Quality Education Services Through Technology (QUESTT)

EBS trains "mentors" to manage the daily instruction while the community is involved in identifying and supporting these mentors and their learning centres. The radio programmes provide children on a daily basis with 30 minutes of basic mathematics and language instruction which is based on the school curriculum. At the same time the interactive nature of the programme models various pedagogical strategies and classroom activities to help strengthen the mentors' teaching skills.

Each daily programme also carries a short segment of life skills education (health, nutrition and basic hygiene) and addresses values that children would otherwise have received from their parents and teachers. The IRI programme currently serves over 70,000 children in 910 learning centers. Since 2005 EDC has piloted the IRI programme in 36 government schools with the objective of improving the quality of instruction leading to the roll out of IRI into all government community schools.

EDC also uses community radio stations to promote the education needs of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) and to encourage informed community responses in relation to those needs. This aspect of the programme involves the creation of village-based radio programmes, which are focused on a range of development themes, including HIV/AIDS prevention.

In 2006, the EDC project initiated HIV/AIDS broadcasts for OVCs on HIV/AIDS life skills through community radio stations in addition to the regular basic education interactive radio programmes. The comprehensive HIV/AIDS life skills curriculum empowers OVCs with knowledge, attitudes and skills to set goals for themselves and make better choices in challenging situations.

The radio programmes use drama in local languages and the interactive radio methodology to provide basic HIV/AIDS life skills to OVCs and their caregivers. Curriculum and training cover areas such as self-awareness, decision making, coping with stress, emotions and interpersonal skills, as well as reproductive health and other health issues. According to the organisers, HIV/AIDS related life skills curriculum and training help create a positive social environment by promoting abstinence, as well as mitigating stigma, child abuse and gender violence, and by promoting VCT for adults. The caregivers learn how to acquire and practice good nutrition, seek healthcare, and provide psycho-social counselling support through appropriate social and health services. These programmes will also link the OVC to other support programmes in their area.

In addition to the radio programmes, EDC is piloting the use of mp3 players equipped with foot-powered generators and small speakers. The mp3 players will contain audio programmes and documents to support teachers and community mentors, particularly those who teach Grade 5 and up. Digital technology can store and deliver on demand the kind of information and guidance beyond the capacity of teacher training, radio and print alone, and at much lower recurrent cost than conventional solutions. The handheld devices will provide mentors in remote areas with the capacity to conduct IRI lessons even when radio signals are weak.

HIV/AIDS, Children, Education, Technology.

An estimated 800,000 to one million Zambian children are currently out of school, a major proportion of whom are children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. In rural areas, many children are constrained by distance and poverty, but attrition among the teaching force as a result of AIDS-related illness and death has made the situation considerably worse.

Community schools have mushroomed in the last year, but they still only reach about 50,000 children, only about 5% of whom are orphans, according to the Zambia Open and Community Schools Secretariat.

The Ministry of Education and community schools have expressed support for the programme which they believe can also address problems of poor quality in the conventional classroom. The QUESST project is presently running in every district of Zambia with financial support from USAID/Zambia and other donors.