Introducing the third of three news blogs, reporting on how our Africa programmes are coping with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the impact on the schools and wider communities where we work. This article is about the Zimbabwe team; how they work, and most of all, how COVID-19 has changed the way in which they work.

Based in Harare, IT Education for Zimbabwe (ITEZ) is ITSA’s sister organisation in Zimbabwe, run by programme manager Charlie Chabveka. Despite the challenges posed by the political and economic climate in Zimbabwe, ITEZ has achieved much since its set up in 2015.  Charlie manages the day to day running of the organization, which involves marketing, project management and providing hardware/software support to clients. The main aim of the charity is ‘to transform lives in Zimbabwe through access to and improved use of e-Learning technology.’ By introducing computer labs, this enables e-learning to take place in an effective way, so students can be taught using visual and oral aid. The computer to student ratio is also reduced, for more person-centred teaching. Schools must apply for government funding to enable ITEZ to start a project. Once that is all in place, work can begin.
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Major projects have included the refurbishment of a computer lab in Cross Dete for Detema Secondary School in Hwange. This new facility has helped students and even the local community, to enrol in digital education. In addition, ITEZ partnered with the Tag Rugby Trust, and together they built a new lab at a local sports centre specifically designed for girls - many of whom are considered vulnerable - that participate in the Tag Rugby Trust’s programmes. However, it is not easy work. The Zimbabwean economy has caused huge difficulties for all charities there, including ITEZ. Charlie explains that planning and budgeting new projects has become increasingly difficult due to the rise in the black market of US Dollars. This has deeply weakened the local Zimbabwean currency, amidst the hyper-inflation. To put this into context, the rate of inflation reached an all-time high of 837.53 percent in July 2020. The crippling economy, inevitably, has affected the ability of schools to apply for the government funding which they need if they are to have an ITEZ e-lab. There are other expenses to cater for too, such as furniture and maintenance, further preventing these educational institutions from investing in new technology. The fact that many children have still received their newly refurbished computers within their own e-learning labs shows just how determined Charlie and the team are. 

​Determination and dedication, is something that ITEZ will continue to need more than ever as the impact of the pandemic continues to disrupt education in Zimbabwe. The education sector has suffered greatly; impacting both children and teachers. Few online lessons have taken place, due to the technological and financial strain on schools. Furthermore, most children do not have the study materials to self-teach and are unable to physically go and collect their school-work from their school. 
The three terms of the Zimbabwean school year have been disrupted; most notably for students who are meant to be taking exams but have not completed their course content and so now cannot start their next phase of education. Charlie describes the disruption as ‘the most difficult situation we have at hand’. With no financial support, such as a furlough scheme, Zimbabwean teachers are being forced to make ends meet by offering private home tuition. However, this is now banned due to the possibility of transmission and as such teaching staff are not allowed to travel on public transport. Most schools have been closed since March, and any attempts to re-open them have been followed by sharp rises in local cases, resulting in immediate closure.
Nonetheless, with our help and support, ITEZ can continue to provide the best work that they can. Charlie hopes that this pandemic, and the children who have literally lost months of their education, will make those in power realise how important ICT is for Zimbabwean schools.  

Introducing the second of three news blogs, reporting on how our Africa programmes are coping with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the impact on the schools and wider communities where we work.
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​Thanks to the thousands of ITSA computers that have been delivered to hundreds of schools throughout Zambia, more pupils than ever are acquiring the digital skills they need for future jobs. Computers for Zambian Schools (CFZS) is our sister NGO responsible for providing computers and digital support in the country.  Based in the centre of the capital city Lusaka, much goes on behind the scenes at CFZS; ITSA volunteer Maya Horwood has been talking to the team over the last few months to see how their work is carried out and the challenges the charity faces amid a global pandemic.

Since 2015, Boni Chipembere has been the programme manager at CFZS, heading up the social enterprise.  The team also has an admin assistant, a technician and an external accountant. Boni oversees operations for the whole country and the technician is responsible for checking the donated equipment and networking IT labs.

​Around 80% of CFZS’ work is supplying computers to schools, teachers and students. Many people come into CFZS’s tiny shop to purchase discounted computers, laptops, scanners and printers. Boni maintains that the majority of customers hear about the reasonably priced, high quality equipment and technical lessons via word of mouth, emphasising the power of community conversation. The rest of CFZS’ work is focused on installing new e-labs for schools, of which they complete about two each year. The process can be lengthy and takes months of budgeting and planning. CFZS select schools in need of a new computer lab based on whether they meet the criteria of CFZS’ current mandate. This mandate considers many factors such as the region of the school and whether there is a deficit of IT within that region that needs addressing more urgently than others. 

