KAROO NEWS - The Graaff-Reinet Advertiser recently visited several schools in Cradock and Hofmeyr, and made contact with schools in Nieu-Bethesda, Middelburg and Graaff-Reinet, to ascertain the availability of e-learning equipment at these schools.
Many schools lack the necessary equipment to facilitate e-learning and have outdated computers and no electricity in the classrooms.
Learners know smartphones very well, but do not know how to work a computer, and lack the data to download learning materials and programmes on their phones.
Siyabulela Thamsanqa Qelo, headmaster of Phakama-Hofmeyr Senior Secondary, told Graaff-Reinet Advertiser that the school does indeed offer Computer Application Technologies as a subject, but that their computers are old and too few in number to accommodate the registered learners.
"We also do not have internet. Some learners have smart phones, but not enough data. We also have to take into account that the school does not always have electricity," said Qelo.
MPL Horatio Hendricks, the DA's shadow MEC for education in the Eastern Cape, said on 19 August that underfunding of e-learning initiatives and delays in the rollout of digital connectivity in the province have left schools in the digital wilderness.
Many students cannot access modern educational tools, fall behind in critical digital literacy, and face an opportunity gap compared to their peers in other digitally equipped regions.
High-speed broadband connections have been installed in over 1 200 schools in the Western Cape. The way in which young people interact, and learn has changed. Connectivity and opportunities should be available to all our learners.
"The allocated R78-million, promised towards e-learning and digital infrastructure development falls drastically short of what is required to bring the Eastern Cape in line with global educational standards. To date, 1 535 of the 2 700 schools that have been identified to benefit from the current broadband roll out, have been connected. However, the slow pace of progress leaves our learners at a significant disadvantage in an increasingly digital world," Hendricks said.
Hendricks called on the MEC of Education, Fundile Gade, for additional funding. "Bring all our schools out of the digital wilderness," he urged.
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