Econet’s Online Education Program Will Cost Just $12 A Month

With Econet opening up their online learning platform, a lot of questions were left unanswered as people did not understand how they would be paying for the courses and what the price would actually be. The Chief Strategist at Shaw Academy, Mr John White reached out and clarified some details concerning the online partnership. We now have a clearer picture.

From ‘what is’…

In our initial article about the new online education platform, we mentioned that the first month of the course will be free. In our communication with Shaw Academy, they described this phase as the ‘What is?’ phase. This phase will give a background on what you will get to learn; e.g what is Digital Marketing. This will get to familiarise students with the topic at hand before they get to actually study the deeper sections of a course. I think this is actually a good thing because you will get to see if a course is interesting to you before parting with your money

…to ‘how to’

The focus of the courses is on equipping students with practical skills, so after the initial phase, you get to learn the more hands-on side of whatever it is you are studying. The subject is explored in more detail.

More courses are on the way

When we took a quick look at the course selection offered through Econet we took note of the fact that there were more courses being offered directly on Shaw Academy’s platform but in our communications with Mr White, he made it clear that the courses on offer through Econet are the ones that are 100% complete and more would be getting rolled out as they get completed.

John also addressed the question of competition from other online platforms:

The other providers mentioned in the article adopt a different model which is known as the library model. Their courses are downloadable and on demand which means while loads of content can be produced it also becomes quickly dated and/or less engaging as the user is just playing a recording with no interaction.

We are not in a position to pay testament or to dispute this, as we haven’t used the online platform as yet. The guys who have started how has it been for you thus far? Get in the comments below and let others in the community know.

How much will you be paying

Fortunately, the 39 Euro cost we had previously seen on the Econet-Shaw website is not what Zimbabweans will be paying. Payment will be made on a monthly basis and you will have to part with $12 which allows you to access ALL the content on the platform. This means with $12 you’ll be able to progress in different courses; an enticing offer indeed. According to John, the payment method is a bit more flexible because:

We find that users also wish to switch to other subjects so they may initially do Photography as the free course then decide to become a monthly member and do Photoshop or Graphic Design. The user has a choice to become a member of Shaw Academy and pay the monthly subscription

Payment methods?

Previously, we were wondering how students would pay, and that too has been addressed. Interested students will be able to pay through EcoCash, credit transfer and card.

Good news all-round

The issue of payment method could have ensured that the program would fail to take-off but now that it’s guaranteed you can pay via EcoCash, I think the program will be received well. The fact that the price is much lower than we had seen previously is another plus. After the clarification, it seems the program is actually in line with Econet’s promise to bring more affordable and accessible education.