Phuti Ragophala was named SA's 'Super Teacher of the Year 2011' by the Internet Service Providers' Association of SA (ISPA), at an awards ceremony held at Montecasino, in Fourways, Johannesburg, last week.
Ragophala, from Pula Madibogo Primary School, in Limpopo, was among eight finalists identified by ISPA as having best utilised their newly-acquired computer skills for the benefit of their communities, after participating in ISPA's 'Train the Teacher' initiative.
The awards formed part of iWeek, SA's premier Internet industry event.
“It's an honour for me to win such an award; it felt like a dream,” said Ragophala.
“It's not only my achievement, but for the school, and the community at large. Integrating IT in the school environment, especially at a lower level and disadvantaged like ours, is a great initiative,” he concludes.
The 10th anniversary of this initiative also saw two new awards presented for the first time. Fiona Wallace, chairperson of ISPA's Teacher Training Working Group, presented Sonnyboy Baloyi with the Trainer of the Year Award, while Barbara Heron, of Parktown Boys' High School, in Johannesburg, and Mmipe Mokgehle, of Toronto Primary School, in Limpopo, were named as ISPA ICT Champions.
The annual event invited educators to compete by submitting projects through which they promoted and developed computer skills in their own schools and communities.
“Teachers received computer skills via the ISPA Train the Teacher initiative, and entered the competition with projects that expand these personal skills,” said Wallace.
Wallace added that the initiative has no restrictions as it invites all teachers from all schools countrywide to participate.
ISPA recognises the growing need for computer skills training, and the importance of computer-literate teachers. The Train the Teacher initiative was established in December 2001. To date, ISPA has successfully trained 2 238 educators at more than 250 under-resourced and rural schools nationwide.
The seven Super Teacher of the Year finalists were Thembi Mathobela, Adelaide Madiba and Alpheus Mogashoa, all from Toronto Primary, in Limpopo; Phuti Ragophala, of Pula-Madibogo Primary, in Limpopo; Maoto Setaole, of Mountainview Senior Secondary School, in Limpopo; Judi Le Roux, of Coffee Bay Christian Comprehensive School, in the Eastern Cape; and MJ Poopedi, of Thokgwaneng Primary School, in Limpopo.
ISPA's teacher training programme this year attracted support from a growing list of sponsors, including UniForum SA, MTN Business, Internet Solutions, Adept Internet, eNetworks, MWeb, Neotel, Avuxeni Computer Academy, Future Foundation and Switch Telecom.
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