KAMPALA – The education sector remains among the most affected sectors by the COVID-19 pandemic. Tusoma Online, a tech startup has been rolled out by developers to bridge the knowledge gap between teachers and learners both in primary and secondary schools.
The stagnation in academic progression brought about by the constant school lockdowns requires an immediate response from technologists as it is the new normal to keep the chain of passing on knowledge.
Academic stagnation can have a severe impact on children’s intellectual development, especially when newly acquired knowledge is not immediately built upon or consolidated by more advanced academic pursuits.
According to Mr. Ivan Genza, Head of Operations at Tusoma Online, with their new online platform, learners can be assured of constantly refreshing their knowledge through online revision sessions with teachers, and progressively acquiring advanced knowledge by reading ahead with the guidance of teachers in a virtual classroom.
Mr Genza says Tusoma Online will help supplement the government’s efforts of teaching through radio, television and reading materials.
“We are also ready to work with primary and secondary schools to provide an online platform for their students, although this would require some regulatory intervention by the Ministry. Like all other equally affected sectors, the solution is to be found in technology,” he says.
Genza explains that Tusoma which will cater for learners from Primary one to Senior Six and teachers of all subjects in those classes has been highly made affordable for every one and he is positive that as they go on expanding, many people will attend these classes across Uganda.
“Learners can connect directly to a teacher for as low as Shs2900 per session. They study in classes of maximum 30 learners for effective teacher-learner. Classes begin June 28 and students will have to add classes to their schedules after teachers have loaded their profiles. They can also request for classes that are not in the platform and teachers can be alerted to take on such classes to cater for such learners.”
Mr Titus Mawano, the developer of Tusoma Online, shares that learning virtually is the new normal that is set to continue even after the lockdown. He says they came up with the platform to help avoid the stagnation of the academic process.
“Tusoma Online has actually been long overdue. COVID-19 has just been an opportune time for us to roll it out in the public to cover the gaps in the education sector during lockdown. The lockdown was just an avenue for us to penetrate the industry, we are now here to stay.”
George Mugabi, Head of quality assurance at Tusoma Online shares that direct feedback from teachers and students will be prioritized to ensure that the lessons are moving on smoothly.
He called upon parents who can spare some time and attend with the learners to do so as this will enable them to contribute in the feedback process to make the platform even much better.
“Teachers will be trained weekly on how to improve delivery, we are keen on quality assurance. Tusoma is a supplement on other programs aimed at remedying lockdown learning. Learners and teachers can rate themselves at the end of each session to ensure quality on the platform.”
