Zambia’s education minister John Phiri is urging for the integration of ICT guidelines in the country’s education system to ensure beneficial but moral use of Internets in schools countrywide.
“We need new guidelines to regulate the use of technology in schools and the Ministry of Education needs to sit down with other stakeholders to address the issue. Technology can be beneficial and at the same time could be like any other weapon to corrupt the morals of the users. It can turn against the learners,” Phiri explained to Times of Zambia.
Paul Bupe of Peace Temple Redeemed Methodist Church’s said the youths need to be led in the use of the Internet as abuse is chiefly because of ignorance. He expressed a concern on the lack of such policy as up to date in the country.
“Technology is developing faster than ethics to regulate it. We have not educated people on the positive and negative consequences of technology application in schools. The Church, Government and other stakeholders must focus on educating recipients of technology in schools,” Bupe told the Times of Zambia in an interview.
He further encouraged the role of parents in the strategy to ensure healthy Internet use. The rules of use should be implemented together with the introduction in communities, he stated.
A government document on the use of ICT in Zambia reports that use of technology in Education in Africa is “particularly dynamic” at this stage.
