USAASA welcomes laptop pledge

By Staff Writer for USAASA
Johannesburg, 18 Feb 2008

The Universal Service and Access Agency of SA (USAASA) has welcomed education minister Naledi Pandor's pledge last week to provide SA's 340 000 teachers with laptops. The agency says it fully supports the initiative.

"Teachers are at the centre of the knowledge economy and our only hope for increased productivity, critical skills development and poverty alleviation," says USAASA CEO James Theledi.

"Providing ICT access to one teacher multiplies instantly as it deepens and widens universal service and universal access, critically in areas that are under-served."

Theledi says the roll-out will need to be complemented with appropriate teacher training in ICT, the provision of relevant content "and the integration of ICT in our education system".

"The only way we can demystify ICT is to remove the fear of it in the teaching profession and unleash the potential and benefits of digital technologies in education and the broader economy," he adds.

Theledi called upon ICT players to join Pandor's drive and "accelerate the delivery of e-education to learners".

"USAASA hopes this initiative is extended to students and pupils who will start using computers to do all their assignments and homework, and also begin to write their tests and exams online.

"Ultimately, e-education will need to be extended to early childhood to guarantee a sustained support to the ICT sector and the economy in general," adds Theledi.