codes of conduct of our schools were reviewed not to discriminate learners on the basis of hair… What is paramount is discipline of learners at our schools,” Mabona told Ubuntu Times.
Mabona said the school has now been closed down due to non-compliance with registration as an educational institute.
“The school was operating illegally because they decided to relocate and changed their name without following proper procedures,” Mabona stated in email responses to Ubuntu Times.
Education activist Makatena said racism is pervasive in South Africa as a result of the economic disparities between white and black South Africans, with the former still being largely in control of the economy.
Dumisani Baleni, addressing the Vaal University of Technology students ahead of the Student’s Representative Council election in 2018. Credit: EFF Gauteng
“The fact that the economy is still controlled largely by the white minority means that acts of racism will continue,” he said.
“Of course not every white person is racist, but all whites in South Africa are beneficiaries of racism,” he further highlighted.
Makatena implored the government of South Africa to take practical steps to end poverty and inequality, which affects mainly black South Africans in a negative way.
“As long as the owners of the means of production remain white, we are likely to see a continuation of racism. Even the schools we are talking about now are owned by whites; hence, black children are expected to comply with European norms and standards,” he said.
“Government must also move swiftly to decolonize education by making history compulsory in all schools; children need to learn more about African history as opposed to European history,” he added.
Gauteng is the economic hub of South Africa and Southern Africa and is home to the richest square mile on the African continent, Sandton.
There are over 2200 public schools in Gauteng and 500 private schools.
Although Ubuntu could not independently verify the figures, Gauteng is estimated to have about 2.6 million learners. Twenty-one percent of South Africa’s total estimated learner population of 15 million.
On November 22nd, 2022, Nigeria’s 9th National Assembly successfully passed a Students’ Loan Bill, a move that has now incited reactions along varying interests and ideological lines. The bill, sponsored by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila purportedly seeks to ease access to public education by providing tuition loans to students whose family’s annual income is less than five hundred thousand naira – over 133 million Nigerians are in this category.
Students who are eligible for this tuition loan are expected to apply through their respective tertiary institutions, and the tuition will forthwith be paid directly into the account of the applicant’s institution of learning.
Beneficiaries of this student loan are expected to begin repayment two years after National Youth Service Corps.
While the speaker of the house had argued that the bill is in the interest of the students and the people of Nigeria, critical analysis of the loan bill reveals the contrary. Aside from the fact that experiences from other countries have persistently shown how a student loan program has turned out to be synonymous with offering a poisoned chalice to the “beneficiaries” of such a program, we also note that this bill is a deliberate ploy by the irresponsible Nigerian state to distract the public from the real issues of education underfunding.
Against the background of numerous attempt to institutionalize the commercialization of public education in Nigeria, the government in different instances have developed various initiatives targeted at placing the burden of education funding on the shoulders of Nigerian students and their poor parents. One of the most recent of such attempts is a Steve Oransaye Committee inaugurated in 2012 by the administration of former President, Goodluck Jonathan. The committee recommended the introduction of very high tuition to the tune of 450- 525 thousand naira in Nigerian tertiary institutions, starting with the first Generation Universities. The committee argued that tuition of such magnitude is a necessity if our universities must stand a chance to compete minimally with the rest of the world. In short, the committee’s recommendation was that government hands off education funding and allow students to bear the burden of the stupendous resources needed to fund tertiary education.
In 2014, it was reported that the Jonathan administration had issued a white paper on the report of this committee.
Upon emergence in 2015, the Buhari regime continued on these neoliberal foundations of the Jonathan administration by inaugurating a committee of 16 headed by the former University of Lagos Pro-Chancellor, Professor Wale Babalakin. This committee, like Oransaye, proposed an astronomical increment in tuition, this time to the tune of One million naira. In addition to very high tuition, Babalakin also argued for the establishment of an education bank that will grant loans to students for the purpose of paying for this high tuition. Commendably, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) rejected this recommendation, describing it as an attempt to hand over public universities to private interests.
Recall that in 2009, ASUU, again made a case for increased funding of public education starting with the immediate injection of 1.3 trillion naira into public Universities. It proposed in its 2009 agreement with the federal government that this funding should be paid to the universities in three tranches. It took the Union to go into another six months of strike action in 2013 to compel the government to release the first tranche of 220 billion naira in the latter part of 2014. This is close to five years since the agreement was signed.
Meanwhile, just two years before the 2009 agreement, the Nigerian government bailed out their friends in the banking system with a whopping sum of 3 trillion naira. The same government will later find it difficult to bail out public education with 1.3 trillion naira two years after.
No doubt, the Students’ Loan Bill represents the institutionalization of education commercialization with an overall aim to effectively consolidate an ongoing neoliberal siege against public education in Nigeria.
It is on record that in places like the United States of America, where this policy may have been adopted, beneficiaries of such loans spend their entire adult life repaying loans. In fact, President Obama couldn’t complete his repayment until he became America’s President. Millions of American citizens are living in heavy debt accrued from this sort of draconian policy. The implications in Nigeria are bound to be much worse.
In addition to the problem of mass unemployment and massive de-industrialization, Nigeria also struggles with increasing poverty with over 133 million Nigerians living in abject poverty.
Whereas the bill states that beneficiaries of this loan must begin repayment two years after completion of Youth Service, it fails to put into consideration the obvious reality that most Nigerian graduates are unable to find jobs years after leaving school. And those with the initiative to start small businesses aren’t availed with an enabling environment for a thriving business.
It is rather unfortunate that of many western education policies, Nigerian leaders have always opted for the ones that have proven to be a monumental disaster. It remains a wonder that they have chosen to ignore great examples of other Western countries like Germany, Switzerland, Finland, and many Scandinavian countries that have a culture of giving free and qualitative education to its citizens.
