Dell, Sci-Bono Discovery Centre bridge digital divide

Dell South Africa will continue its five-year partnership with southern Africa's largest science centre, the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre, with a further investment of R1 million.

These funds will go towards the ICT Training Centre, which Dell established last year. This training centre is the only facility available to all public school teachers, and it plays an important role to ensure that South African teachers gain the essential ICT skills necessary for professional educators.

“The Dell contribution has been invaluable in our training programmes, enabling us to train over 1 000 teachers, making a major impact on the increased use of ICT skills in schools,” says Zelda Fynn, Sci-Bono's ICT Training Co-ordinator.

According to Stewart van Graan, general manager of Dell Africa and managing director of Dell South Africa: “ICT literacy continues to be one of the biggest challenges that the South African education system faces. Dell believes that technology is an essential tool to bridge the digital divide, and provides South African youth with the platform to compete academically with their global peers.” Using the Dell ICT Training Centre, Sci-Bono has prepared 85 unemployed youths from disadvantaged backgrounds for entry level technical jobs in the IT industry.

The Sci-Bono Discovery Centre aims to support education in mathematics, science and technology; to improve public access to science, engineering and technology; and to promote career education in these critical areas. This is aligned with Dell's educational focus, and for this reason the company has invested over R2 million in Sci-Bono since 2007. The centre has been officially recognised by the Gauteng Minister of Education for the contribution that it makes towards addressing the lack of ICT literacy and the shortage of resources that South African schools are faced with.

“We firmly believe that the future success of the communities in which we do business is intertwined with the future success of our company. As the world continues its transition from an industrial economy to a digital economy, technology access and training are becoming critical tools in the pursuit of social equity. It is also encouraging to see a number of Dell staff volunteer their personal time to support the centre, and the great turnout we had when we hosted a family day there,” concludes Van Graan.