ZIMTA Statement on International Women’s Day 2023

 “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality”

08 MARCH 2023

As we celebrate women on this women’s day of 08 March 2023, we take cognisance of the fact that women educators and learners have been disadvantaged and are  therefore lagging behind in accessing technologies due to gender inequality which generally results in the  lack of or denied access to technology.

As modern day women in education, it has become our key role to initiate and familiarize ourselves with innovation and the fast growing technological advances happening globally. However this is not always easy as too many red blocks stand in the way and sometimes it has been a well-orchestrated systematic exclusion  which  has seen men advance faster than women in the digital world.

This year, 2023, we believe that  women educators must roll up their sleeves and ensure that they catch up with  digitalisation and innovation in all Zimbabwean schools. Because we have embraced transformative education, it is undesirable  for women  teachers   to lag behind in digital technologies  and expect good results  for themselves and the learners. Women educators need all the support that they can get from the government to ensure that digital transformation takes place in schools and learning centres. We demand to have reliable tools to equip ourselves and catch up with digital technologies at school level.

In addition to offering subsidised training sessions for women educators to appreciate  innovation and technology, it would be a good  incentive if  the government was to supply every  woman educator with a modern computer and smart phone   for accessing  digital platforms. This would ensure that we innovate and  upskill  the women teachers tasked with a daunting responsibility of nurturing socially upright citizens already  growing in  a digitally controlled environment. More creative solutions, critical thinking and advanced problem solving techniques can be transferred from  women educators to girls and communities at a faster pace if educators are equipped with increased  access to digital platforms.

Women in ZIMTA call for an accelerated approach to the rolling out of transformative technology and digital education which must be supported by the government of Zimbabwe, and to see transformative education driven by  innovation and technology for gender equality because teachers  are key ingredients in driving quality education for every citizen.

HAPPY WOMEN’S DAY   TEACHERS IN ZIMTA