The problem we face isn’t the fact that the Nigerian state is incapable of funding free and qualitative education, it is that Nigerian leaders are unwilling to commit to massive investment into education. Monies that should have been committed to funding public education are either looted or committed to white elephant projects. It was in this same country that Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were unable to account for a whopping sum of 1.2 trillion naira. We have seen how the accountant general of the federation stole 150 billion naira. These are just a few of many cases of mindless looting in the country. This is in addition to unremitted taxes from big corporations running to several billions of dollars.
While we continue to commend the education unions, especially the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for rejecting this Greek gift, and insisting that the Nigerian government must abandon this distraction and genuinely commit to funding education, it becomes very imperative to call public attention to the urgency of resisting the cruel attempt to place an unfair burden of eternal debt on the strained shoulders of over 133 million poor Nigerians who already are finding it difficult to even afford to eat.
Binga — With its classrooms thatched, its walls built using home-made bricks and located in Binga, a remote area in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North Province, Zumana Secondary school apparently stands weighed down by leaking roofs, with the grass thatch gradually falling apart.
Approximately 436 kilometers from Zumana school South-East of Binga, lies yet another perishing school — Melisa secondary, which is in Silobela, an agricultural village located in Kwekwe district in this Southern African nation’s Midlands Province, about 60 kilometers west of Kwekwe town.
One of the classroom blocks with ages-old fading greenish paint stands out without half of its asbestos roofing sheets, blown away by the wind in the previous years, according to local pupils.
“I remember I was doing grade three when the roof was taken away by the wind and I’m in grade seven now,” a 15-year-old school pupil who identified himself as Melusi Mpabanga, told Ubuntu Times.
A wide crack that has taken shape at a classroom at Melisa Secondary School in Silobela in Zimbabwe’s Midlands Province signals the imminent fall of one of the school’s classrooms. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times
A teacher who preferred to remain anonymous saying he was forbidden to speak to the media, said, ‘here at Melisa, most of my students have to sit on the cracked floors each time during lessons conducted in classrooms with broken window pens.’
Fearing victimization, yet another teacher at Binga’s Zumana secondary school who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said ‘we have four thatched classrooms which we use for teaching and learning.’
“The thatched classrooms all have leaks and during rainy seasons, learners’ books get destroyed. Teaching at such an institution is really a bad experience. The teachers’ cottages are also grass-thatched and they leak, which makes life unbearable for us,” the Zumana school teacher told Ubuntu Times.
A typically worn-out thatched classroom block at Zumana Secondary School in Binga is pictured in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North Province. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times
Yet the sorry state of Zimbabwe’s schools is not only in the remote areas but has also cascaded down to urban areas amid a comatose national economy.
Civil society activists blame authorities for not prioritizing education, instead directing government revenue towards fattening their own pockets.
“For selfish reasons, government leaders are clearly paying zero attention to the sad developments in schools in terms of infrastructures which have collapsed,” Claris Madhuku, who is director of the Platform for Youth Development, a Zimbabwean civil society organization, told Ubuntu Times.
A classroom at Nyatsambo Secondary School in Mhondoro in Zimbabwe’s Mashonaland West Province has grass growing inside it after years of negligence by authorities even as pupils still use the classroom for lessons. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times
Touched by the state of Zimbabwe’s deteriorating schools’ infrastructure seven years after he left office, David Coltart who was the Minister of Education back then, pinned the blame on lack of prioritization of the country’s education system by the authorities here.
“For years, in fact for decades, schools’ infrastructure has been deteriorating because to be frank there is simply insufficient budget being allocated to education; government boasts about the fact that the bulk of the budget goes to education, but in my experience, the amount actually paid out, there is no relationship with the theoretical budget figure; and even that theoretical budget figure is insufficient,” Coltart told Ubuntu Times.
For 2021, Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education received a total allocation of $55,221 billion (in local currency), an equivalent of about 55 million United States dollars.
This to Coltart, is a drop in the ocean.
“If we wish to make education a priority, that needs to be reflected in the amount of money that we spend and there need to be dramatic cutbacks elsewhere, in govt spending,” said Coltart, who is now treasurer-general of Zimbabwe’s opposition Movement for Democratic Change Alliance (MDC Alliance).
One of the schools in Zimbabwe’s Midlands Province in Silobela, Melisa Secondary School stands out with a classroom ridden with cracked floors. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times
The Zimbabwean government has however been on record in the media claiming to be making major boosts of the country’s infrastructure in schools.
Earlier this year, Zimbabwe’s Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Edgar Moyo told parliament government was aware of the run-down infrastructure at some schools in the country, saying government continued to prioritize revamping them.
But even as dilapidation haunts Zimbabwe’s schools, government instead boasts of having more schools, about 6,000 primary and secondary schools, according to statistics from the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZIMSTAT).
At Zumana Secondary School in Binga in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North Province south of Kariba dam, thatched residence of teachers stands out apparently worn-out, this development way into the 21st century. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times
For teachers’ trade unions, even as the regime brags about having multiple schools, it amounts to nothing amidst dereliction of the infrastructure.
“The level of dilapidated infrastructure in schools is not only worrisome but rather pathetic and in a sorrowful state. The infrastructure is basically from the colonial era and not much changes have been effected to go with modern time and in most instances, especially in rural areas, the infrastructure is virtually nonexistent as teachers and learners are forced to conduct lessons in makeshift structures and under trees,” Robson Chere, secretary-general of the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ), told Ubuntu Times.
Yet as they earn little, Zimbabwean teachers want the best to help them deliver service to the country’s learners.
The lowest-paid teacher in Zimbabwe now earns a monthly salary of $19,975 in local currency, which is the equivalent of 245 USD, with the highest-paid teacher earning 281 USD.
