Cape Town - An international company has donated R1.2 million worth of technology-enabled pop-up classrooms in the Western Cape, providing pupils with opportunities for quick learning.
International supplier, JP-IK donated the three classrooms in an official handover at Factreton Primary School in Maitland East on Wednesday.
The Western Cape Minister of Education Debbie Schafer received the donation on behalf of the provincial department of education.
Schafer said: “The donation reflected the commitment of the Western Cape Government to work in partnerships with the private sector and civil society to ensure an enabling environment for eLearning.”
In addition to Factreton Primary school, two other schools Melton Primary in Eerste River and Rouxville Primary in Kuils River, will benefit from the tech savvy classrooms.
“The Western Cape Government is investing heavily in eLearning as a game-changer that will improve access to quality education in all communities,” said Schafer.
The classrooms would be equipped with an interactive smart white board, a projector and stand, a teacher computer and 30 two-in-one wi-fi enabled devices, desks and chairs.
Pupils would have access to high speed broadband services via a Wide Area Network and Local Area Networks. Schaefer said these pop-up classrooms, which take one day to erect, would be made accessible to the department's Cape Teaching and Leadership Institute and the Metro East Education District for teacher training and support.
The department has, to date, set up 4 267 smart classrooms in a two-year period, and would be establishing more classrooms and ensuring computer laboratories have been appropriately equipped.
Education and providing wi-fi access for eLearning is a priority, said Schafer. She said that the Western Cape Government would “invest R3.8 billion over the next 10 years to bring high-speed broadband to all residents of the Western Cape.
”Out of this investment, R2 billion would be invested in ensuring connectivity at schools in the province.
Schafer said it is expected that by the end of 2016, contractors would have laid 581km of fibre optic cabling, in addition to 1 251km of cable that has already been installed.
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