The Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Professor Torerai Moyo, has commissioned a range of smart school technologies at Sandon Academy in Gutu, bringing technology-driven learning to a rural community.
Located outside Mpandawana along the Chivhu-Gutu-Harare Highway, the school has introduced interactive boards and digitally connected classrooms serving approximately 800 learners.
The technology integrates classroom learning with digital systems that track student attendance, monitor teacher performance and help identify learners requiring medical attention.
The school has also invested in an ambulance helicopter to facilitate emergency medical evacuations.
Speaking during the commissioning ceremony yesterday, Prof Moyo said the investment demonstrated the potential of technology to transform education and prepare learners for the demands of a digital economy.
“This investment in smart classrooms, interactive boards and integrated systems demonstrates a commitment to preparing learners for a technology-driven future,” he said.
He described a smart school as one “where technology connects the classroom to the library, libraries to laboratory and laboratory to the home.”
Sandon Academy founder, Hon Lovemore Matuke, said schools needed to embrace emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, to keep pace with developments in the education sector.
“Technology is not stopping. Schools should be taught how to implement new technology and artificial intelligence,” he said.
Education Director Dr Thokozile Mupundu said digital learning systems could expand access to education by allowing teachers to deliver lessons to learners across different geographical locations.
“A teacher can teach different schools in different parts of the country using one system. Wherever you are, you are able to be educated,” she said.
The technology is also introducing learners to immersive learning experiences through virtual reality.
One of the students, Sydney Mangombe, said the technology was making complex subjects easier to understand, particularly in biology.
“Virtual reality makes learning biology easy, like you are inside the heart itself,” Mangombe said.
The commissioning highlights the growing role of digital technologies in expanding learning opportunities and introducing practical, technology-based teaching methods in Zimbabwean schools.
