Deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka is pushing for the urgent implementation of the Nepad e-school initiative.
Speaking at the Nepad e-schools stakeholder conference, in Kempton Park, this week, Mlambo-Ngcuka said implementing e-learning in the future will be too late for the children who are on the verge of graduation.
She cited the Internet World Stats Web site, which says there are currently 1.3 billion Internet users globally, with users growing by 265.6% annually.
Users in Africa alone are growing at more than 882.7% annually, she said. And yet this is not adequate when considering the ICT "have-nots" in Africa.
"We cannot leave our children behind when the rest of [developed] countries are connected."
Immovable deadlines
Mlambo-Ngcuka noted SA is conducting a feasibility study for its own implementation, with results expected in the second quarter of 2008. The study will result in the development of a model used to implement e-learning in schools.
She demanded that deadlines to complete the study be met, and told deputy director-general Lyndall Shope-Mafole and communications minister Ivy Matsepe-Casaburri that "this deadline is not shiftable!"
Neil Butcher, a consultant with Ernst & Young, which developed a business plan for the Nepad e-schools initiative, says it is recognised that countries, even schools, worked at a different pace.
The business plan aims to provide a fast trajectory for those countries that can move fast, and a slower pace for those countries that cannot do so, he said.
Taking ownership
Private sector partners AMD, Cisco, HP and Oracle urged participating governments to act on the memorandum of understanding they signed.
HP Southern Africa GM Andre John Hartley said: "The Nepad e-schools project is no longer a demonstration project, it is now an ongoing project and governments have become responsible for their commitments."
AMD programme manager Craig Dawson noted that participating governments must set up implementation agencies and provide dedicated people who are responsible for driving the initiative.
Governments also need to set clear policies, laws and regulations that support the integration of ICT into the education system. This policy needs to be aligned to a national ICT policy, they said.
Government must also plan for the sustainability of the project, ensuring that ongoing fees, such as Internet access and usage charges, are set aside, said Dawson.
The training of teachers before they join the education system and as an ongoing activity should account for about 25% of the overall budget, to get desired results from an e-school initiative, said Cisco System corporate affairs senior director Bill Souders.
The conference ends today, with minister of education Naledi Pandor scheduled to address delegates during the closing ceremony.
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