Department spokesperson Phumla Sekonyana has noted with concern that media reports are suggesting that the department will completely withdraw the 88 000 tablets distributed to schools as part of the e-Learning Solution Programme, as a result of these tablets being stolen from schools.
She says the information is incorrect.
The Gauteng MEC for Education says the department would retrieve these tables from schools to install them with additional security features such as tracking devices, and they will be returned to schools.
Sekonyana says since the distribution of the 88 000 tablets, over 3000 have been stolen.
“This prompted the MEC to temporarily retrieve them for the installation of additional security features” she says.
“Of the approximately 6 200 tablets with tracking devices deployed to the seven schools this year, so far 11 have been stolen or lost and five were recovered.”
According to Sekonyana, six tablets have not been switched on since they went missing, and as a result have not been recovered.
In her conclusion, she says the department is committed to implementing the paperless classroom project and nothing will stop their quest to improve education in this lifetime.
Thandie Eleanor Sibeko Secondary School goes digital
