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MEC calls on matrics to return tablets

Simnikiwe Mzekandaba
By Simnikiwe Mzekandaba, IT in government editor
Johannesburg, 13 Jan 2016
The Gauteng Department of Education has urged matric learners to return tablets they received as part of the paperless classroom initiative.
The Gauteng Department of Education has urged matric learners to return tablets they received as part of the paperless classroom initiative.

Some of the matric learners that received government-sponsored tablets as part of the "paperless classroom" project in Gauteng are yet to return the devices.

According to an Eyewitness News report, Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) MEC Panyaza Lesufi has called on the matric class of 2015 to return the tablets that were allocated to them.

Last year, the GDE launched its "paperless classroom" project, which saw some schools across the province switch from chalkboards to smartboards, while learners received tablets.

Eyewitness News reports, of the 65 000 tablets distributed to schools in Gauteng, only 45 000 have been returned. Meanwhile, 10 000 of the devices that were returned were broken.

"The remainder of tablets are still with matrics and we are asking them to bring them back so that the new learners can use them," says Lesufi.

Gauteng's education MEC has made it his mission to ensure government's ambitious plans for one teacher, one laptop, and one child, one tablet becomes a reality.

To transform the country's education system, government has committed itself to provide access to high-speed broadband connectivity as well as various technology devices for teachers and school children by 2018.

In Gauteng, Lesufi's department began with the rollout of tablets to learners and smartboards in schools. Last year, some 375 high schools in Soweto went digital as part of the "paperless classroom" project.

The department wants all Gauteng learners in no-fee-paying schools to each have a tablet device for educational purposes by 2017.

Meanwhile, as part of today's back-to-school campaign, the GDE officially opened one of the new ICT schools launched this year.

According to the department, the Chief Albert Luthuli Primary School in Daveyton has 33 smart classrooms.

The smart classrooms are equipped with interactive electronic screens (e-boards) and learners are able to access e-content via the tablets provided by the department.

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