At Gqalaza Primary School this week, the arrival of laptops and other ICT equipment marked more than a donation. It signaled Zimbabwe’s renewed push to bring digital learning to rural classrooms long left on the margins of technological change.
Handing over the equipment, Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services Tatenda Mavetera said the initiative, supported by UNICEF, was about “transferring opportunity” to children who have historically lacked access to digital tools. The event followed the commissioning of an ICT hub at a secondary school earlier in the week, part of what the government describes as a coordinated national effort to modernize education.
Zimbabwe’s education system has made progress in enrollment, particularly at the primary level, but deep disparities persist between urban and rural schools. Limited electricity, internet connectivity and ICT infrastructure have constrained digital learning, challenges that became starkly visible during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Through partnerships with UNICEF, the government has begun solarising schools and rolling out ICT laboratories, including the deployment of Starlink connectivity kits to remote areas. Officials say the goal is to embed digital literacy from an early age, ensuring rural pupils can compete with their urban peers and beyond Zimbabwe’s borders.
Minister Mavetera framed the initiative within the country’s National Development Strategy 2 and Vision 2030, arguing that economic competitiveness will depend on a technologically skilled population. She described today’s learners as the foundation of a future generation fluent in digital systems, artificial intelligence and problem-solving.
Education experts caution that technology alone will not transform learning without sustained teacher training, maintenance and connectivity. Still, for pupils at Gqalaza Primary School — many encountering a computer for the first time — the moment offered a glimpse of a future in which geography no longer determines educational opportunity.
