Northern Cape matric pupils given tablets and offline learning app

The Department of Education in the Northern Cape has enlisted the help of a company called Edukite to introduce a learning app to 13 000 matric pupils in the province.

This collaboration coincides with the Northern Cape Department of Education’s distribution of 13 000 Android tablets to these matric pupils.

The partnership began in 2016 when teachers were given the curriculum software on a laptop as a teaching tool in their classrooms.

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But this new phase will see the rollout of the learning app on tablet devices to the pupils themselves, who will now be able to access the innovative learning material both in the classroom and at home – with no internet needed.

Supplementary learning tool

Speaking on the initiative, Vineet Ladia, Founder and Director of Edukite South Africa, explained that the app is designed to be a supplementary learning tool for South African pupils, covering different subjects across grades.

“The app aims to make learning more accessible, fun and simple to understand for this generation of learners in the digital age, which we believe will translate into better overall results – as proven by our initiatives in the Free State,” Ladia said.

The app covers the Grade 12 curriculum for six subjects in a digital format. It has animations, simulations, and virtual experiments to help pupils understand difficult concepts. The app also includes solved exam papers so students can see different ways to solve problems and learn from common mistakes.

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No internet connection

“With internet connectivity not available to all learners, many having data constraints, and often living in rural communities, the curriculum is stored offline on the devices, allowing learners to access the content at any time, or in any place,” Ladia explained. “This also provides a solution to the load shedding crisis where learning is not negatively impacted by slow or intermittent internet access.”

Typically, the app is available for a three or five-year usage period. However, as part of the collaboration with the Northern Cape Department of Education, pupils who received the tablets were given perpetual licenses to the app, allowing them to use it for as long as they needed.

“By providing learners with the technological tools to be the best that they can be, we look forward to seeing the matriculant pass rate and the number of quality passes in the province increase over the coming years, and believe that this is a significant milestone in achieving an accessible and technology-driven education system for all South African youth,” concluded Ladia.

Compiled by Devina Haripersad