ORT SA determined to close the digital divide
HOUGHTON – For ORT SA, plans and prospects for the year had to be redirected and adjusted.
When ORT SA started the year, the prospects of their current programmes were promising. However, ‘flying’ from the east or the west (or both) Covid-19 hit South African shores and the rest is for the historians to tell.
According to CEO Ariellah Rosenberg, the need to adopt alternative technologies for ORT SA to continue its vision of Educating for Life, became immediately clear, as soon as the Covid-19 lockdown in South Africa was imposed.
She said, “We devised ORT SA’s Covid-19 mission statement; ‘ORT2Connect the Unconnected’ so we could continue to make people employable and create employment opportunities.”
She continued that ORT SA pivoted to training online so that maths pedagogy and coding for teachers continued in Gauteng and Cisco IT Essentials continued via Zoom and other platforms in the North-West province. “Our leadership programme of schools’ management teams took hold in the Northern Cape.
“ORT SA ensured that the safety of almost 2 000 youth placed in the one-year Youth Employment Services (YES) work-experience programme was a priority and continued monitoring and communicating via WhatsApp and social media during the lockdown.”
Rosenberg shared that the ORT Jet division switched to online training and over three months, more than 1 300 people had registered for more than 30 webinars to assist businesses ‘get out of the funk’.
ORT SA is of the view that the Covid-19 lockdown highlighted the educational inequalities. Rosenberg said, “ORT SA is more dedicated than ever to closing the digital divide so that learning can continue uninterrupted during this time. We launched a campaign which calls for unused digital devices (computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones) to be donated and distribute them among our beneficiaries who need them urgently.”
She said seeing the world of work transforming, it was obvious that digitisation will impact not only the job place but also the human force and the skills required to match this new work environment. In alignment with ORT’s mission of making people employable, they developed the Digital Ready for Work programme to equip youth with the necessary digital skills required for the workplace.
For ORT SA the year has not been all doom and gloom as, “We have gained the opportunity to be part of the disruption of education. For years, we have been advocates of changing teaching methodologies, incorporating 21st-century skills and technology. Covid-19 has triggered the change we see globally, nationally and even in our townships.”
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