Address by the Minister of Education, Naledi Pandor, MP, at the official opening of a computer centre at Maitland High School in Kensington, Cape Town
1 March 2006
The Principal, Mr William Jantjies
Educators of Maitland High School
Other Distinguished Guests
Learners and Parents
Members of the Community
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is a pleasure to be here to open the K.I.C. van der Westerhuizen computer room.
The computer room is part of the Western Cape education department’s provincial-wide ICT initiative driven by its Khanya project. By cutting the ribbon today, Maitland High School will become a beneficiary of this project. For this I commend the WCED.
This provincial initiative is part of a wider project to expand the use of computers in the education sector.
Our statistics show that only a quarter of public schools are using computers for teaching and learning.
In August of last year the Department of Education published a White Paper on e-Education. It outlines a vision for the expansion of ICT equipment and related services in schools.
There are already some successes to report.
We have established thutong, an educational web site that can be found at www.thutong.org.za. It provides access to local and relevant educational resources.
In collaboration with the department of communication and the Independent Communications Association of South Africa (ICASA), we have agreed to introduce a 50% discount on internet connection costs. This new e-rate will be published shortly in the government gazette.
Through these initiatives the department and other stakeholders will ensure that our learners and teachers are given every possible opportunity to benefit from the wealth of educational resources that the various aspects of ICT can bring.
By opening this computer room today, Maitland High has taken the first step towards ensuring that every teacher and learner has access to ICT infrastructure.
Our concern now is no longer whether ICT can play a role in modernising our education and training system: it is how ICT can be utilised to enhance teaching and learning, administration and management of our schools.
In my experience learners do not need encouragement to use computers. It is the teachers who need encouragement. In cases where there is resistance, it would be appropriate if they took advantage of the many further education offerings in computer skills.
Teachers need computer skills to manage the school day better.
Aspects of school organization, such as the structure and length of the working day, must be revised if the full educational potential of ICT is to be reached. The introduction of the new curriculum statements for further education and training will include new ICT challenges, and it is therefore vital that school management and teachers understand the application of ICT to support their teaching and administration.
ICTs can offer a learning environment better matched to the needs and interests of individual learners.
It is critical to learn computer skills so that learners can later participate more meaningfully in society and take greater advantage of opportunities offered in the world of work.
Computers also give you access to the internet and to a load of useful information. Learners should learn how to access, organise and absorb information. They should learn how to analyse and integrate the information they find.
The Internet offers access to a wide range of communication possibilities. The Internet, when used responsibly, can be a powerful tool for teaching and learning. “Surfing” the web and the use of e-mail makes co-operative and collaborative learning possible and allows participants to work with other learners on projects.
But access to the internet also carries with it inherent dangers. It is also a gateway to contaminated and immoral information that has no place in our educational value system.
It is important that schools have adequate internet security systems that are monitored and updated to ensure that our learners and teachers use the technology responsibly.
The computer room we are opening today is intended to serve the children attending Maitland High.
But we also expect Maitland High to find ways of making the computer room accessible to neighbouring schools and the community at large.
The White Paper on e-Education states “schools must work in partnership with families and the wider community to ensure shared knowledge about ICTs and the extended opportunities for learning and development through ICTs”.
As a part of an African community, we face the challenge of revitalising the continent and ensuring that we determine and shape our own destiny.
Optimal utilisation of ICTs provides us with one of the key opportunities now available to improve our lives. The NEPAD initiative has recognised this fact and adopted it as one of its key action strategies the promotion and acceleration of projects to connect schools and youth centres to ICT.
I hope that Maitland High can be part of this revitalisation and serve as an example that can help us develop a model of good practice in teaching and learning for all our schools.
The computer room will serve as a valuable service to community members in need of safe and supportive environments for after-school and work-related studies.
Furthermore, taking advantage of the resources at their disposal and ensuring the safety of the equipment will transfer ownership of this facility to the Maitland High school community as a whole. In achieving this, Maitland High will set an example that will point the way for others.
I congratulate everybody who has made this facility a reality. I particularly commend the principal, teachers, school governing body, officials from Khanya, the WCED, and the members of the community who assisted in this venture.
This computer room serves as a true demonstration of a school community’s determination to invest in the success of their school. No investment in the future of our country can equal or better the investment in education.
In conclusion, initiatives such as this give substance to many of the ideals and visions of our government’s ICT programme. I am particularly impressed by the innovative funding mechanisms employed to make this venture a reality. There must be a lesson here for many others who want to contribute toward the development of our people.
May I wish the school and the community of Maitland every success in the future.
I thank you.