The use of ICT in South African Township schools

Author : Violet Madingoane
Date added : 1999-10-02

Brief Project Background

Provision of ICT centres in 5 township schools around Johannesburg. Implementation of Internet access and international links.

Results

The use of ICT in South African Township schools
Experiences gained and lessons learned

ID. No. 3870

Introduction

I want to tell you about our experience of introducing computers to schools in the townships around Johannesburg. Firstly, I would like to make clear that I am not an expert in computers or technology as I had never used a computer when I started on this project. We all had to learn as we went along with the project. If there is one lesson that I hope you get from this short story is that there is no need to be scared of computers and in fact I have found that they are powerful tools for self development.

Background

During the apartheid era in South Africa, inequalities in provision of resources and opportunities were considered normal. The vast majority of the population was excluded from basic human rights. For example in the educational sector, there were unequal provision of resources and training. In black schools there were few teachers, many of whom were poorly trained, badly paid and with a low morale. In the townships, this situation led to inadequate education for the young black community resulting in poor employment opportunities and poverty.
In the townships around Johannesburg the primary and secondary schools are those built during the apartheid years. These buildings are often in poor condition and are overcrowded with up to 2,000 pupils per schools. The school buildings often have no electricity supply and most schools are lucky to have just one phone line to the school office.
Given the above situation it is hardly surprising that very few schools have access to computers let alone the Internet. The graph below shows the number of black, white, Indian and coloured schools in the Gauteng Province (which includes the Johannesburg townships) that have access to ICT in 1995 -96. It is clear from this graph that our education system is in danger of becoming even more divided between the have's and have not's.

“sorry the graph couldn’t be displayed”

Despite this difficult situation, our experience has been that with appropriate access to ICT in less privileged schools, it is possible to provide new opportunities for education, employment and empowerment. This story will document our experience over the last 3 years and we hope that it will provide inspiration for other schools.

Description of the Project

The ICT project was established as part of a Partnership between the University of the Witwatersrand and twenty township schools in Soweto, Tembisa and Kathlehong. The project was intended to enable more pupils from the townships to have the opportunity to enter Further Education by improving their academic skills and confidence in Maths, Science and English. The project had four main components which were provision of school libraries, use of students to run enrichment classes for pupils in schools, teacher development and the
establishment of computer centres.

In 1996 a total of five schools were chosen to host computer resource centres. These centres were also to be shared by other schools closest to them. The selected secondary schools were Fumana, Tembisa, Musi, Morris Isaacson and Letsibogo Girls.

The criteria for the selection of the five schools were: -

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• Each resource centre is located in an area where it can service other satellite schools
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• The schools had to have space readily available for the establishment of a resource centre
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• Educators were required to be computer literate
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• The security of the centres had to be of a high standard
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• Committees to oversee use of computers in the centre were formed of representatives from the satellite schools and the host school including community representatives, teachers, principals and student representatives.

Each centre was provided with 20 IBM 486 PCs with 8 Mb RAM linked to a Token Ring LAN and a main server. The desktop computers were installed with Microsoft Windows 3.1, Lotus Smart Suite, IBM Schoolview, Ultimaths (standard 9-10) and Cornerstone English. The server was installed with Novell Netware 2.1 and had a CD ROM.

The computer centres were arranged with desks around the walls of the classroom in a U shape. This allowed up to 4 pupils to use one workstation at a time. The classrooms were secured with burglar bars and electronic security systems to prevent theft.

Two teachers from each computer centre were provided with training in computer troubleshooting and the use of educational software. These trained teachers were responsible for supervising computer use after school hours.

In order to allow each of the 5 satellite schools to use the computer centre, a timetable was set up where each school was allocated one day a week for computer access. To control the numbers, each school was allowed to send a maximum of 120 pupils to the centre. With two pupils working together on each workstation, 600 pupils attend computer classes at each centre per week.

In order to cover recurrent costs for running the centres, a minimal fee of Fifty Rand (about US $ 15.00) was charged per year for each pupil. This was not sufficient to cover maintenance and daily running costs. In addition the computers were originally donated to the project but the software had to be purchased with external financial support.

In 1997 the second phase of the project was launched to provide Internet connectivity to each of the 5 centres. This was done through collaboration with a UK NGO called The Internet Learning Trust. As part of this initiative each of the 5 centres was linked to schools in Birmingham with the intention of working on joint on line projects involving principals, teachers and pupils.

As part of the second phase teachers at each centre were provided with training in the use of multimedia, working on the Internet, web site design, using NetMeeting with video conferencing and ICQ for chat.

Project Achievements

Since 1996 a total of over 3,000 pupils have had the opportunity to acquire new skills in the use of ICT. Whilst it has not be possible to quantify the impact of these new skills on career and further study opportunities, we know that many have benefit from these centres. For example Bongani from Musi High School who has now opted to study Computer Science at the University of Witwatersrand as a direct result of his exposure to computers at the school.

As a result of the establishment of the centres, pupils have been able to deepen their knowledge in traditional courses such as mathematics, science and English. Moreover, they have learnt new skills about information technology itself. One example of these skills that the students have developed is the production of a newsletter, using a digital camera, scanner and printer.

The teachers in the participating schools have also benefited from the project. The initial 10 teachers who were trained in basic ICT skills have now passed these skills on to a further 200 teachers. Many of these teachers are now extremely competent in the use of ICT and they have even made a presentation to a national teachers conference. The project has helped provide new resource material for teaching as well as served as additional motivation for teachers who are often working in difficult and frustrating conditions.