A thatched lanky classroom block built using home-made bricks at Zumana secondary school in Binga in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North Province stands out under the weight of an almost curving roof, this as the school undergoes dilapidation for years now. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo / Ubuntu Times
“As a union, we are advocating for an educational equalization fund; our dream is to see a Zimbabwe which provides equal opportunities in education regardless of the location of a learner or school,” Munyaradzi Masiyiwa, ARTUZ deputy Secretary-General, told Ubuntu Times.
But amid dilapidated infrastructure across Zimbabwe’s schools here, Masiyiwa’s may remain a pipe dream, for before, some like Coltart tried with little success to revamp the country’s citadels of education.
“I last made an attempt to tackle the deteriorating schools’ infrastructure in my last year in cabinet in 2013; I developed the schools development project working between UNICEF on the one hand and individual schools on the other and we devised a program whereby money went straight from donors to schools committees and headmasters; I’m not sure how that is running now, but driving around the country, it seems to me there is very little taking place and schools’ infrastructure is collapsing everywhere,” Coltart said.
Every morning, a harmonious voice crosses the airwaves and finally lands in the countryside of Kajiongo village in Tharaka Nithi county. Here it meets people shut from modernization, and wake them up to the rhythm of the day.
The voice is Mwenda Antu radio. A community-based radio airing vernacular educational programs, updates and entertainment in this geographic location.
Just a few months ago, the little community could be accessed only through a one-way path that came to a dead end. However, the radio facilitated the opening of the village by forwarding their grievances to elected officials who responded by initiating the construction of abandoned roads.
This was briefly after the first case of Coronavirus was reported in the country. At that time, the radio had found itself with a challenge of reaching out to people.
A new road under construction in the rugged terrain of Kajiongo village has enabled Village HopeCore to provide maternal healthcare to many women. Kelvin Mutugi / Ubuntu Times
Today, a network of roads converges at this community. Some constructed and others are underway.
”The road here was demarcated before independence. It had begun to disappear until Mwenda Antu radio came, and we expressed our challenges to our elected representatives,” says Muriuki, 65, as he points to the trail of road under construction.
Tractors winding up the construction of the road linking Kajiongo community to the Nairobi-Meru highway. Kelvin Mutugi / Ubuntu Times
Besides acting as the intermediary between the people and their representatives, the radio seeks to fill the literacy gap by offering educational programs. Occasionally, agricultural and health experts are invited to extend their knowledge to the residents.
Evidently, improved agricultural practices have increased their produce giving them enough food during challenging times of the drought and pandemic.
In the complex world of cutting-edge technology, a radio would not seem useful. This is not the case for Kajiongo community.
Constructed roads which now link this remote village has enabled Village HopeCore, a non-profit organization, to provide home-based maternal healthcare to girls and women, having reached more than 500 homes so far.
HopeCore loading up the vehicles to distribute hand washing tanks to the community. Credit: Village HopeCore
Village HopeCore is committed to eradicating poverty in the villages through mobile health care, education, and empowerment.
“We provide hold educational meet up with girls and women while providing mobile healthcare,” says Mutwiri, a field health practitioner for Village HopeCore.
Through the agency of over 200 trained community health volunteers, Hopecore mobile healthcare programs have managed to help many vulnerable girls in these communities.
Teenage girls receive sanitary towels at Mwimbi and Muthambi sub-county. Credit: Village HopeCore
For instance, Acosta, who is a community health volunteer, was notified about an incident where a 17-year-old girl from Ikumbo community had decided to get rid of her pregnancy by drinking a bottle of bleach.
She had no one to support her, so he visited and referred her to Magutuni sub-county hospital. Even then, she was determined to commit suicide. Through relentless effort, he advised and counseled her until she eventually accepted her situation and agreed to attend ANC clinics. Currently, she is relaxed and awaiting delivery.
Community health volunteers gather with social distancing measures to receive training on how to educate and promote prevention measures on COVID-19 in their communities. Credit: Village HopeCore
For many women, the thoughts of pregnancy bring on a feeling of excitement. However, for teenage girls, forced into adulthood with hard decisions to make, it’s associated with uncertainty, fear and anxiety.
Equally important, Village Hopecore reaches out to school girls and give them free sanitary pads (enough to last for 6 months). Frequently, lack of sanitary towels lead them to engage in ‘sex for pads.’ Thereafter, they educate them on menstrual hygiene management and sexual reproductive health and rights.
HopeCore educate Girls on sex health rights. Credit: Village HopeCore
According to the Grace Cup report, 65% of girls and women in Kenya cannot afford sanitary pads due to poverty. 1 in every 10 Kenyan adolescent girl ends up missing school during her menstruation period which affects her performance.
“We know that young girls who get pregnant do not access healthcare services like adult females because of the judgment,” said Ademola Olajide, the United Nations Population Fund representative in Kenya.
That makes them more vulnerable to health complications and unsafe abortions, he added.
Globally, pregnancy and childbirth are the leading causes of death for girls aged between 15 and 19, according to the World Health Organization.
Mwenda Antu radio and Village HopeCore are among many other organizations giving hope to vulnerable populations.
Whereas the pandemic has impacted many aspects of our society, reproductive healthcare is among the worst hit.
Two months ago a video surfaced on social media appearing to show a woman on labor delivering outside the gate of a reputable hospital while Health workers neglected her. It was devastating to many.
Furthermore, in recent past cases of babies disappearing from maternal units of renowned health centers in the country have raised concern about the effectiveness of reproductive healthcare particularly during COVID-19.
On the other hand, teenage pregnancies have been an obstacle, keeping thousands of adolescent girls out of school for years. Now as the students stay at home in a bid to curb the spread of the virus, more incidences have been reported.
While the social aspect of the inequality — which entails the difference in people’s physical well-being and access to livelihood opportunities such as wealth and education — affects many women overall, their plight has increased in rural areas due to lack of resources and poor infrastructure.
According to Kenya’s 2010 constitution (intended to improve the welfare of Kenya’s marginalized groups), women must have at least a third of seats in parliament and a third of appointed positions. However, the law has been difficult to apply.
The fact that the cases of girls’ and women’s rights violations keep rising, is an indication that even though they have representatives to speak for them, in most cases they are never heard.
In every election year, concerns are raised as to whether Ghanaians vote along ethnic lines for the two main political parties (the National Democratic Congress and the New Patriotic Party) or if they are influenced by development and policy concerns.
Historically, general data points towards the former. The ethnic strongholds of the left-leaning NDC remain the Volta Region and Northern parts of Ghana, which it wins easily during polls. The much denser Ashanti and Eastern regions of Ghana always turn out for the NPP.
Regions like the Greater Accra Region, where I reside, are less homogeneous and are certain to play the role of kingmakers. No president has won power without winning the Greater Accra Region, which has the highest voter population with 3,529,181 out of the total of 17,029,971.
With funding support from USAID/Ghana, the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) conducted a pre-election survey to gauge the most pressing concerns of citizens. I looked to document the reflection of these findings in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana with photographs over the past year.
From the sample size, 51 percent of the electorate noted concerns with infrastructure development. This is normally a facsimile for roads, which are known to be below standard in most residential parts of Accra.
A driver traverses a stretch of road that is heavily eroded. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesSome inner roads in Accra have suffered from a lack of maintenance over the past two decades. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesThe state of roads like this has been known to spawn “no road, no vote” protests in the past. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
The government all but socially engineered citizen expectations by declaring 2020 the “year of roads” in a bid to boost infrastructure in that sector. It has been pointing to high profile projects as evidence of infrastructure successes.
The marquee project in the region is the $94 million Pokuase interchange which the government expects to be the biggest in West Africa. A major win for the government has also been the progress on the 7.5 km LEKMA road which has made commutes easier for many road users.
The Pokuase interchange is expected to be the biggest in West Africa when completed. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesThe Pokuase interchange will have four tiers connecting to over 20 km of local roads. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesAfter almost three decades, the LEKMA is close to completion. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesThe government wasted no time patting itself on the back following progress on the LEKMA road. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesMany residents fear the rainy season because of the attendant flooding. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesPoor drainage leads to runoff water overcoming homes and streets of residents. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesPoor drainage ultimately comes back to haunt road infrastructure. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesUncovered drains end up getting choked with plastic waste which is certain to lead to flooding. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
But what has remained an infrastructure concern for decades remains the poor drainage network in Accra that has led to perennial flooding in urban areas, sometimes at the cost of lives.
But the drainage system is generally in the shadow of calls for better roads.
Infrastructure projects mean jobs are being created for residents in their vicinity. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesGhana’s informal economy is the largest source of jobs and they are largely untaxed. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesConcerns are raised about how sustainable the jobs most Ghanaians have are. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesGroups of able-bodied men without work are a common sight in Accra. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesGhana’s hailed as one of the fastest-growing economies but Ghanaians want to feel growth in their pockets. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesThe pandemic disrupted businesses that had to comply with health safety protocols. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesA barber looks forlorn having been deprived of a steady stream of customers because of the Coronavirus pandemic. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
There is some overlap with the first concern of infrastructure and the second concern of unemployment (46 percent raised this issue) as road projects mean jobs in project areas.
Credible employment figures are hard to come by and whilst the state makes unverified claims about jobs created, there is no denying that the Coronavirus pandemic crippled many businesses. Before the pandemic, the state claimed it had created 2,204,397 jobs.
It is worth noting that Ghana’s economy is largely informal. The Ghana Statistical Service estimates that 86.1 percent of all employment is found in the informal economy; 90.9 percent of women and 81 percent of men.
Fifth on the list of concerns was the management of the economy (20 percent) which also has a bearing on job creation.
Schoolchildren walk into an uncertain future after spending over nine months out of school because of the pandemic. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesSchool compounds, once vibrant with pupils are left barren because of the pandemic. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesChildren play football in Accra during what would have been regular school hours. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
The third most prominent issue for Ghanaians ahead of the polls was education (28 percent).
Whilst the Akufo-Addo administration has been praised for ensuring free-secondary education free, again the Coronavirus pandemic has left most children out of school for almost nine months.
This is expected to deepen inequality and entrench the learning crisis.
Concerns have been raised about the perceived deliberate reduction of Coronavirus testing in Ghana. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesWith the pandemic in mind, researchers have reminded us that fruit bats in Ghana carry strains of Ebola hence the need for preparedness plans. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesHypertension, stroke, diabetes, and cancers are among the top 10 causes of death in Ghana. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
In a year defined by a pandemic, it is also no surprise that health is on this list.
Ghana has seen 323 deaths from the Coronavirus pandemic which is relatively low and most of the questions asked have been about the reduced testing by the state and the lack of significant support for the sciences to safeguard against future pandemics.
The pandemic may also have distracted from other pressing issues in the health space.
Many residents of Accra have to buy potable water from tankers on a weekly basis to ensure basic hygiene. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesResidents in an Accra suburb choose wastewater from a water treatment plant over buying from tankers. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesThe pandemic has meant almost every place of business has made running water available to the public improving hygiene. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesEateries have staff on hand to sanitize the hands of all patrons, something that was not done less than a year ago. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu TimesChanges in health attitudes will be evident with social distancing on election day. Credit: Delali Adogla-Bessa / Ubuntu Times
There was no mention of sanitation in the survey probably because such conditions have improved greatly because of the pandemic.
It is worth noting that the bar was incredibly low in Accra the President continues to be mocked for his failed promise to make Accra the cleanest city in Africa.
But the lack of access to good clean water undoubtedly translates to an increased threat for diseases like cholera.
Harare, Zimbabwe — When schools reopened in Zimbabwe, late September, Noel Madamombe (16) thought time had arrived for him to prepare for final examinations later this year.
