Technology helps save the school year

Having multimedia centres in schools is beneficial to teachers and learners who need to save the school year and play catch-up with the syllabus, as the education sector was negatively affected by the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). 

This is according to Sapphire Secondary School Deputy Principal Salamina Nchaupe.

Her school, as well as Rutasetjhaba Secondary School, both in Sedibeng in the Vaal area, received multimedia centres and tablets from the Gauteng Department of Education in partnership with MTN SA Foundation and Huawei South Africa. 

Nchaupe says the national lockdown, introduced to combat the spread of the infectious disease, interrupted their school calendar. As a result, learners and teachers had to first adapt to home schooling and then to the irregular school times that were implemented to maintain social distancing when learners returned to class.  

“Over and above using the smart board in the multimedia centre and digital devices that were handed over to learners for every day teaching and learning in class, I believe this centre and educational gadgets will also come in handy in helping learners continue doing their research and learning at home because there is a lot of catching up that we need to do,” she says. 

“Grade 12 learners are also using the centre to look at their various options and the opportunities available to them when they complete their matric. They can also use the centre to apply for a National Student Financial Aid Scheme bursary,” she says. 

Nchaupe says the more than 100 tablets given to her school will go a long way in improving how education is delivered to the 1 200 learners. 

She asked community members to help keep the school safe and to report any suspicious behaviour. 

“We hope that no burglaries will be experienced by our school as we have seen it happening to other schools that had received similar equipment in the province in the past. We have various security measures in place to ensure that we safeguard this investment, for the benefit of our learners, but it is also the community’s responsibility to make our schools safe,” she says.