Just days after Eastern Cape education MEC Fundile Gade confirmed plans to revive the controversial e-learning tablet project for 2025’s matriculants, despite an ongoing investigation into its R580m “irregular” contract, the project was finally rolled out at two schools in the province recently.
Gade, who said he was “tired” of dragged-out court cases and was forging ahead with the project for the current school year, revealed that his department was set to roll out more than 50,000 e-learning devices to grade 12 pupils in quintiles 1, 2 and 3 provincial schools, as part of its ICT learning strategy.
This comes after Bhisho high court judge Buyiswa Majiki in 2020 interdicted the project after irregularities were found in the previous three-year lease contract between the department, Sizwe Africa IT Group and MTN.
Last week, matric pupils at Mdantsane’s Ulwazi High and Stutterheim’s St Thomas Special School became the first beneficiaries of Gade’s ICT project, which is aimed at supporting teaching and learning.
This pioneering initiative marks a milestone in the province’s quest to bridge the digital divide and provide pupils with access to quality educational resources.
The programme aims to empower disadvantaged pupils with the tools they need to succeed in the digital age.
By providing 24/7 access to digital textbooks, educational software, and other online resources, the department is on a mission to better the learning experience for thousands of pupils across the province.
The first phase of the rollout plan involves distributing 54,000 tablets across the province.
Jubilant pupils and staff from Ulwazi High and St Thomas last week said the tablets would help alleviate some of the challenges they faced.
Welcoming the rollout, St Thomas SGB acting chair, Zoleka Zondani, said the school had achieved a 100% matric pass rate in 2024.
“Our children will study even more now that they have this technology.
“We are grateful that the department remembered us and we look forward to maintaining our 100% pass rate,” Zondani said.
She said pupils had been advised on how to keep their devices safe.
Ulwazi’s SGB chair Lunga Mtuzula said a meeting would be held with parents, pupils, and teachers to draft a policy to ensure the devices were well taken care of.
“The policy will look into the monitoring of the devices and ensure they are kept in a good condition.
“To also ensure that parents and the school understand that they must return them at the end of the year, so that the next pupils can also get them.”
Ulwazi High has been a shining example in the province, having produced 100% pass rates for several years.
In the 2024 exams, the school managed a 99.1% pass.
Because of its academic excellence, the school continues to attract high numbers of pupils from the township.
The education department’s director of ICT, Lethu Ndzube, said the initiative would benefit pupils from across the province.
“We are distributing the first batch now.
“For now, we are distributing for matrics, but in the long run, we are aiming to distribute from grade 10. However, that will be determined by availability of budget.”
Speaking at a handover ceremony at the Mdantsane school recently, MTN regional manager for the public sector, Sivuyile Mdleleni, said the service provider took pride in being part of a life-changing programme for pupils.
“We are passionate about education.
“We decided to partner with the department by providing tablets for these pupils.”
The Bhisho legislature’s education portfolio committee chair and ANC MPL, Monde Sondaba, commended the department and Gade for spearheading the programme once again.
“This will enhance the quality of teaching and learning,” he said.
“The content on the tablets has almost everything and is being rolled into township and rural schools, and that will close the gap between these schools and the most affluent ones.”
He said it was a welcomed relief that the province had seen serious improvements in the matric results, saying the roll out of the devices “will assist to up the game”.
Daily Dispatch
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