Little did he know that there will not be any learning, for quite some time.
Zimbabwean teachers have vowed not to report for work until their employer revises their salaries to 2017 when they earned not less than $300 per month.
While negotiations are continuing, the government has, in the interim, offered the striking teachers a 40 percent transport allowance.
This is in addition to a COVID-19 $75 allowance lasting until December.
Currently, teachers are earning a paltry 3,500 Zimbabwean dollar (Z$) ($38).
The Total Consumption Poverty Line for an average family of five is now pegged at Z$15,573 ($173) as of August this year, according to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency.
While the poverty datum line and the cost of the basic commodities, which are pegged against the United States dollar, have continued to rise the government has not responded by increasing teachers’ salaries beyond the COVID-19 allowance and transport allowance.
As the government and its workers tussle over salaries, the students are the most affected.
School children in Zimbabwe are going to school to study as teachers’ strike continues. Credit: Ruvimbo Muchenje
Madamombe, is in his final year studies and is due to write his Ordinary Level examinations.
Students have been out of school since March this year when the government imposed a nationwide lockdown to slow the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Zimbabwe has some of the highest data tariffs in the region and has been experiencing its worst economic crisis in decades.
With Coronavirus cases declining, the government is finally putting measures to ensure all schools reopen while observing COVID-19 World Health Organization regulations.
Since the 28th of September 2020, schools have started opening their doors only to pupils who will sit for their national examinations later this year.
The remaining pupils are expected to return to school towards the end of the year.
“I am worried about my examinations because during lockdown I was not learning,” Madamombe, a student at George Stark Secondary School in Mbare in the capital Harare told Ubuntu Times.
“I live in an area with no electricity to charge my gadgets and buying internet data bundles to attend online lessons was a challenge for me.”
While students are coming to school, no learning is taking place.
“Our teachers are not coming to school,” Madamombe said.
Another Form 4 student, Trish Hungwe (17), said they were going to school to study.
“Since the day we reopened we have not been learning,” said Hungwe who learns at Chikanga Secondary School in Mutare, Zimbabwe’s fourth-largest city.
Madamombe and Hungwe‘s predicament is similar to many students who are going to school at a time when their teachers are on an industrial strike citing incapacitation.
Zimbabwe’s economy has been plummeting since the time President Emmerson Mnangagwa took over reigns of power from the late former President Robert Mugabe, in November 2017 through a military coup.
Teachers are among civil servants that are demanding adequate salaries from the government. Doctors from public hospitals were captured here demonstrating against poor salaries in 2019, in Harare. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe / Ubuntu Times
The country is going through a crisis.
Basic commodities are readily not available and the country is battling to arrest unemployment and hyperinflation that has surpassed an annual of 700 percent as of August this year, according to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
This has posed viability challenges and eroded salaries of civil servants.
The southern African nation’s economy has been worsened by the impact of Coronavirus which has paralyzed many industries.
Teachers are among the worst affected groups.
Teachers, who are saying their salaries are the lowest in the SADC region are demanding a monthly minimum wage of $520.
As the plight of students worsen there are growing calls for the government to ditch piecemeal arrangements and find a holistic solution to teachers’ salaries problem.
“Our education is in a serious crisis, November 2020 candidates will not be ready for examinations in December. Government should urgently convene education stakeholders to resolve the ensuing crisis,” Obert Masaraure, Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president told Ubuntu Times.
He said even though they still have teachers who are consistently logging in they are not teaching and 98 percent of their teachers are not reporting for work.
“The few teachers who reported for duty on opening day are now leaving schools to join the majority who are still at home,” he said adding that learners in boarding schools were spending time in between hostels and dining halls.
Some schools, especially those in remote areas, are struggling to meet Ministry of Health conditions on social distancing and sanitization.
But, the government has given assurance that all is under control.
School children in the cities are being asked by school authorities to bring at least two face masks from home. Credit: Ruvimbo Muchenje
Speaking during a media briefing in early October, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said basic Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) that include face masks, sanitizers and disinfectants “have been distributed to all public and independent schools.”
This is all fake according to information gathered by Ubuntu Times.
John Mutisi, a headteacher in Buhera, in eastern Zimbabwe, whose name has been changed to protect his identity for fear of reprisal said he has been forced by the government to open the school with inadequate PPEs.
Mutisi’s worries are echoed by teachers’ unions who believe the government is neglecting them by exposing them to Coronavirus.
“There are no PPEs and no running water in several schools. Teachers have not been tested for COVID-19,” said Raymond Majongwe, the secretary-general of the Progressive Teachers Union of Zimbabwe.
Masaraure said PPEs were an essential requirement for schools to reopen.
“However, the government has failed to make these important essentials available thus risking the lives of teachers and learners,” he said.
Some Non-Governmental Organizations have come to the government’s rescue by providing PPEs in some schools in the country.
“We have provided handwashing stations and most of the schools in our areas have been making masks,” Shamiso Matambanadzo, World Vision Zimbabwe advocacy, communication and external engagement team leader told Ubuntu Times.
“Also, we have been distributing bars of soap, hand sanitizers, and buckets in preparation of schools opening.”
However, the government remains hopeful that a solution will be found.
Mutsvangwa said salary negotiations for civil servants were underway.
“Government is aware of the challenges facing civil servants including teachers and is committed to improving the welfare of its workers. Consultations are currently underway to consider the request by the Apex Council in the last negotiating meeting held with the Government,” she said.
School children in Zimbabwe have been out of school for nearly six months and now their teachers have embarked on industrial action over poor salaries. Credit: Zimbabwe Peace Project
There seem to be no lasting solution in sight to Zimbabwe’s crippling education sector.
While the government has in some sectors resorted to issuing threats to its workers, teachers are refusing to budge.
“Teachers continue to send a bold message to the employer, they are not going to be cowed by empty threats,” said Masaraure.
