29 April 2020.

Our training at the Centre for Excellence was put on hold from Friday 20 March 2020, in line with the temporary closure of all Zambian schools and learning institutions.

Three groups of trainees had started their training with us at the centre. Many of our young trainees have already face significant challenges in life, and our training is a chance for them to build themselves a brighter future.

We want to help maintain their motivation and commitment during this uncertain time. Not knowing when we can reopen the centre for training, we have been talking to trainees about how we can continue some elements of their training remotely.

Discussions highlighted that online learning was not feasible due to lack of regular internet access. Home computers are very rare and we discovered that only around 20% of the trainees had smart phones, with the rest accessing the internet through internet cafes or borrowing other people’s phones.

Although online learning may not be feasible, our Training Team is working on developing a new distance learning programme to enable us to continue our NOCN endorsed entry-level courses.

This will provide our trainees access to pre-loaded lessons on electronic tablets and enable them to complete home-based assessments. Not only will the tablets be used to deliver lessons at home, they will also be used to integrate awareness raising about COVID-19 and provide tips about how to stay healthy and safe.

This is an exciting development which could open up new opportunities in training more young people. We aim to have this pilot underway by the end of May and look forward to sharing further news and updates.