IMPORTANCE OF DIGITAL INNOVATION FOR THE EDUCATION SYSTEM.

Around 1.5 billion students around the world were unable to attend school after the pandemic.

Zeneba was one of those children. After being out of school for more than 10 months, his parents found it difficult to send him back to school, but he was determined to complete his secondary education, and this prompted him to enroll in the community school, which offered only basic skills, as the available teachers were not qualified and those who had the qualifications were mostly volunteers who had to move from community to community to help these children get a quality education.

Zenebe has always been fascinated by the world of technology, and the only computer his community had available belonged to the secretary of the local chief. This computer was donated by a prominent son of the community who had given it as a contribution to the development of the community.

The computer sat mostly unused in the office because the secretary did not know how to use it, other than to enter data into spreadsheets. Since he had read several books on computers from the library books donated by NGO, he was quite knowledgeable about how computers worked and were able to gain access to the secretary’s office, where he helped organize the community’s records and put into practice what he had learned in the books.

By a happy coincidence, his community school was selected as one of the schools to receive computers so they could be taught online, especially the classes for which they had no qualified teachers. For Zenebe, this was a dream come true, as it meant access to unlimited knowledge that would fuel his passion for a career as a technician in large companies like GOOGLE.

Introducing digital learning into schools is one way to stop the exodus of children from schools, as it not only promotes learning at a distance but also gives them access to many other resources that enhance the information they receive and allow them to learn more for free.

Thanks to digital innovations that enable online learning, children in schools can now receive more intensive instruction that covers a wide range of topics that available teachers cannot.

With the introduction of computer labs in rural schools, children are no longer excluded from the rapid growth of technology, and their potential that would otherwise have gone to waste can now be enhanced and become a valuable resource for the community, as in the case of Zenebe, whose dreams are finally being fulfilled thanks to the opportunities afforded to him with the introduction of the computer lab in his school.