While the labor tension between the government and teachers continues, Madamombe and other students who are scheduled to write their national examinations this year will continue paying the ‘price’.
“I just hope we will soon start learning,” said Madamombe.
“I am worried about my future if I fail this examination.”
Dar es Salaam — On a humid Monday afternoon, students are huddled in a classroom at the Confucius Institute at the University of Dar es Salaam, learning Mandarin.
They all repeat after their teacher in mandarin: “Where is the market?”
The ensuing echo pervades acoustics of the state-of-the-art classroom, decorated with posters scribbled in distinctive Chinese characters.
Their teacher, Xian Li, a 28–year-old expert from Dongbei University in China says today’s lesson is about visiting the market.
“I want them to read this sentence in Mandarin,” she says.
The US$ 2.4 million Institute equipped with lecture halls, multimedia facilities, and an Amphitheatre, built with the grant from the Chinese government has attracted many students.
China, Africa’s most important economic partner is already leaving a large cultural footprint across the continent with dozens of Confucius Institutes, striving to teach Mandarin to help young people eager to explore Chinese culture let alone securing competitive jobs in Chinese companies.
From Cape Town to Accra, to Dodoma, to Kampala, African governments are increasingly adopting Chinese language ostensibly to advance future prospects of the young generation.
At the Confucius Institute, visitors are greeted by a giant statue of the sixth-century Chinese philosopher.
The institute’s director, Prof. Zhang Xiozhen, sits at a desk decorated with the Chinese and Tanzania flags. His office walls are adorned with Chinese cultural drawings.
With more than 50 Confucius Institutes established across Africa, analysts say Mandarin is likely to challenge the ubiquity of European colonial languages in Africa notably English and French.
According to Ziozhen students who successfully complete their Mandarin classes often work in Chinese companies or get scholarships to study in China.
Diana Shayo, 21, a student in Li’s class said she has joined a course in Mandarin because she wants to study engineering in China.
Her friend Zulfa Abdulkadir, 22, says Mandarin will help her break the existing language barrier to explore the Chinese culture.
“I want to experience the Chinese culture and their way of life,” she told Ubuntu Times.
Despite being popular, Confucius institutes in Africa are increasingly criticized, with western governments branding them as tools for spreading Chinese propaganda.
As China’s influence continues to grow, African governments have positively embraced the idea of adding Mandarin in their schools’ curricula.
The Chinese language has been introduced in schools and in higher learning institutions in many African countries including South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda.
In South Africa, the government’s move to add Mandarin to the national school curriculum in 2015 evoked criticism with the country’s teachers’ union branding it a new form of colonialism.
At Zanaki Girls’ Secondary School in Dar es Salaam, students anxiously scribbling Chinese characters on flip charts, sing and recite poems.
“I love these characters, it’s interesting to write them,” said Sophia Mwenda.
In Dar es Salaam, Mandarin is being taught to people from all walks of life. Business executives, students, and graduates hunting for a job are quite eager to learn the language.
For many in Africa, China has become synonymous with economic success and the ability to speak Mandarin is seen as a stepping stone to other opportunities.
China’s much-noted economic progress has been accompanied by a steady expansion in its cultural and diplomatic influence globally. This growth in the so-called soft power is more apparent in Africa.
One of the toughest challenges the Chinese face as they strive to invest in Africa has been the cultural barrier and language challenges.
As ties between China and Africa grow not only in trade but also in people-to-people exchanges, the interest in Chinese language learning has grown among young people in Africa.
“If you’re committed to learn Chinese, the reward is obvious; this can give you an edge when entering the world of an economic powerhouse and exposing you to a new culture,” says Gao Wei, Cultural Counsellor at the Chinese Embassy in Dar es Salaam.
For Shayo and other students, the future is brighter; Mandarin is most likely to dominate the job market in most countries.
“Learning this language is an added advantage,” she says.
On a cool Sunday evening in Nairobi’s Roysambu estate, Mary Wanjiru stares away from the balcony of her apartment. She then narrates how she thinks she made a mistake going through the Kenyan education system all through to achieving her Bachelor of Arts in Education.
“That was just a mistake, I never wanted to be a teacher in the first place but the education system here forced me into it after I passed my secondary school education and was supposed to go to university. The government had placed me in the university and chosen a course for me,” the 24-year-old said.
Wanjiru has just been awarded a student’s visa for a scholarship at a university in the United States and is awaiting her flight date to go away for studies there. She is going for her second degree in Nursing; a profession she says has always been her best choice.
However, Wanjiru is just an example of many such students in Kenya who are leaving the country for studies abroad, after which they settle and work there or in another country in Europe, Canada, Australia, or Asia.
Mary Wanjiru looks out of the balcony of her house in Nairobi. Credit: Dominic Kirui / Ubuntu Times
When he visited Kenya as US president in July 2015, Barrack Obama in one of his speeches pointed out that a young Kenyan should not have to do what his father did in search of an education and that the education in Kenya should be able to provide all that one is going to look for thousands of miles away.
“A young, ambitious Kenyan today should not have to do what my grandfather did and serve a foreign master. You don’t need to do what my father did and leave your home in order to get a good education and access to opportunity. Because of Kenya’s progress, because of your potential, you can build your future right here, right now,” Obama said.
But that is still the case. Several decades after Obama senior left Kenya on a mission to find an education in America, Kenyan students still follow his footsteps.
Winnie Wanzetse, a development economist based in Nairobi says that migration of Kenyan students to Europe and the USA dates back to the 1960s. Currently, at least 30,000 students leave the country every year to pursue further studies, with an estimated 80% retention capacity for the host country.
“They leave in search of better quality education as compared to that available in their home country. USA, Australia, UK, Canada, and New Zealand have been the most aggressive countries in recruiting international students. They, in turn, benefit greatly from the revenue earned, as higher education has become a major global export commodity,” she highlighted.
