Bandwidth boost for Western Cape schools

One of South Africa's leading Internet service providers, WebAfrica, in conjunction with the Western Cape education department's technology project, Khanya, invested in bridging the digital divide of 11 previously disadvantaged schools through bandwidth sponsorships.

"The government simply doesn't have the capacity to provide Internet access for all the schools, so with the help of Khanya, we were able to help enable these schools to become more technically independent," says Matthew Tagg, MD of WebAfrica.

Khanya was launched in 2001 to increase the capacity of educators. It aims to create technology centres to ensure educators in Western Cape schools are empowered to use technology for the delivery of curriculum to learners. WebAfrica is supporting Khanya in its vision and mission to deploy technology support staff into schools by ensuring the educators, as well as the children, have the necessary Internet access available.

Manette Mally, the principal at Rusthof LSEN School for severely mentally handicapped and physically disabled children, says: "The children are extremely excited. The ability to use a computer and the Internet will help to build the necessary self esteem that they lack. The Internet will also enable us to communicate ideas and learning techniques with similar schools all over the world and to do further research on the children's different syndromes."

This school is also exploring the opportunity of making the Internet available to the community after hours. "This way the school can also benefit from this sponsorship financially," says the LAN administrator at Rusthof, Stephen Reed.

This initiative forms part of WebAfrica's bigger corporate social responsibility initiative that focuses on investing in the future of the local community. "We are delighted to be involved in a project that offers value to the country's education system, while simultaneously offering opportunities for disabled and historically disadvantaged individuals," says Tagg.