Airtel Tanzania through Airtel SmartWASOMI project has installed Airtel high speed Internet to 50 secondary schools in Ukonga district, Dar es Salaam following the Airtel SmartWasomi plan to cover 3,000 schools in 5 years.
The move is also in line with Honorable Minister for ICT Jerry Silaa who is also Member of Parliament at Ukonga Constituency enthusiasm to advance digital learning in Ukonga and addressing the shortage of teaching materials.
Speaking at the handover ceremony held at Pugu Secondary School in Ukonga District, the Public Relations and CSR Manager at Airtel Tanzania, Jackson Mmbando, “Airtel SmartWASOMI, is a connectivity initiative which aims at accelerating digital learning across Tanzania. The project is implemented in partnership with the government through the Ministry of Education and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Airtel SmartWASOMI is geared to improve both the teaching and learning environment for teachers and students. We are supporting government’s continued efforts to enhance digital education learning for students across the country,”
“Alongside with our partners, we are on course to install over 3,000 schools with Airtel high speed internet to facilitate teachers and students access to essential learning materials for FREE. Airtel provide Tanzania Institute of Education’s (TIE)’s library at ZERO COST, meaning teachers and student who use Airtel services will not incur any extra cost when accessing TIE educational resources through Airtel’s high-speed internet.” explained Mmbando.
Mmbando further explained that “Airtel has distributed and installed Airtel Highspeed connectivity in 50 Government owned secondary schools across Ukonga District, Through Airtel SmartWASOMI project.
On his part, the Head of Secondary Education Department in Ukonga, Mussa Ali, urged teachers to make use of the Airtel SmartWasomi project with the new connectivity, emphasizing its potential to bridge gaps through digital learning especially resolve the materials availability which is the through physical books that may not always be available.
“With this connectivity, teachers can share resources and interact with students online. This is valuable in addressing the shortages of teaching equipment but also other resources in our schools, for subjects such as physics, Chemistry, biology and mathematics, by enabling remote learning and collaboration”.
The headmistress of Buyuni Secondary School, Asha Kinyogo, commended Airtel Tanzania for investing in the present and future generations by enabling easy access to educational materials through internet technology.
“I applaud Airtel for coming up with this life-changing initiative that is reshaping the education sector in Tanzania. The installation of Airtel internet in our school will improve students’ education experiences, as all education materials are now available for them through the online library. We believe the Airtel SmartWasomi project will have significant impact on our schools,” she noted.
The implementation of the five-year SMARTWASOMI initiative underlines Airtel Tanzania’s commitment to helping Tanzanian students reach their full potential by providing equal access to quality digital learning.
Artel through Smart WASOMI has already installed Free Internet for e learning through TIE and Shule Direct library to 50 schools in Zanzibar, 42 in Kilimanjaro, 50 in Arusha, 15 in Nzega-Tabora, 20 in Dodoma and 20 in Mbeya schools, the project is underway plan to connect and provide free Internet to 3,000 Government secondary schools for E learning.
