WINDHOEK-The Hardap region launched The Hardap Educational Multimedia Content Project (Hempies) on Friday.
Eleven teachers in the region have been trained to shoot videos and write scripts for various subjects with the support of the Commonwealth Of Learning (COL) in an effort to make subjects interesting for learners. The six schools in the Hardap region that form part of this project are the Rehoboth Primary school, Origo Primary School, Sonop Primary school, Kalkrand Primary School and the Dr. Hendrik Witbooi Primary School in Gibeon.The main aim of this project is to make lessons and teaching appealing to learners who may be bored by the traditional class-room set up, says one of the participating teachers at RPS, Izolde de Koe. “Teachers must understand and develop a love for subjects that they teach so that they can transfer the skills in an interesting way,” says Hempies project facilitator Linette Smit.
COL with its headquarters in Vancouver, Canada, is an intergovernmental agency created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies. COL operates on the premise that knowledge is the key to individual freedom and to cultural, social and economic development. COL helps governments to develop policies that make innovation sustainable and to build systems or applications that expand learning. It works in partnership with other international and bilateral organisations working on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) including: the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), New Zealand’s Agency for International Development (NZAID), UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Bank and the World Health Organization.
Speaking from Canada via a video clip, Frances Ferreira, Education Specialist, Open Schooling Commonwealth explains that education for all is more than a number gain and that it is important for teachers to present information in an innovative manner to ensure students stay in school.
This project is the first of its kind in the region and one of very few such innovative measures by education practitioners.
By Jemima Beukes