Following the success of the Gauteng Orange Farm multimedia project in 2004, Bytes Technology Group (BTG) and Altron have continued their social responsibility drive to help bridge the digital divide within South Africa, by investing close to R1 million in a school in Langa.
The companies are in the process of providing Cape Town-based Langa High School with a multimedia centre (MMC) equipped with the latest technology in computers and information research facilities.
The project has involved the establishment of a MMC, as well as the comprehensive renovation of the principal`s office and the restrooms closest to the centre. In addition, Internet connectivity and a Web site have been created.
Skip Franzsen, Group HR Manager for BTG, says the project is important to both Bytes and to the community. "The Langa initiative is aimed at changing the lives of the people who live there, providing them with many opportunities they never dreamed possible."
He adds: "More importantly, it is uplifting the entire community by providing the people with real skills which they can then take out into the world."
The new Langa High School Centre now features 31 state of the art HP workstations and desks, a server, network and UPS, an air-conditioning unit, a Proxima, laptops for three designated teachers and the principal, as well as a work centre including a photo copier, fax and scanner printer. A security system, with burglar bars, alarms and armed response will ensure its safety.
BTG has offered holiday training for three selected teachers, from basic computer literacy right through to International Computer Driving Licence (ICDL) certification. BTG People Solutions played a pivotal role in training the teachers and coaching them through their exams, and will continue to assist the teachers with further resources to support them on-site at the school.
Freddie Kleynhans, Branch Manager of BTG People Solutions in Cape Town, says the idea of this is to provide sustainable training. He adds: "These three teachers will be provided with manuals to enable them to train 35 more teachers. As the training division of BTG, People Solutions has also committed further resources for a period of six months to support and assist the teachers in their endeavour to train others."
Apart from supplying the equipment and training, BTG has also undertaken to provide financial support for two years, including infrastructure, Internet and Web site technical support, as well as Internet connectivity, monthly paper supply, insurance and security monitoring.
During the next two years it is hoped that the centre will become a self-sustaining, profitable entity for the school. The sustainability of the project is dependant on the certified teachers training others, and the ability of the school to turn the centre into a community facility.
Says Marina Hall, General Manager of software design for Bytes Systems Integration in Cape Town: "Our greatest hope is that Langa High School will be able to use the MMC for the benefit of the community, helping to further bridge the digital divide and bring the benefits of technology to the people."
She adds: "Perhaps through the introduction of a night school or Internet caf'e, small businesses and entrepreneurs, the rest of the people in the community will be able to use the facilities to become computer literate and knowledgeable with regards to the emerging electronic world."
The project is an initiative of the Transformation and Vision 2010 committee, which BTG created as part of its social responsibility framework. The aim is to identify deserving projects in various communities and assist with sponsorships and funding of new projects in previously disadvantaged areas. Langa High School is the second in a series of projects to be explored by the group as its contribution towards bridging the digital divide within South Africa.
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