Average education ranking

“We have been ranked as a fairly average country in the assessment of local examinations at the Education World Forum held in London recently,” said Senator David Coltart, the Minister of Education, Arts, Sports and Culture.

The Education World Forum is a platform where education ministers discuss developments in the educational sectors of their various countries.

“We are not in a bad position, but we are striving to be like Singapore that is said to have the best standards,” said Coltart.

He said the development of Information Communication Technology was necessary in order for the country to see marked advances in the education sector.

“We need to apply ICT’s in all our schools so that we are in line with the latest trends. There is need to extend the application of ICT’s for better systems,” he said.

At the recently held ICT conference in Victoria Falls, the Minister said that he would like to increase the supply of computers to all schools. He said failure to use computer technology was going to see schools lagging behind other countries in Africa. Companies like Samsung, which were also at the conference, said they were willing to assist the country with its ICT programme.

“Samsung and Intel are willing to partner with Zimbabwe, and they have the latest technology that will benefit the country,” he said.

Many of Zimbabwe’s rural schools are not electrified, making the ICT programme impossible. However, the Minster said Samsung had plans to use advanced solar technology.