The Educational Solution For African Children Is Named Ubongo

Teaching and learning activities with Ubongo (Source: ubongo.org)

JAKARTA - UNICEF revealed that many African children do not have internet access to learn online from home. To fill that obstacle, the Tanzanian non-profit organization Ubongo has emerged to offer free television and radio content for children in Africa to learn from home.

The Ubongo program is considered successful. Launching Reuters, Tuesday, September 15, in March alone, their program has touched 12 million households in nine countries. That number has also increased to 17 million. In August, 20 countries enjoyed Ubongo.

One of the beneficiaries is Miguel Munene. The five-year-old Kenyan student is seen sitting quietly in his house watching Ubongo's program on television. Munene was greatly helped by this program. Because, through the Ubungo program broadcast on television, Munene seemed to feel the presence of a teacher.

“Other programs are just for fun, but Ubongo helps children. He can now distinguish many shapes and colors, both in English and in Swahili, ”said Munene's mother, Celestine Wanjiru.

Ubongo Kids is an animated educational Tanzanian program that helps kids to find the fun in learning. It's edutainment made in Africa, for Africa.Catch @UbongoKids weekdays at 07h30 and 16h00 only on One Africa TV. One Africa TV is available on @DStv 284 and @GOtvNamibia 90. pic.twitter.com/bfmtucmkWf

- OneAfricaTV (@OneAfricaTV) July 16, 2020

For Munene and other schoolchildren, the Ubongo program is the only option available for learning from home. Moreover, it is not clear when the school will be opened by the local education ministry.

"You can see your child's learning progress all the time when you have a program like that, they really help," says Munene's father, Patrick Nyaga.

Even so, Nyaga revealed that the Ubungo program via television still cannot completely replace direct teaching in schools. “The way children learn through programs is different from the way they interact with other people and teachers. We hope the school will open soon. "

For the improvement of families who enjoy the Ubongo-style home learning program, the Head of Communication of Ubongo, Iman Lipumba said that this has brought blessings to them. "The COVID-19 pandemic has really forced us to thrive," said Lipumba.

Previously, a group of artists, innovators and educators had founded Ubongo TV in Tanzania since 2014. Since then the non-profit organization has received a lot of financial assistance. For example 4 million dollars in grants, and earned 700 thousand dollars from YouTube.