Friday, March 29, 2024

Airtel signs deal to sell to teachers smart phones and tablets at zero rate interest for a period of 6-24 months

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Airtel HQ in Lusaka
Airtel HQ in Lusaka

The Zambia National Union of Teachers has today signed a memorandum of understand with Zambia’s largest mobile network provider Airtel.

The MOU which was signed at Airtel House in Lusaka will allow members of ZANUT to purchase smart phones and tablets from Airtel and pay for them in a period of 6-24 months at zero interest.

Speaking when he officiated at the signing ceremony deputy minister in the ministry of Education, Science, Vocational Training and Early Education Patrick Ngoma said the MOU couldn’t have come at a better time as the ministry is undergoing transformations in service delivery.

He noted the need for teachers to be equipped with technology which can be transformed into creativity hence becoming a basis for wealth creation and healthy human development adding that the importance of technology in skills development can not be over emphasized.

“Good results alone at the end of each year do not reflect the true development of our scholars and teacher, unless we equip them with technology which can be transformed into creativity which will in turn become the basis for wealth creation and healthy human development”.

“It is important that skills development and technology become an integral part of teaching and learning which will in turn lead Zambia to development”. Mr Ngoma said.

He said the partnership will enhance service delivery in the education sector as Airtel intends to develop products for ZANUT members which teachers even from remote areas of the country can use.

And Airtel managing director Charity Lumpa observed the important role teachers play in the development of society.

She said as major stakeholders in the country’s economy there is need to accord teachers with the necessary tools to assist them in their knowledge management and its dissemination.

“Teachers are key to Zambia’s attainment of vision 2030 which seeks to transform the country the country into a middle income prosperous nation. Teachers are therefore major stakeholders in the economy who should be accorded the necessary tools to assist them in their knowledge management and dissemination”. Ms Lumpa said.

She added that the facility will be handy to the teachers especially those in rural areas as they will be able to access reading materials and other tools using the smart phones and tablets.

Meanwhile ZANUT vice president Roy Mwaba said the technology will be useful to teachers and that it will enhance their study ability as well as ease the communication challenges between the union and its members.

Over 45,000 ZANUT members are eligible to access the facility.

40 COMMENTS

  1. Airtel no no no!!! How do you do that? A teacher having a tablet? How will we be differentiating a teacher from an engineer, if we all have the same gadgets?

  2. Airtel so you know that teachers don’t refuse any kongole, they are the easy prey as they borrow aimlessly, or purposelessly just to show off……………..ba teacher naimwe bukeni

    • And i know these will be pricey…..i feel for the ignorant teachers, sure tablet nkongole for 2 yrs……..surely this is not a car or house. LET teachers wake up

  3. A teacher’s income cannot sustain such luxuries,that is why they concentrate more making money outside than doing school work.Tuition is compulsory and must be paid by parents!!

  4. It’s such a breath of fresh air to see such a positive development back which is not a common occurance. Tuchinde tu sename!

  5. Thats good. But teacher just watch your monthly cellphone bill. Control it, it can be a drain especially if billing is funny on the calls or when you phone unnecessarily. Any phone is a cost center un you home services bill. Manage the phone bill, control the cost.

  6. Ba Teacher kwena elomupwile, getting tablet on nkongole instead of saying you have clinched a deal with Dangote Cement to be providing teachers with cement and building materials on nkongole. Awe mulifipuba no wonder you put on second hand pants and bras

    • I think you are the one lacking knowledge. This is a positive move by Airtel and now they should equip schools with cheaper internet access in all school libraries and encourage the use of ebooks to level the playing field. This is a common occurrence in the developed world were you buy now and pay later or in instalments on almost all major purchases. The terms of this initiative should then be rolled out across all people in formal and traceable employment. This quest for knowledge will help our people to learn new skills and keep abreast of current state of affairs of the nation and the world as whole.

  7. This to me is a good initiative so teachers can use these gadgets to improve their skills and knowledge with the view of modernising their teaching methods. I just hope that they will not sell them to other people or use them for music and storing bad images.

