Frederick Douglass once said, “Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave.” Education is the backbone of any civilized society, and it is the process of gaining information about the surrounding world. Knowledge, on the other hand, is information that can only be converted by education.
Usually, formal education takes place in a school environment with classrooms of multiple students learning together with a trained, certified teacher of the subject. With the age of the internet, classes have been held virtually as well, with students signing up for online classes.
Most governments around the world have temporarily closed educational institutions in an attempt to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to disruption of learning activities.
Learning institutions and non-profit organizations that propagate educational programs have adapted to new teaching methods such as online learning or technology-mediated learning on TV, radio, ed-tech apps accessible via internet-enabled devices like smartphones. These forms of learning are easily adaptable where access to broadband services and internet-enabled devices is available.
A study conducted by a leading broadband provider showed that current internet penetration in Africa is at 39%, this means that communication is majorly done over SMS and Calls. Other important considerations include; the financial capability of institutions and households to access such technologies.
Communication platforms offering services such as Bulk SMS, and Calls provide economically viable options for educational organizations to engage with their learners en masse. Mteja offers a multi-channel cloud-based solution (mteja.io) that allows businesses of any size to engage with their customers at scale. We enable over 100 businesses in 8 African markets to easily manage conversations over SMS and Calls channels. Our platform allows educators to focus on what matters most - meeting student needs regardless of the device used.
Five Ways Your Learning Institution can Benefit From Using Mteja’s Offering.
Conduct learning sessions: Send daily lessons via bulk Interactive Voice Response (IVR) calls or SMS messages. This has the ability to assist learners in real-time. For example, during a lesson conducted via IVR calls, a learner can be prompted to “press 0 to speak to a live tutor” this allows a student to get assistance like they would if they were in a classroom.
Send Admission, and provide student-related Information: Students and parents can receive details such as student admission numbers, semester course information via SMS without having to visit the student portal.
Declare exam results: Guardians can receive exam results of their children via SMS or as calls.
Send payment reminders: School fee balance notifications to parents via SMS and IVR Call.
Send general alerts: Students can be alerted on information such as upcoming exams, cancellations of lessons via SMS or calls.
Education is a key ally in defending rights and protecting the rule of law and is an essential life skill in crisis. Lack of education has multiple disadvantages. Individuals are unable to acquire decent jobs, suffer from hunger and bad health, cannot make informed choices and are excluded from social interaction, and full participation in society.
Talk to us at info@mteja.io to learn more about how Mteja can help your learning institution continue to meet its mandate.