National Curriculum Development Center lauds MTN for zero rating learning websites

National Curriculum Development Center (NCDC), the government body responsible for
the development of educational curricula for primary, secondary and some tertiary
institutions in Uganda has lauded MTN for its initiative to encourage learning from home
by zero rating learning institution websites for students.
Gilbert Gift Siima, the curriculum specialist ICT at National Curriculum Development
Center (NCDC) said the initiative enabled students who were studying from home to
access learning materials during the lockdown.
This, he said was especially helpful for candidate students in the primary leaving
examinations (PLE) and the O’level Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) who have
recently received their results.
Following the closure of schools during the initial country lockdown, MTN in March last
year allowed free access to 17 learning sites in partnership with NCDC to ensure
students study from home while also enabling parents home school the children.
Some of the learning sites which can be accessed from
https://www.mtn.co.ug/learnathome/ include:
http://www.classroommagazines.scholastic.com/
http://www.allinonehomeschool.com/
http://www.abcya.com/
http://www.splashlearn.com/
Some of the learning institutions include universities such as Makerere University,
Uganda Christian University and Uganda Martyrs University among others.
Namubiru Agnes, a teacher and mother of two candidates from St Francis Education
Center in Namawojjolo says her and her children benefitted a lot from reading materials
on the zero rated websites.
“When they sent the children back home, they told us to access materials online and
that is what I did. With the help of my sister who accessed the websites, I was able to
homeschool my children. It helped us a lot to keep the children focused on education,”
she recounts.
According to Siima, the sites have continuously recorded increased traffic signaling to
the increased usage amongst the learners.
He lauded MTN for its efforts as a corporate citizen in enabling continuity of the
education sector which has been hard hit by the covid-19 pandemic.