There is a further challenge with ensuring that IT classrooms are used in the most effective way, as many teachers aren’t trained well enough to teach IT. To help improve the delivery of digital education CFZS has partnered with another local NGO to provide IT teacher training. Unreliable power is a constant disruption to pupils' learning where sometimes the electricity is only working for half the day. The majority of the country is powered by hydro-power and consequently is affected by poor rainfall.

​Positively, the number of computers in African schools is rising, helped by a UN campaign to improve digital literacy worldwide. The idea is to encourage members of the public, children included, to own a computer as a rewarding long term goal. This has to start with accessibility to affordable quality equipment and it is exactly what CFZS offers. In addition, entrepreneurial skills by way of problem based learning is what Boni hopes her customers will gain from working with CFZS. These skills can then be used by youths to build their very own businesses, earn sustainable incomes, and feel proud of their products and creations.

​The pandemic has highlighted the importance of e-learning, in particular outside of the school environment. Boni estimates that around 60-70% of children haven’t had any educational involvement since schools shut in March. Those that could afford it have had private tutors coming into the home, although this has since been curbed by authorities to control the spread of the virus. E-learning, primarily via mobile telephones, has been carried out by some of the more well-funded schools, though this doesn’t count for the majority of students. 

Inevitably, the consequences of the lack of education are far-reaching and complex. Boni suggests that the psychological impact of missing school will be the most hard-hitting for students and their families. This is because students may have to repeat a year. However, many Zambian families may not be able to afford an extra years tuition fees, especially if there is more than one child hoping to complete a decent education. Being at home more has meant that parents have had more mouths to feed, which has meant more of a parents’ hard-earned income is being spent. Boni hints that the agro-economic impact of the pandemic has resulted in a greater fear than the virus itself; people will die of hunger due to lack of income.

However, it seems the general population and those in power are responding to this new realisation that e-learning is a viable and important part of education. At CFZS, they are distributing more laptops than ever, and Boni puts that down to parents taking a more active interest in e-learning as an option for their children. In addition, the Zambian government themselves opened their first ever e-learning lab during this pandemic, and now have an official target of achieving 51% rural electricity access by 2030 (it currently stands at around 5%). It’s great to see that ITSA’s and CFZS’s work has helped to promote this change in attitude towards e-learning. Nonetheless, Boni remains concerned about the ‘nightmare’ that repeating school years could cause for so many families. ITSA’s work will play an important role in helping CFZS and the Zambian community regain their confidence. 

Introducing the first of three news blogs, reporting on how our Africa programmes are coping with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and the impact on the schools and wider communities where we work.

​Despite living in a country that is regularly plagued by difficult challenges, such as natural disasters and political corruption, Computers for Malawian Schools (CFMS) has continued to provide thousands of school children the opportunity to learn IT in the last few years. However, never before has CFMS faced such a complex and life-changing challenge as COVID-19. Sabina Kulasinghe, the programme manager, has told us just how the team has adapted and changed over the past few months to cope with ongoing pandemic.

The team is small, with just Sabina, an admin assistant, accountant and technician, working in their Blantyre-based office.  The technician manages the IT labs that CFMS provides for schools by networking and installing them. They also offer one on one teaching to members of the public at their digital training Centre also in Blantyre, Malawi’s biggest city.  The Centre is also used by the local school, with the ultimate goal that the school will themselves manage it in the future.
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​One of the newest members of staff is the designated cleaner for the training Centre, which is adjacent to the office. The cleaner goes in every day to sanitise and disinfect all the surfaces, which is vitally important to ensure the safety of both members of the public and school students. Temperatures are taken before each person enters, and mask-wearing is compulsory inside the building. These measures are necessary and crucial to enable Sabina and her team to continue to provide instruction and opportunity for the local community during this time. Members of the public are welcome to walk-in and have individual ICT lessons, such as how to network a room, trouble-shoot a dysfunctional computer and even how to assemble devices.

​Government schools are due to fully open on the 12th October, and International schools on the 20th. Some students, those that have key exams were the first to go back in Malawi in September. Sabina says students are really excited to go back. It is clear that going to school is not only providing students with the ever so important life skills that they will need for work, but also keeping them out of difficult circumstances that have become more prevalent again during the pandemic. Child marriages have increased dramatically again as young girls have taken time off from education. 
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As one of the poorest countries in the world, around 50.7% of the population live below the poverty line. Much like the rest of the world, the Malawian economy has been badly hit by COVID-19, and some cost-saving measures being taken in the education system may soon backfire. In Government schools, they are trying to restrict the use of the more costly anti-bacterial hand-sanitiser, and as an alternative are cutting up small blocks of washing bars and placing them around the facilities. There are reports that rules are also being flouted by pupils during break times and lunch times, as no teachers are there to supervise any social distancing or mask wearing. None the less, Sabina continues to concentrate on her duties of distributing, supervising and running stock supplies. The team in Blantyre are now looking forward to the arrival of 850 computers and 150 laptops sent by ITSA at the end of August.