Mary Wanjiru fills in an application for her visa at her home in Nairobi, Kenya. Credit: Dominic Kirui / Ubuntu Times
And all too well, according to Wanzetse, these Western countries also know that these students need a package that they can hardly refuse so they can be able to accept and move.
“To make the offer more attractive, these countries offer a partial or full scholarship for education; an offer too enticing for many a foreign (and in our case African) student to refuse. Once there, the foreign students get sucked into the motions of the developed world. As a means of supplementing their study costs, these foreign students work odd jobs or work as part-time lecturers (for graduate and postgraduate students) and with time get permanent employment,” Wanzetse noted.
In 2017 alone, Kenya’s Equity Bank scholarship program sent away 73 students to study at different universities abroad. This had brought the number of scholars who had left the country for studies to 400 at the time, with the bank saying that it had cost them Kshs10 billion (USD 100 million) since it began.
Speaking during the send-off ceremony, Equity Group CEO and Executive Chairman of Equity Group Foundation Dr. James Mwangi advised the scholars to focus on an academic pursuit, leadership training, networking, and global transformational exposure in order to excel in their respective academic areas.
“In each of us there is a seed of leadership and greatness that needs to be nurtured and that’s what the program seeks to achieve. You will be exposed to numerous opportunities to build global networks and experiences. These experiences will shape your mindset and set you on a path to influence your community and society contributing to the socio-economic transformation of our country. The ELP program is in line with Kenya’s Vision 2030 of transforming Kenya into a globally competitive middle-income economy,” Dr. Mwangi said.
The Equity Leaders Program (ELP) starts as a transition pre-university program from the successful Wings to Fly Secondary School Scholarship Program for bright gifted but financially challenged children executed by Equity Group in partnership with The MasterCard Foundation with support of USAID, UKAID and the German Development Bank (KfW). The Bank also selects the top-performing students in all the counties who are also absorbed into ELP. By 2017, 5,060 scholars had been enrolled in ELP with 2,343 drawn from the Wings to Fly Program.
ELP scholar Drake Kufwafwa from Vihiga County receiving his sponsorship letter to Duke University in the USA in 2017 from the Equity Group Chairman, Dr. Peter Munga. Looking on is the Equity Group CEO, Dr. James Mwangi. Credit: Dominic Kirui / Ubuntu Times
Some of the top universities the 73 scholars joined that year included Princeton, Yale, Amherst, Duke, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, University of Toronto, Michigan State University, University of Edinburg, Carnegie Mellon University, among others.
At Nairobi’s Zimmerman estate, Carol is also preparing to fly to her new university in Europe. She has just received her admission letter, a student’s visa, and an air ticket to Hungary to further her education. She cites a broken system and a lack of opportunities in Kenya and says that the West would be a better place to grow.
“I would want to come back here and work, help make things better for my country,” she says. But in most cases, these students don’t come back to work in these African countries but settle and work in the West. In 2017, Equity Bank reported that some students had gotten jobs at different companies in Europe and America.
In January the same year, the Kenyan government, through the Technical and Vocational Education Training Authority (TVETA) convened a conference that brought together government, private sector, academia and development partners to come up with ways of transforming Kenya’s vocational training.
Carol and her friends answer questions on regulations for her university in Hungary, at her house in Nairobi. Credit: Dominic Kirui / Ubuntu Times
During the conference, it was clear that there was a mismatch between the training and the needs for the job market in the country and there was a need for a system check to ensure that what is taught in Kenyan schools match what is expected of the graduating students in the labor market.
And as Wanzetse concludes, she talks about how African countries fail these students anyway, and the West becomes the only better option for them to settle.
“For some, the chances of employment back home are dim and they end up taking up employment in their host countries. The host countries are eager to tap into this, and they make the most of the situation. Eager to fill up the gaps in their local skillset, they extend even more incentives in the form of favorable immigration policies where students can apply (and are granted) for permanent residency. They go on to attract even skilled personnel by providing incentives like competitive remuneration and a sure chance at a residency. As a result, the African Union estimates that about 70,000 skilled professionals emigrate from Africa every year to developed countries,” she says.
Juba, June 24 — In a leaked official document dated 22nd June 2020 signed by Director General for Administration and Finance in the South Sudan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, international cooperation; written to South Sudan Head of Mission in Morocco Rabat, the Ambassador Samuel Luate Lominsuk the admin and Finance Director-General expressed his concern regarding a student fund sent to Morocco.
He said that the Student fund has been returned back to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and not given to students in Morocco who are in scholarship.
Samuel explained in his letter that “the representative from Department of Finance of the Ministry went to the bank and found that the money has not yet been accredited to the ministry’s account.”
“The ministry will continue to follow this case and will update you of the status accordingly,” Ambassador Samuel Explained to head of mission in Morocco.
In March the Minister of Higher Education of South Sudan, Deney Jouk, said the Ministry through Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the country’s embassies abroad, will only commit to providing funds for government scholarship students in countries where “COVID-19” is spread around the world.
Mutare, ZIMBABWE — On a gloomy day in a squatter camp located near Sakubva, a filthy densely populated suburb in Mutare—the fourth largest city in Zimbabwe, 14-year old Mirriam Sundayi is taking down clothes from a hipped rust coated fence which they use as ‘washing line’ at their makeshift house.
This was the last household chore this young girl could do before taking an hour studying and later going to play with her friends at a neighboring makeshift house.
Sundayi is in Grade 6 at Sakubva Primary but she has not been going to school since late March when President Emmerson Mnangagwa gave a directive for schools and universities to close early to curb the possible spread of a global pandemic, Coronavirus, that has infected over 42 people and claimed the lives of four in Zimbabwe.
She said her teacher has since created a group on WhatsApp, the most popular social media platform in Africa, to help pupils study during this 63-day lockdown imposed by Mnangagwa administration.