  8. Over 45,000 members of ZNUT to benefit? Charity serious does Airtel have that many gadgets in stock? The problem Airtel is facisng is this: people have learnt to purchanse these items online from Amazon.com, eBay etc etc and they prove to be much cheaper. airtel will sell them at inflated prices. So now Airtel sales are mot moving as expected becoz every other person is also travelling to the US or any other country and can buy the items cheap. So now Airtel has to think of a strategy to “offload” their non-moving stock!!

  9. Yayayayayaya! Girl pupil avutika manje. Teacher will be charging for pupil to touch his phone. “You touch my phone I touch your bre@st.”

  10. Hahahaha some of the comments my God…….. ati touch my phone I touch your Bre@ats….”” yaa kwena. Teacher pa rural alashupa.

  11. And how does this help pupils in schools? If anything airfail gains to benefit more…deals like this only encourage corruption with Union officals.

  12. Eish, that headline….. almost enough to make a teacher cry!

    “Airtel signs deal to sell to teachers smart phones and tablets at zero rate interest for a period of 6-24 months”

    How about: “Airtel to sell smart phones and tablets to teachers at 0% interest”?

    Keep it simple stu…. uh…. silly (KISS)!

  13. no development here. it will just cause many pupils flock to the teachers to see sex movies on yutube while the teachers touch their breasts etc. there will be no enough money or food for teacher’s homes

    • Just more blogging and face booking by teachers in school time and more money to these airtel thieves ad teachers are basically getting what will call a contract phone (but more expensive) as they will be paying for the phone + tariff rate of pay-as-go phone.

    • I agree with Jay Jay…it makes more sense for doctors, if they access to clinical and public health databases, but I’d say the most common uses of smart phones and tablets are recreational. Even in upper levels of academia, one finds students using their computers and phones to check email, post statuses, and shop for clothes during class. It might be different if these were purchased through schools and were school property with filters on them to block various websites, but I see this discount being mainly used by teachers for personal purposes. I’m doubtful this is development.

  14. Debts, abapuba will just jump in with eyes closed. Only buy if you really need them and you are able to afford Internet bundles.

  15. This is a good move. My observations are that the teachers union have MOU with all lending institutions. Payslips of most teachers are full of deductions. They go home with little money and yet they have to survive. In my view we are just burdening them with unnecessary debts. When are teachers going to learn plan with their income? The union is not sensitive at all. I understand there is corruption involved before entering into an agreement with some institutions (mou). Can the minister stop this rot. This is not empowerment but simply turning the teachers into slaves of debts. By the way they have other obligations to educate their children and upgrade themselves using the same salaries.

    • Iwee let the individual decide for themselves whether to buy or not to buy. If the individual gets into debt its their fault full stop.

  16. Good initiative. If carried out properly it will be a win-win-win move. Airtel wins due to increase in sales. Teachers win because they can now afford to get these gadgets and also will be better informed hence better teachers. And above all Students win because they will have better informed teachers, particularly in sciences.

  17. This is not a good deal,the teachers will be spending too much time face booking and not on teaching the children.The good deal would have been house mortgages with some bank.

    • Now that would be real investment in the future of the teachers and it would have positive effects towards their work if they owned houses through mortgages.

  18. only useless union can call that good development. Imagine people you are representing can fail to purchase such a commodity on cash because of their poor salaries. Kwati ni motoka sure, you must be ashamed than smiling

  19. ” If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world ..”
    Bill Gates – Addressing Students at Harvard in 2007

    So, well done Airtel /ZANUT. The arrangement you are working on is what Bill Gates was essentially referring to. He calls it ‘creative capitalism’. We are now in the information age. So, any business effort to accelerate acquisition of means to access information by key people like teaches in our Country should be supported by every well meaning Zambian. By and large, the up-coming youth both in urban and rural areas will not be completely cut off if the syllabus incorporates IT more meaningfully with such gadgets.

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