John Shaw, CEO of Teneo Online School weighs in on why access to quality online education is so important and why the government needs to do more to make it a reality for tomorrow's workforce. The Department of Basic Education is working on a policy framework for online schools and online educators are calling for greater internet access for South African children.
“Online school has the ability to create opportunities for children even in the deepest rural and underprivileged parts of South Africa. It can level the playing field for all children regardless of their address. Our government just needs to ensure that children in every district in every province can access online learning – rather than waste money on building more physical schools and expensive infrastructure that need to be maintained. If we were truly forward-thinking as a country, we would spend our taxpayer Rands on ensuring that children everywhere get geared for the new digital future of work. This insight will transform society and the economy,” says John Shaw, CEO and Teneo Online School founder.
Shaw – who comes from a HR and corporate education background – says many parents are cottoning on to the benefits of online school, not only as a solution for their frustrations with regular South African schools, but also as a way to give their children a competitive advantage as future professionals in the new, much more digital post-Covid world.
The perception exists that online school is expensive, but school fees are on par with public schools and there are none of the expensive extras required by traditional schools, such as uniforms, stationery, books, petrol, transport, tuck shop money, and so on, says Shaw.
“We are sitting on an unprecedented opportunity to transform South Africa’s children into the skilled, globally competitive digital professionals we need in the 21st century – and if we can do that, we can transform the economy. We just need the government to embrace the true future of education.”