Thumbs up to our Gauteng MEC of Education, honorable Panyaza Lesufi for the bold initiative migrating from chalk to smart board teaching and supplying each learner with a tablet loaded with learning areas in our schools.
It is indeed a breath of fresh air against the negatives that our beloved country is experiencing in the past few years of our democracy. There is no doubt that in the twenty years of our democracy we have registered some achievements.
However, it is a fact that in the past seven years our progress has been badly affected by high rate of dropouts, poverty, unemployment, inequality and corruption.
All these challenges have slowed down our development in a bad way.
It takes a visionary, courageous leader to make such bold decisions.
A leader who knows where we come from who has a foresight to predict and anticipate the future.
This migration to digital learning will be addressing some inequalities in education.
Our MEC with the support our Premier, honorable David Makhura, have really shown deep understanding of our constitution.
By working together with network groups, government departments like telecommunication, public works (for class rooms renovations), security some government parastatals, Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership and even Sunward Park High Principal and staff (training educators) to ensure that this programme becomes a success should be applauded.
Surely this is “business unusual” and if supported will make a difference.
It is through quality education that we can produce informed, critical thinkers, researchers self reliant, assertive, visionary, confident, fearless and patriotic leaders who will participate effectively in the building of our economy and globally and create a “better life for all”. Indeed learning will be fun to our children and teaching exciting and fulfilling.
The beauty of the entire programme is that our children are already technological fanatics.
Fortunately all other social networks are blocked.
The programme is also highly interactive whereby both learners and educators can communicate among themselves even after school hours.
I hope and wish parents will be encouraged to take more interest in the learning of their children on daily basis as they too will learn from them how to use the device as most things are done electronically nowadays.
Indeed it is a new dawn!
Once more congratulations to our MEC and his team.
Gauteng citizens are proud of you and I am sure you will receive overwhelming support from all school stakeholders as you roll out to the rest of Gauteng schools, for there are more benefits, that will register improvement of learner performance and of course there will be “nothing left to steal”.
Mandisa Solo.
