THE Telkom Foundation, in partnership with the Department of Basic Education (DBE), yesterday said it was unveiling its virtual classroom solution at four South African high schools between June 9 and 15.
This initiative was expected to empower 1 100 learners and 30 teachers with the ICT skills and devices they needed to thrive in an increasingly virtual world, it said.
The schools include Tiisetsang Secondary, and Kgola-Thuto Secondary in the Free State and Methula Secondary and Qhubulwazi Combined School in Mpumalanga.
In April 2020, Icasa, the Regulator, assigned the much-needed temporary radio frequency spectrum to operators, including Telkom. This spectrum allocation came with specific social-impact obligations including, to help the DBE deliver virtual lessons to grade-12 learners at selected schools.
The above schools were allocated to Telkom, and given the role of Telkom in deploying technology to improve the learning experience and teaching practice, through its Foundation, this partnership with the selected schools made perfect sense.
Sarah Mthintso, the head of Telkom Foundation, said: “This partnership is exciting for us because it means we now have added more schools that are enabled with adequate access to a comprehensive ICT solution that includes devices, connectivity, a learner management system, educational content, and training, reaching areas that would otherwise not have been reached.”
“We have also equipped the classrooms of these schools with DBE-approved devices and tools like wireless microphones, video cameras and LED display monitors. We have delivered laptops to all the learners and will be providing zero-rated SIM cards to enable them to access learning without having to worry about data.”
BUSINESS REPORT