Ipetleng Secondary School in the Free State Province and Thozamisa Secondary School in the Eastern Cape are the first local schools to join the community of 24 schools in Africa linked by the Nepad e-Schools initiative.
The Nepad e-schools initiative was first announced at the 2003 Africa Economic Summit in Durban and is supported by three consortia led by HP, Microsoft and Cisco, and Oracle, which was responsible for linking the two SA schools.
The public-private initiative aims to supply African schools with educational technology, including computer hardware, software, Internet connectivity, technical support and teacher training.
The Oracle-led consortium consists of 11 companies that have committed time, equipment and labour to install a complete educational system in schools, and is responsible for implementations in seven countries, including SA.
In addition to SA, implementations in Ghana, Lesotho and Kenya have been completed, with Mali, Gabon and Egypt to follow, says Sanjoe Maharaj, programme manager for the Oracle Consortium.
"Schools are beginning to integrate the learning environment with learner and curriculum management and with tangible benefits such as these we are very keen to see the programme become pervasive in Africa," says Maharaj.
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