Implementation of the Teacher Laptop Initiative (TLI) is back on track, with more teachers enabled to access the resource.
During her budget speech last week, basic education minister Angie Motshekga said that, during the latter part of this year, there will be a “very exciting announcement” made around the project.
She also said work is being done and going well on a new funding model, procurement and administration processes to strengthen the initiative.
A national drive, the TLI was introduced at the end of 2008 under the management of the Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC). The stated goal was to equip the country's 400 000-odd teachers with laptops by 2011, in a bid to improve the overall quality of education in public schools.
Teachers could start getting their laptop packages from 19 July 2010. General secretary of the ELRC, Dhaya Govender, in October said the TLI is a three-year rollout and the largest number of TLI candidates will be in the financial year 2012/2013.
“ICT integration in the classroom is an extremely positive addition to the learning environment, as it brings rich and diverse resources into the classroom. This in turn leads to the formation of a more dynamic and productive learning environment,” says the ELRC.
Connecting schools
She added that director-generals of the two departments and provincial HODs signed the Telkom Masters Services Agreement, on 27 March, for phase one implementation of the connectivity plan for schools. The first phase will provide connectivity to 1 650 schools.
In 2011, 2 334 schools were connected to the Internet for the purpose of teaching and learning, while 7 008 schools were using the Internet for administration purposes, according to Motshekga.
“The establishment of nine ICT resource centres, one per province, and sponsored by the Vodacom Foundation, is expected to accelerate training of teachers in the use of ICT to support teaching and learning.”
Mathematics concern
The consolidated investment of R179.834 billion in the basic education sector, encompassing national office and provincial education departments, makes education an important driver of government's transformation agenda, according to the department.
The minister said the overall budget for 2012/13 for the Department of Basic Education has increased by R2.475 billion, from R13.868 billion in 2011/12, to R16.344 billion.
She also said that although there is evidence of progress in the pass rate of the Grade 12 National Senior Certificate, the department remains concerned about both quality and quantity of passes in mathematics and science.
“Therefore, we are implementing a new national strategy for mathematics, science and technology education. It reinforces the Dinaledi Schools programme, which has received a conditional grant of R99.7 million for 2012/13. This June, we will convene a math and science indaba, with key education stakeholders involved in the teaching of math and science.”
The department has distributed 4.4 million physical science and mathematics supplementary textbooks to all Grade 10-12 learners in partnership with the Shuttleworth Foundation.
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