Co-founder and project coordinator of Human Doings, Ashley Padayachy addresses the kids and their teachers about the iPad donation.
Emfundisweni Primary School pupils are itching to lay their hands on their newfound toys – iPads, which will help them improve their literacy and numeracy skills.
They were handed 20 iPads by Human Doings, a non-profit organisation, officially registered last year – though formed way back in 2010 – and have been involved in a number of community projects ever since.
The donation for the Grade 3 pupils was made in partnership with Mimecast South Africa and iSchoolAfrica, with Mimecast providing the software and iSchoolAfrica, the backup support.
Human Doings’ Karmani Naidoo and Sudesh Pillay; Emfundisweni Grade 6 pupil, Londiwe Mbatha; her principal, Thembi Giyama; and Mimecast South Africa’s Melissa Holder at the iPad donation.
All three organisations have indicated that they have not come to the school to dump the gadgets but will make regular visits to check on the progress and will also take any calls from the teachers and the school on troubleshooting.
Speaking after the handover, Ashley Padayachy, a co-founder of Human Doings and project coordinator, alluded to the fact that the country struggles with so many things and as a result, “… we tend to miss out on the essentials…”
Padayachy expressed hope that the gadgets would go a long way towards improving the levels of the literacy and numeracy skills of the children. “We shall pop in regularly to monitor the progress, help where we can and conduct troubleshooting activities as well.”
Mimecast South Africa’s Melissa Holder addresses the audience at the donation ceremony.
Chief education specialist of the Johannesburg East District of the Gauteng Department of Education, Linda Mpete, urged the school to, “… guard these gadgets with their lives. It will be a shame if they were to be lost. A lot of money has been invested in them and they must be put to good use.”
School principal, Thembi Giyama assured the donors and her seniors in the department that the school will surely look after their new gadgets. “They will be locked away safely but we’re not just going to keep them, we shall make good use of them in our journey towards improving our numeracy and literacy skills,” she said.
Read: Emfundisweni fears for its iPads
What do you think needs to be done to secure the new iPads at Emfundisweni? WhatsApp your messages to 079 439 5345.
