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R250m allocated to ECape digital schools initiative

Kgaogelo Letsebe
By Kgaogelo Letsebe, Portals journalist
Johannesburg, 25 May 2017
Eastern Cape MEC for education Mandla Makupula.
Eastern Cape MEC for education Mandla Makupula.

The Eastern Cape Department of Education has embarked on phase one of its multimillion-rand digital programme, with the first 574 foundation phase teachers, school principals, inspectors and administrators receiving digital gadgets this week.

Speaking at the launch, Eastern Cape education MEC Mandla Makupula said a total of 23 000 teachers and senior district officials in the region will each receive a cellphone, laptop and tablet, as well as 2GB monthly data each month.

According to the department, phase one of the programme includes a roll-out to 16 000 foundation phase teachers and support staff members at district level, and phase two will see a roll out to higher grades at primary schools. "We will then roll it out to high schools once everyone at primary school level receives the supporting material, funding permitting," explained Makupula.

School inspectors will receive the standard package, while teachers and principals will receive a tablet over and above the standard package.

In his 2017/18 policy and budget speech, Makupula indicated that various approaches for improving curriculum coverage have been tested and are being replicated in a third of the schooling system. "A suite of school management tools is being tested in six districts. An electronic district planning system covering key operational areas is being tested as well," he added.

The department says the laptops are preloaded with software that will enable teachers to access teaching material. Principals will also be able to utilise the SA School Administration Management System program to upload information related to attendance registers of both teachers and pupils, as well as a database to place orders for the feeding scheme, stationery and school infrastructure needs. "The principals' software will also enable them to monitor whether teachers are teaching during their periods and monitor attendance of classes by both learners and teachers," said Makupula.

In April, the regional department, along with Vodacom, launched a school management solution programme for mobile devices, which will see a total of 5 000 government schools benefit. The cloud-based Vodacom school management platform will enable the department to use technology to better manage the sparsely distributed and remote schools in the province.

The Eastern Cape Department of Education has received bad publicity lately with it admitting that it has a shortage of educators as well as a lack of school infrastructure. The province was the country's worst-performing province for matrics in 2016.

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