By Lindsey Kin

Pieter Uys, CEO of Vodacom, opened the proceedings for the morning. He said that the programme is about levelling the playing field in education, and that the launch is perhaps one of the most important initiatives that Vodacom has introduced. “It involves a significant investment in our youth, who are the future of our country, and is a critical component of our commitment to using mobiles for good. Through this initiative, teachers will now be able to use cloud computing to access vital content, teacher-aids and resources to help deliver quality education.”

South African radio and television presenter, financial journalist and motivational speaker, Leanne Manas, was MC for the launch, and explained that the programme is about the progression of education using technology to benefit more learners. “Vodacom, in collaboration with its partners, will use the power [of] mobile technology to provide educational support for all learners, regardless of where they are.” She added that together with the government, Vodacom will establish a number of ICT resource centres in all nine provinces with the aim of providing access to teacher training and learning anywhere to over 1 800 schools.

The nine provincial ICT resource centres will be located in Tshwane, Gauteng; Mpumalanga’s Emalahleni; Worcester in the Western Cape; Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal; the Eastern Cape’s Lady Frere; Upington, Northern Cape; Makhado in Limpopo; the North West’s Ganyesa; and Mangaung in the Free State.

Mthobeli Tengimfene, head of Vodacom’s CSI projects, said that the education portal will be hosted at Vodacom, and through this portal, teachers across the country will have access to the content they need. “Teachers will have links to a number of other sites, where they will even be able to download free textbooks.”

Tengimfene concluded, “We want to give teachers all the skills and tools through which they can create their own content, relevant to them.”

For further information, visit digitalclassroom.co.za.