BY PHUMELELE MKHONTA
MBABANE– The COVID-19 pandemic was a blessing in disguise for some schools that are enjoying virtual learning through MTN’s eMfundvo platform.
This is a virtual learning platform that provides a responsive learning experience through value added benefits such as reporting and tracking academic progress as well as administration functions.
MTN introduced eMfundvo when the education sector was experiencing a major disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, whereby students could not continue with in-class learning for the better part of 2020 and 2021.
MTN wanted to bring a solution that could allow the academic year to commence, and for pupils to have an online end to end learning experience, also making work of the teachers easy by reducing some costs of the school in terms of printing and the time used for face-to-face teaching.
The platform is zero-rated, with parents having to contribute only E15 per month towards the purchase of data. Schools that are currently on the platform have not stopped praising it for being affordable, efficient and life-changing.
So far Inyandza High, Tikhuba High, Mhlume High, Saim Christian High, Siyafundza Primary, Ka-Boyce High School, Manzini Nazarene High and Mbabane Central High are using eMfundvo.
Teachers and pupils from three of these schools said the platform they continued to use the platform even after face-o-face learning resumed.
They further attested to the fact that it is working for them in making for easy exchange of notes and assignments, teacher-pupil engagements and revision.
“A cherry on top is that the platform reduces paper usage, ultimately keeping the school green,” said Linda Mlotsa, an ICT teacher at Manzini Nazarene High School.
In the past two weeks the most engaging teachers and pupils were awarded prizes of up to E 1 000 cash, airtime and merchandise for actively participating on the platform.
Schools that were covered include Tikhuba, Inyandza and Manzini Nazarene.
During interviews, the winners described the platform as very convenient and mostly used for exchanging notes, assignments and marking.
“I started using eMfundvo in 2021 when I was in Form I. Sometimes I forget my notebooks at home and cannot take notes while in class. This platform makes it easier for teachers and classmates to share notes so that I catch up without a hassle afterschool,” said Mlindi Dlamini from Manzini Nazarene.
His schoolmate Sabusiswa said she has not experienced any issues ever since she enrolled on eMfundvo about two years ago.
“It enabled me to learn during the pandemic. It is helping me even now and I have even told some of my friends from other schools about eMfundvo,” she said.
She said the only problem is that her friends’ schools have not joined the programme.
Their ICT teacher said, “The platform is good, but the pupils do not engage much, especially the day-scholars.”
He said the school was in the process of engaging parents to request them to monitor the children’s phone usage while at home so that they would spend more time on the platform rather than on something else.
Mlotsa said the school joined eMfundvo in 2021.
He said the only major hiccup for now was the theft of cellphones among the pupils.
At Tikhuba other pupils watched with curiosity as two teachers and five pupils scooped prizes for using the platform.
This happened during the morning assembly with hundreds of pupils witnessing the prize-presentation.
The pupils said their grades have improved, courtesy eMfundvo platform.
“I spend a lot of time on this platform, especially during the week where I do a lot of recapping afterschool,” said Temahlubi Dlamini.
The Form III pupil said the platform helps her revise most of the things she learnt in Form II.
One of the teachers, Joel Nkambule, said the programme was enjoyable.
He commended the team that oriented them on the usage of eMfundvo, adding that they were spot on.
“I can safely say the pupils’ performance is improving, even though this assessment was done over a short period of time,” he said.
He said his school enrolled on eMfundvo towards the end of the year just when they were preparing for external examinations in 2022.
Nkambule said in a bid to maximize on the platform, they have allowed pupils to use their cellphones at school, especially those in classes that will be taking external exams.
The teacher said they were experience serious shortage of cellphones as some pupils cannot afford them.
“The school is trying to bridge that gap by allowing them to use the school iPads, however, these too are not enough and they can only be used within the school premises,” he said.
Inyandza High School seemed to be the newest kid on the block regarding the usage of MTN’s eMfundvo learning platform.
Inyandza High School, located in the surroundings of Bhunya, has not fully launched the usage of the platform yet, as teachers and pupils are still on adoption stage.
“We joined the platform late last year and it is still work in progress for use,” said Ngcugce Lukhele, a teacher who landed on second position and won herself a cash prize of E500 and a T-shirt.
Lukhele said they have about 400 pupils who have registered under the platform.
“We are targeting the completing classes for now and we will expand as time goes on,” she said.
List of winners:
