Econet spin-off Cassava Smartech announced a new digital learning platform which offers education and learning resources for learners of all age groups – from primary school to post-graduate students. Akello Edutech as they have named it will be comprised of some material from familiar faces including Ruzivo and Muzinda Hub. In addition to this there will be two platforms; Akello Books (coming soon) and Akello Courses which will give students access to Cassava’s educational library of content.
Speaking at the launch event, Akello Edutech Chief Operating Officer Mr Tendai Mashingaidze described Akello Edutech as designed to offer targeted services to different education market segments. Akello Edutech aims to make its thrust through the following;
Ruzivo Extramarks
Ruzivo Extramarks is an integrated learning and school management platform that offers schools a one-stop-shop for online learning and school management. This will be targeted at both private and government schools as the COO of Akello Edutech alluded to this during the launch:
Using well-illustrated, animated and interactive Cambridge and local content, Ruzivo Extramarks makes the learning process for primary and secondary scholars easy and enjoyable.
Akello Books
This will be an online book store that will provide “reliable access” ebooks to individuals, students, schools, colleges and universities and will offer both academic and non-academic content. At launch, the online bookstore will have over 260 000 books to choose from.
Akello Courses
There will be 16 courses offered under Akello Edutech, and this seems to be a continuation of Econet’s existing partnership with Shaw Academy. Some of the diplomas available include Graphic Design, Digital Marketing, Social Media Marketing, Mobile App Development and Web Design just to name a few. You can check out the list of courses available here.
Muzinda Hub
Muzinda Hub has been around for a while and will be familiar to most already, having already trained over 3000 students to date. They will also be under Akello Edutech and Mr Mashingaidze also commented on how Muzinda Hub will be integrated into Akello’s offering:
On offer is a five month Digital Skills Training Program which consists of specialised e-learning coding modules (in conjunction with Treehouse, a US based Silicon Valley organisation).The students are also offered business and entrepreneurship skills training which enables them to get into the market as entrepreneurs, consultants or employees.
Speaking at the event, Cassava Smartech CEO Mr Eddie Chibi said his company was determined to keep offering digital learning solutions that are valuable within the African context:
Akello Edutech is dedicated to providing affordable digital education content. We offer novel learning solutions and products aimed at up-skilling learners from primary school up to university and beyond.
I am very confident in the value that Akello Edutech will bring to millions of students in Zimbabwe and in Africa because every child, young adult, professionals and anyone who wants to remain relevant, needs an education or has need for continuous learning. The platform we launch today provides access to affordable online learning from anywhere, irrespective of distance or geography
The costs of these respective services is yet to be disclosed and we will follow up once we have those details. What we do know, however, is that payment via EcoCash will be possible which comes as a relief as that means these services will be accessible to most of us, regular folk.
