Stakeholder’s join hands to boost digital learning

By DAILY NEWS Reporter

TANGA: AIRTEL Tanzania, UNICEF Tanzania and the government have launched a five-year initiative to accelerate the adoption of digital education across the

country. The initiative dubbed Airtel SmartWASOMI targeted the most vulnerable children in over 3,000 secondary schools across the country by integrating with Airtel’s high-speed internet services—free of charge.

The initiative has successfully initiated its pilot phase, reaching 50 secondary schools in Zanzibar, Dodoma and Mbeya and has trained over 2000 teachers, thereby benefiting upwards of 55,000 students directly.

Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa recently commended Airtel Tanzania and UNICEF for spearheading an initiative that supplements the government’s efforts aimed at scaling up access to digital learning.

“Digital learning is the fastest way of improving learning outcomes and equipping our children for the future,” Mr Majaliwa, who was a chief guest during the official launch of the project at the climax of the National Educational, Skills and Innovation Week in Tanga, said.

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The PM said further that the implementation of the Airtel SmartWASOMI project will support the government’s efforts to nurture digital literacy and solve the challenge of the shortage of teachers in secondary schools.

“Through this project, teachers will be connected to online libraries to have cost-free access to all teaching and learning materials,” he said.

Minister for Education, Science, and Technology, Prof Adolf Mkenda said that Airtel SMARTWASOMI will not only bridge the digital divide but also pave the way for a brighter future for students through high-speed data service that will offer free access to accredited e-learning resources.

“This initiative will set a new standard in educational excellence as it will undoubtedly enhance the quality of education and empower our youth to thrive in this digital world,” he said.

The Airtel Tanzania, Managing Director, Dinesh Balsingh, said the telco’s digital education, dates back to 2015 with the launch of VSOMO in partnership with the Vocational Education and Training Authority (VETA)—an e-classroom.

The Airtel SMARTWASOMI project is estimated to spend about 128.26bn/-in the next five years of implementation.

The goal is to digitise 3,000 schools in the next five years, and will start with 1000 schools this year and every connected secondary school will be getting 1,200GB per year.

The Airtel’s flagship project targets to connect one million children across Africa. Airtel Africa’s Group CEO, Sunil Taldar, said that Airtel SMARTWASOMI highlights the telecom’s deep commitment to bridging the digital divide and empowering Africa’s future generations.

“We are deeply grateful to the government of Tanzania for their collaboration and leadership and to UNICEF for being a valuable partner in the pursuit of this lofty initiative,” he said. The UNICEF Country Representative, Elke Wisch, detailed that data reveal that millions of children in Africa are challenged by the lack of access to quality learning materials caused by scarcity in resources.