The schools will receive four mobile science laboratories each, which will be supplied with test tubes, chemicals and other science equipment. They will also be given well-stocked libraries as part of a mobile library project that started last year and has already rolled out to 100 schools.
“As an ICT company, there is a definite need for continuing to grow and nurture the skills pool in the sciences and mathematics for the industry. Therefore, it is our aim to demystify science and mathematics, particularly in poor communities,” said Telkom Foundation CEO, Reabetsoe Motsepe, at the official event on Tuesday.
“The idea of focusing on rural and semi rural communities, particularly disadvantaged communities, is aimed at fast-tracking those previously marginalised communities to bring them in-line with the township and town schools,” she added.
In July, the Telkom Foundation partnered with the Department of Education in a R30 million project to extend ICT to previously-disadvantaged schools across the Western Cape.
150 schools were given uncapped broadband access for the first time (free for the first two years), complete with interactive white boards with projectors and laptops for teachers.
Motsepe said at the time: “In a global economy fuelled by knowledge and information, it is extremely difficult to break the shackles of stagnation without the help of information and communication technologies.”
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