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Finance dept drives Gauteng ICT

Tyson Ngubeni
By Tyson Ngubeni
Johannesburg, 01 Oct 2014
The Gauteng finance department has been repositioned to implement some of the province's ICT objectives.
The Gauteng finance department has been repositioned to implement some of the province's ICT objectives.

The Gauteng Provincial Government's plans to boost paperless learning in the province are increasingly being driven by the finance department - which has taken a leading role in implementing ICT objectives.

This is according to Barbara Creecy, the MEC for finance, who said 83 280 tablets have been delivered to 2 082 schools in the province since the beginning of this year. "This is our e-learning solution project, which aims to provide learners in public schools with a unique opportunity to access worldwide information to enhance classroom learning experience."

Creecy - who previously served as the province's education MEC - added that her department has recently been repositioned to play a leading role in Gauteng's technology agenda, including some elements of the R2 billion paperless learning objectives previously outlined by incumbent MEC Panyaza Lesufi.

Lesufi said the five-year plan for the Gauteng Department of Education highlights a lack of ICT infrastructure and learner-teacher support material (LTSM) as some of the main challenges faced by the province in its bid to improve classroom conditions. He said the department wants all schools to have broadband connectivity by 2020.

Broadband plans

Provincial MECs delivered their annual reports to the Gauteng Legislature yesterday, with Creecy noting the planned broadband network in the province aims to connect 95% of citizens to the Internet. "This network will be the government's super-highway comparable to the best in developed countries," she said.

Although Gauteng departments aim to focus on initially modernising and connecting their internal entities, the provision of e-services will play a greater role over the years to come.

Creecy said government aims to connect to citizens in cost-effective ways, while boosting job prospects using the new platforms. "The electronic application for jobs through the e-Recruitment facility simplifies applications for Gauteng government vacancies. Citizens can upload their details on the system and apply for any job.

"The system stores their details in a database and government can use it for future applications," she added.

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