© IJARW | ISSN (O) - 2582-1008 June 2020 | Vol. 1 Issue. 12 www.ijarw.com IJARW1263 International Journal of All Research Writings 8 VIRTUAL TEACHING AND LEARNING: A SAD REALITY OF THE ‘HAVES’ AND ‘HAVE NOTS’, THE TEACHER’S VOICE IN ZIMBABWE DURING COVID 19 PANDEMIC. Tawanda Wallace Mataka 1 , Tawanda Mukurunge 2 , Takura Bhila 3 National University of Lesotho, Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Lesotho, Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, Lesotho ABSTRACT Access to technology and internet is a challenge to third world countries such as Zimbabwe, because they seem to view them as luxuries that can only be placed in a few selected government offices that exclude learning institutions. This paralysis has been exposed as education has taken a knock as the world grapples with the devastating effects of Covid 19. Virtual learning has become the game changer in all education systems globally. However, this may not be agreed upon in the Zimbabwean context. There are two categories in Zimbabwe; the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’ and schools are categorised as such. There are private schools for the ‘haves’ that can afford almost all education gadgets including online technologies and the public schools for the working class ‘have nots’ that almost have nothing and cannot afford the necessities afforded by private schools including online learning which is a basic necessity. This has resulted in a life-threatening dislocation for the learners and educators in making education accessible. It is against this background that this paper explores the best practices to enable equal access to both privileged and marginalised learners in Zimbabwean primary and secondary schools. The focus of the study is to scrutinise possibilities of bridging the technological disparities between privileged (private) and marginalised (public) schools so that there is equal access to education despite the type of school one is attending during times of pandemics such as Covid 19 and in normal times. Open ended questionnaires were distributed to generate data from teachers across Zimbabwe providing their views on the current virtual learning process and what they recommend going into the future. The data generated were presented and processed into themes. Keyword: Covid 19, marginalised, privileged, virtual learning, private schools, public schools, access, ‘have’ ‘have not’ epistemology 1. INTRODUCTION Installing internet and the sourcing of electronic gadgets should be prioritised by the leadership in both government and at educational institutions for the best growth of the schooling child. Educationists and all concerned stake holders should join hands on the deck so that learners and students do not lag behind in times of crisis such as Covid 19 and other similar disasters. It should be a considered basic right in this 21 st century for every schooling child or adult to have access to the internet and electronic gadgets such as a laptop for use outside school. This paper intends to explore the best technological practices and best platforms for virtual learning so that there is epistemological access by all learners despite geosocial positioning. Under scrutiny was how teachers in schools in Zimbabwe have been implementing virtual learning during this Covid 19 pandemic since inception of the lockdown on the 21 st of March 2020. The paper analysed how teachers were going about online teaching in their various schools across the country. Questionnaires were emailed to teachers in various provinces in both private and public schools. The study adopted a qualitative approach because it intended to pronounce the best practices to implement for epistemological access during the learning process in both private and public schools. The data generated were presented and processed according to themes. 2.BACKGROUND OF STUDY As the World Health Organisation declared Covid 19 a world pandemic on the 11 th of March 2020, schools in Zimbabwe closed on the 28 th of March