By Darlington Gatsi
EPWORTH Member of Parliament (MP), Zivanai Mhetu has expressed concern over the lack of electricity in the majority of schools in the sprawling dormitory town.
This has hindered educational progress and the adoption of Information, Communication Technologies (ICTs).
At least three schools in Epworth have endured more than 20 years without electricity, leaving them behind in development.
The lawmaker said the lack of electricity has disadvantaged local schools in an increasingly digital world.
“Schools in Epworth have been without electricity for a very long time. There’s one called Chinamano, and it is now 20 years without electricity connection.
“I have been challenging the government over this issue of lack of electricity because children are failing to learn ICT materials such as computers as a result of the lack of electricity,” said Mhetu.
The government has been promoting ICT tools to enhance education in the era of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The model being pursued by government, Education 5.0, is anchored on community service, research, innovation, and industrialisation. However, there are concerns that some disadvantaged schools are being left out in digitalisation due to lack of electricity.
Mhetu said engagement with national power utility, Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), have yielded discouraging results.
The power utility has quoted exorbitant fees, exceeding US$100 000 for connecting these schools to the grid.
“I approached ZESA and they indicated that they do not have money to power these schools. They gave us a quotation of US$17 000, US$65 000 and another one is US$70 000 for three schools. These are huge figures,” lamented the parliamentarian.
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