Derek Hanekom, science and technology minister

Government is turning to technology as a solution to educational problems in rural areas, with the ICT4RED (ICT for rural education development) project.

Teachers at 11 rural schools received tablets at the end of last month, through the ICT4RED initiative, bringing the total tablets distributed through the programme to 216.

ICT4RED is part of TECH4RED, a joint initiative by the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Basic Education and Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, which aims to improve learning outcomes in rural areas by implementing various technology initiatives.

The CSIR Meraka Institute, one of the partners of the initiative, updated science and technology minister Derek Hanekom" rel=tag>Derek Hanekom on the progress made since the TECH4RED project commenced early last year.

The pilot for the project was conducted at the Arthur Mfebe Senior secondary school, in the Eastern Cape, in 2012. This saw tablets being distributed to all the teachers at the school, under the CSIR Meraka’s “Earn to Learn” model, where each teacher had to agree to attend a number of training courses and do their homework in order to “earn” their tablets.

Storage facilities and charging stations were installed at the school, as well as a WiFi network and a content server. The school was also provided with two MobiKits, each holding 10 tablets. These tablets were given to the matric learners, who share them and take turns to take the tablets home to assist with their homework.

Training was given to all the teachers at the school, and in June, all the teachers fulfilled the requirements set out and the tablets officially became their personal property.

At the end of July 2013, tablets were given to all the teachers at the additional 11 schools that form part of the first phase of the project, as well as matric learners at one of the schools.