Sundayi does not have a personal cell phone as her self-employed parents cannot afford to buy her one, so she uses her mother’s smartphone but it is hardly paid up with WhatsApp bundles.
When schools closed in March other teachers moved to online learning but the migration is hitting a brick wall as there are high digital inequalities in Zimbabwe.
“Each time I borrow my mom’s phone it is always without WhatsApp bundles. Therefore, I am not getting resources some of my classmates are getting online. My mom says she cannot afford to purchase Whatsapp bundles,” Sundayi told Ubuntu Times with a melancholic voice.
These young boys walk past the closed gate of Chikanga Primary School in Mutare recently. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe / Ubuntu Times
Most people in Zimbabwe access internet using their mobile devices but Zimbabwe’s biggest mobile service providers Econet Wireless and Netone have reviewed upwards more than three times their social media and internet data bundles since early March as inflation soars.
The Southern African nation is experiencing its worst economic malaise in decades. In March this year, its yearly inflation rate was at 810 percent, according to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe.
Recently, Econet Wireless hiked its monthly 25 Gigabytes private Wifi bundle, a favorite for many families, from 400 (8 USD) to 1,300 Zimbabwean Dollars (37 USD).
This is beyond the reach of many families as the average salary of civil servants in the country is Zim $2,000 (44 USD) per month of which the consumer basket as of April was at Zim $6,660 (148 USD), according to a survey conducted by the Industry and Commerce Ministry.
In April, Media Institute of Southern Africa–Zimbabwe Chapter (Misa Zimbabwe) launched the #DataMustFallZim campaign to push the government to intervene to ensure citizens access affordable data prices.
Tabani Moyo, a national director at Misa Zimbabwe, told Ubuntu Times that data is no longer for the privileged elite as it used to be but should be accessed by all citizens.
“Everything has changed due to Coronavirus. All services have gone online, hence, the need for the Government and other stakeholders to come up with a sustainable pricing for data and internet access in Zimbabwe,” he said.
“This is critical in that if you leave data and internet service price to profit interest alone it will lead to inequalities as profit-making does not do public good.”
Daisy Zambuko, a spokesperson for Zimbabwe Teachers Association, told Ubuntu Times that they were equally shocked by the hiking of data bundles at a time they were trying to introduce online lessons inclusive to all including the most vulnerable groups.
Some leaners in Zimbabwe are struggling to access online learning materials due to the high costs of internet data bundles in the country as inflation soars. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe / Ubuntu Times
Postal and Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (POTRAZ) Director-General Gift Machengete said the internet prices which were set by mobile service providers were within the prescribed charges of 0.30 cents per megabyte.
Another pupil, 13-year old Tawananyasha Dudzai, in the 5th grade at Murahwa Primary School, said her mother struggles to buy WhatsApp bundles.
“My teacher is giving us work via WhatsApp every day. Last week I did not have WhatsApp bundles and I was not doing work. Right now I am behind,” he said.
Obert Masaraure, Amalgamated of Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe president, told Ubuntu Times that he believed online learning is fueling inequality among learners.
“The marginalized learners who barely have access to physical teaching instructions are completely shut out from learning,” he said.
Masaraure added that his union through their WhatsApp online classes that started in April had reached over 5,000 Primary and Secondary School students but it was becoming unsustainable.
“Our choice for WhatsApp classes was informed by the low bandwidth used for WhatsApp. Our teachers are now struggling to sustain the classes,” he said.
A grade 5 pupil, Tawananyasha Dudzai is behind in his daily work sent on a WhatsApp group by his teacher as his guardian did not have WhatsApp bundles last week. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe / Ubuntu Times
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is working extensively with the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to develop alternative learning platforms for children during this pandemic, including the development of radio and television learning.
To date 52 radio lessons have been produced, said UNICEF Zimbabwe spokesperson James Maiden adding that they are being finalized for launch.
Fungayi Mandiveyi, an Econet Wireless spokesperson, said they had introduced an E-learning discounted data bundle for teachers and students to continue learning in the comfort of their homes.
“The average price of bundles is $1.83 per megabyte. The offer is for at least 50 mobile numbers (for students and teachers). Each school pays on behalf of its students and teachers and collects money from parents,” he said.
Lizwe Runoza, a student at Midlands State University, told Ubuntu Times that researching over the internet consumes much data of which that is the only alternative available to access literature since they cannot go to the library under the current lockdown restrictions.
Online learning is becoming more unsustainable for even tertiary education students due to the continuous increase of internet data bundles by Zimbabwe’s mobile operators. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe / Ubuntu Times
Ashley Pfunye, Secretary-General of the Zimbabwe National Students Union said the idea of online learning comes as another burden to students who are already in an impoverished state.
“Institutions and governments must stop to make announcements without carefully considering and preparing the affected constituency for the changes they intend to make,” he said.
Professor Amon Murwira, Higher and Tertiary Education Minister, said they were working with various stakeholders to come up with a workable solution to online learning problems.
“We are confronting this problem with solutions. We are trying to be systematic. First stage is to put the learning material online and the second stage is we come up with methods that enable students to access that material online,” he said.
Mirriam Sundayi is waiting for better solutions to her online learning challenges from the government and other civil society organizations. Credit: Farai Shawn Matiashe / Ubuntu Times
It seems most learners particularly those who are not writing exams this year and non-final year at colleges and universities, will remain home for more weeks considering some of their learning institutions are being used as quarantine centers for citizens coming back home.
While the government is working with mobile service providers and non-governmental organizations to find solutions to online learning setbacks, in the meantime, Sundayi is reading notes from her exercise books and revising past exam scripts but her biggest fear is that she is lagging behind as her other classmates with access to WhatsApp and internet are moving along with the syllabus.
“I just pray we have lessons on radio. There is no electricity here but radio at least I can listen from my mom’s phone,” she said.
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