Networking company, 3Com SA, has thrown its weight behind the proposed ICT implementation strategy for KwaZulu-Natal`s schools and tertiary institutions as outlined by the KZN Education Department.
It has earmarked more than R 6-million worth of computer networking equipment that will be donated to various school projects within South Africa and used to support the drive to bring Internet-based education to a significant percentage of the province`s 6300 schools.
3Com`s KZN branch manager, Gavin Labuschagne, has been elected to the project`s steering committee, chaired by University of KwaZulu-Natal mathematics Professor Manoj Marahaj.
"3Com is supporting the province`s initiative which has as its key objective the provision of access to information technology by all students by 2013," says Labuschagne.
"The keys to the success of this project are sustainability and team work between the public and private sectors. To achieve this we are encouraging IT companies to contribute to the project and become part of a co-ordinated effort to implement IT in appropriate schools - and then sustain and broaden the scope of the implementations.
"Initially, schools in rural areas that would benefit most from students receiving learner support materials electronically will be targeted. These schools will, of necessity, have to be electrified and have physical security in place," says Labuschagne.
3Com`s involvement in the KZN initiative will be based on its experiences with the Eastern Cape e-education initiative, for which a phased implementation of local and wide area networks in selected schools has been planned.
Labuschagne`s call for co-ordinated efforts to address the e-education challenge is backed by Professor Marahaj. "With so many companies developing their own social responsibility programmes, the time is right for the private sector to work in partnership with the Department of Education to achieve predetermined goals.
"The result will be positive for the companies concerned, as they will raise the profile of their brands among future decision makers and, in the short term, help alleviate the critical shortage of IT skilled people in the province."
Marahaj notes that more than 70 percent of university graduates in KZN go on to hold managerial and decision-making positions in commerce and industry within 10 years.
"As a result, graduates with business-orientated IT skills are required. An understanding of spreadsheet analysis, for example, is invaluable as is an in-depth understanding of the practical implementation of corporate networks, and popular software systems and operating platforms," he adds.
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