MTN Zambia launches TeleSchool

Increasing Zambian students’ access to fundamental educational elements such as teachers, past papers and tuition can help improve on the 2.9 per cent increase in the grade twelve pass rate recorded in 2017. This is because the fusion of increasingly accessible technology with education in Zambia has the potential to expand the educational horizons of students countrywide.

Speaking in Lusaka when MTN Zambia launched TeleSchool, company Chief Marketing Officer Felix Kamenga notes that technology has a role to play in helping students perform better in their grade twelve examinations.

“Last year’s increase in the pass rate of 2.9 per cent demonstrates the potential for Zambian students to do even better. With access to technology rising across the country, there was always a need to identify opportunities where students can benefit from technology to improve their learning process,” says Kamenga.

Through a partnership with the Ministry of General Education and the Zambia Teachers Forum, MTN has launched TeleSchool, an initiative that will deliver education to a wider group of students across the country and bridge the learning gap. This is in an effort to support the Zambian government’s target of increasing the teacher to student ratio by having 55,000 teachers over the next 10 years.

Assistant Director in the Ministry of Transport and Communication Austin Sichinga says the initiative will address the obstacles in the present system by providing tutorial lessons and training through social media in the main subjects such as Mathematics, Science, Biology and English which will be supported by MTN’s countrywide network coverage.

He adds that his ministry supports the initiative as teachers as it will help increase the pass rate for grade twelve students country wide.

“With this project which has been initiated by MTN Zambia, we hope to see an increase in the pass rate of students in all parts of the country. We have engaged best performing teachers to aid students in the preparation for their grade twelve exams and believe it will contribute to a rise in the national pass rate,” Sichinga says.

He adds that the project is not limited to students that live along the line of rail but is accessible countrywide and will benefit students in rural parts of the country who can compete with students in urban Zambia.

Kamenga says the project is a demonstration of how social media can be used positively and productively by young Zambians. He adds that through the platform, students can adopt good social media habits that help make a real difference in their lives.

“It really does show how social media can used positively. We fully believe that this initiative will help raise the performance of grade twelve students, giving them lessons with the best performing teachers and use of past examination papers as revision tools through our Facebook Live platform and MTN TV+ app,” he explains.

Source: MTN Zambia