Gauteng principals get BlackBerries

The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) handed out BlackBerry cellphones to 2 200 school principals yesterday.

The Government Communication and Information System (GCIS) says these phones, donated by Vodacom, would allow cheaper and more reliable two-way communication between the head office, district offices and public schools on key matters.

“Gone are the days when school principals had to drive long distances to reach district offices to submit paper-based reports and requests - principals of schools in Gauteng merely have to send a message on their new BlackBerry cellphones.”

Gauteng education MEC Barbara Creecy handed over the phones at an ICT programme that is meant to improve communication and efficiency in schools.

The GDE says it designed a special application that was uploaded to each phone. “The application will allow affordable, manageable and reliable two-way communication between the head office, district offices and 2 200 public schools in the province on key matters that affect schools.”

Creecy explained that this application would enable principals and institutional development and support officers (IDSOs) to log incidents at schools, such as violence against learners, non-payment of educators, as well as urgent infrastructure needs.

The department will roll out training per district over the next month. IDSOs will also be able to request support and intervention using this application, according to Creecy.

“We have devised a training programme for all principals so that they understand this program. During the training, we will also configure e-mail addresses on the cellphones so that principals can access their e-mails on the phone.”

Creecy encouraged principals to not worry about their “sophistication”. "For now, learn how to send messages and be able to respond. I will send you messages such as when the matric results go up."

She added that the province needed a 21st Century way of communicating with principals that was direct and immediate.

The ICT programme involves all principals, the IDSOs, and educators through the Teacher Laptop Initiative (TLI), according to Creecy.

"Through the use of technology, educators will improve their knowledge base and be more resourceful in the way they teach learners in schools. They will be able to keep abreast with the latest innovative thinking, as well as resources to improve learner attainment.”

She added that IDSOs play a crucial role in providing support to schools. “In the department's course of interaction with districts and schools, it was strange that IDSOs, that are the vehicle through which support to schools is provided, do not have the tools of the trade.”

In light of this, the department provided IDSOs with laptops and cellphones to improve efficiency.

Creecy also highlighted the TLI, which was launched in July, as a way to improve the overall quality of education.

Last year, Creecy met with all district staff, IDSOs and principals, according to the GDE. During these meetings, principals and IDSOs drew her attention to the fact that communication between head office, district offices and the public ordinary schools was not optimal.

“There are still some schools that do not have fax machines or even telephones. In some schools, the situation was such that school principals and their staff members had no way of communicating urgent matters to the relevant officials other than driving or taking public transport to the nearest district office and physically reporting it.“

The department adds that by providing principals and IDSOs with cellphones and laptops, the MEC intends to begin to remedy these weaknesses.

Representing school principals, Makhosazane Mahlangu said: "If there's a crisis, we will just press the button instead of sending a report and waiting for months for our problem to be solved. The communication between teachers and district offices will now be smooth due to the technology given to us.”