e-Education priority in budget announced

The project revolves around the use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to achieve educational goals and is thus aimed at giving learners and teachers better access to educational information and content, making use of technology as support.

It is about more than developing computer literacy. It is about meeting educational objectives by improved use of educational resources like ICT.

The Spokesperson for Education, Tidimalo Chuene explained that the concept of communication, teaching and learning has radically changed as a result of advances in ICT.

“The benefits of ICT in education include the effectiveness, efficiency and speed at which information and knowledge are obtained, stored, shared and communicated. ICT is no more a privilege of the few but a necessity for all. In fact it is a right that all must exercise,” she said.

In a rural province like Limpopo, it is evident that the digital divide can potentially deepen and perpetuate educational inequalities through the lack of access to and capabilities to use ICT, she added.

The e-Education strategy is designed to begin the process of bridging the digital divide that is beginning to perpetuate the divisions inherited from the past and this will be done by aligning the hardware and the software in a way that promotes blended mode of delivering curriculum to all schools without being hampered by physical hurdles in our schooling system.

Chuene further explained that the alignment runs through the whole strategy and culminates in a high-level five-year plan with indicators of success that will be used to assess the extent to which the strategy is achieving its goals or not. “The R100 million will not cover the amount projected for the implementation of the strategy.

A prioritisation strategy is being finalised. Details of the actual rollout, with specifications on delivery phases will be made public once they have gone through all the necessary internal processes,” she said.

On 16 March, Education MEC Polly Boshielo launched the Smart Classrooms Project at SJ van der Merwe Technical High School in Lebowakgomo as part of the department’s e-Education strategy.