Vodacom and Samsung have partnered to provide e-learning services at Seloutjo Secondary School, Ga-matlala Limpopo.
The companies have, since last year, been involved in a countrywide rollout of e-learning programmes to underprivileged schools.
Limpopo education MEC Ishmael Kgetjepe yesterday unveiled the new equipment given to the school: 26 tablets, a laptop, an interactive whiteboard, data projector, printer, educational aids and free Internet connectivity.
"This gift will change the future of education specifically for our learners in the long-term, especially if our school governing bodies, teachers and the school management put measurements in place to secure these new tech tools," Kgetjepe said. "It is through technology that everyone can receive the same quality of education."
Vodacom Business chief officer Vuyani Jarana says not only does technology enable quality learning on tablets and interactive boards, it's also becoming the cornerstone for enabling mass social progress in education which is the future.
"Many learners in South Africa do not have access to the basic learning requirements like textbooks, which makes excelling at school more difficult especially in the underprivileged environments. The Vodacom e-learning initiative gives access to ICT tools and, more importantly, the connectivity where and when they most need it," Jarana adds.
In the first phase rollout, which ended in March 2015, Vodacom in partnership with Samsung connected 371 previously disadvantaged schools across the country, equipping them with ICT tools.
For the second phase, which started in August 2015, Vodacom intends to connect 700 schools nationally. In Limpopo, Vodacom aims to equip and connect 50 schools including Seloutjo Secondary School.
The e-learning solution will serve as a learning platform with free Internet access to education content for learners in grades eight to 12 across the country. Learners who are Vodacom subscribers will also be able to access classroom content, which is curriculum aligned on their mobile device across all major subjects, for free.
"Learners can now complete lessons from their school syllabus, which will help them improve their marks. They can also track their progress and see how they are performing compared to other students in a fun, easy and interactive way," adds Jarana.
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