The discrepancies between ICT policy and ICT usage in English second language teaching and learning in Zimbabwean rural secondary schools

Abstract

To move with the technologically advancing times, the Government of Zimbabwe in 2016 proposed an information and communication technology (ICT) policy for implementation in educational institutions. This policy demanded that ICTs be integrated into teaching and learning for a higher quality of education. However, a noteworthy point is that this policy is largely a theoretical document with no clear indications of how the mandate could be put into practice, especially in secondary schools located in rural areas where ICT infrastructure limitation is a real challenge. That this policy applies a blanket ICT integration ideology that fails to consider disparities in advantage between rural and urban schools creates a fundamental problem about the extent to which the policy can achieve holistic success. In this article, extracted from a doctoral study, we question the extent of the success of the ICT policy implementation in rural secondary schools in Zimbabwe, particularly with reference to English second language (ESL) teaching and learning. Drawing on findings from a multiple case study research project that utilised interviews and focus group discussions to collect qualitative data, we argue that there are salient discrepancies between the ideologies that the Zimbabwean national ICT policy panders and the realities that ESL teachers and learners face on the ground about ICT usage.