Other benefits that we have observed from access to ICT in the schools include: -

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• expanded subject knowledge by pupils
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• capable students from the townships gaining entrance to Tertiary Education
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• improved self-confidence and new interest in learning for pupils
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• improves prospects of employment for school leavers
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• teachers have acquired new approaches for learning and teaching
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• improved self-image and morale amongst teachers

Letter from Mbali Mabuza
"My name is Mbali Mabuza. I was born on the 4th of June 1982, I am 16 years old. I am a grade 11 student. I would like to be a medical doctor.I attend computer classes at my school. I participate in every computer activities. As I am typing I am busy with the computer project regarding with my school work."

The second phase of the project involving Internet access has provided a whole new range of opportunities and benefits for the schools. Each of the 5 centres has developed it's own web site (www.netschools.org/jobi). As a result of this presence on the web, the schools have made numerous contacts and friends around the world. For example Fumana High School has started a collaborative diary project with schools in Sweden (www.magazine.se/global). The schools web site received a Childnet International award in 1998. The site currently provides one of the few educational resources available on the web about life in the townships of South Africa.

The twin link between the centres and schools in Birmingham was launched by the UK Secretary of State for International Development Clare Short. She took part in an online conversation with the Soweto schools and said:

“The Birmingham-Soweto Link Project is a good example of how information technology can be harnessed to broaden horizons of young people all over the world, and build real bridges for development.”

The teachers in Soweto and Birmingham were able to exchange experiences and resources, and could assist each other to enhance the curriculum and tackle management problems of the schools. In particular, the computer educators were able to help each other and share their knowledge. The Lord Mayor and teachers from Birmingham also came out to visit the Soweto schools and return visits from South Africa to Birmingham were also possible.

The use of ICT for conferencing has also provided new opportunities for collaboration and sharing ideas. The ICQ program has been used by all the centres to enable interactive chat with schools in other parts of the world (see Soweto - Botswana example below). The centres have also taken part in a number of video conferences including a HIV/AIDS conference where pupils discussed issues about awareness and prevention of the disease with an audience in Australia.

ICQ Chat Session between Letsibogo School and teachers in Botswana

lesibog@iafrica.com: Let me chat with one of your student in setswana
Man in the moon: we have to go for 10 mins as we need the modem port for our camera hard disc invite me back
Man in the moon: hang on we have a setswana chat coming
lesibog@iafrica.com: Ok right Go siyame
lesibog@iafrica.com: Bagayeso, go yang foo?
Man in the moon: dumela wetsho
lesibog@iafrica.com: Gasegore ke itse setswana tota, ke ithuta fela
ths@iafrica.com: how can we be ? We think you are the one who iswe have received yours letsibogook hamba kahle. le rena re itumla thata fa re kgona go buisana le lona
Man in the moon: keitumetse i thought u
Man in the moon: you are doing very well though
lesibog@iafrica.com: Ithuteng technology e E tla re phidisa
Man in the moon:o nne o ithute setswana

The project has attracted enormous interest from the media over the last three years. It has featured in a number of international TV programmes, major newspapers and the BBC World Service. This has served to raise the profile of the opportunities for using ICT in education.

The centres have provided a model for the Gauteng Department of Education to establish similar computer centres in township schools. To date the GDE has established 30 centres with a further 20 planned. The Gauteng Department Education has also made computer studies a matriculation subject in order to further stimulate the use of computers in schools at all levels. It is estimated that by the year 2002 there will be 250,000 vacancies in the South African IT industry.

Lessons Learnt

During the running of the project, several problems were encountered, some of which were not anticipated in the beginning. Some of the most important issues are: -

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• Teacher strikes: Loss of time due industrial action (work stoppages)
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• Inadequate communication systems: Insufficient telephones and fax machines
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• Overloads for educators: Educators are also teaching the normal curriculum and are often unavailable for meetings
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• Distance: Project schools widely dispersed - difficult to organise meetings and training
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• Transport for the co-ordinator - availability is irregular.
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• Missing integration of ICT in curriculum at national and regional levels
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• Poor management skills and computer literacy of principals, governing bodies and parents, resulting in lack of support for centres
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• Funding problems: Sources for future development and expansion are uncertain.

Many of these problems are being addressed, for example the issues of management and integration in the curriculum. However, the processes require a substantial amount of time and energy from the stakeholders.

The Way Forward..........

With the initial phase of the pilot project coming to an end after its three-year period, the goals for the future development are: -

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• sustainability of the centres
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• further integration of ICT in the curriculum
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• use of the centres by the GDE as models for further developments
• >
  
• spreading of the skills and sharing experiences with other or new centres
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• opening of the centres to the community (also offering certificate courses)

The Wits University Graduate School for Public and Development Management is launching an initiative to address community development and is aiming at running computer courses for the wider community at affordable prices. In order to reach the goal the Learning, Information, Networking and Knowledge (LINK) centre introduces low cost courses that can be terminated with different levels of accreditation. Using the existing computer centres and educators, LINK wants to gain experience for the further development and implementation of their project.

In summary, I hope that the inspiration and excitement that we have all had in developing this project will help to encourage others to join us on the same superhighway of learning.

Violet Madingoane
Computer Centre Co-ordinator
2nd October 1999

Project Information

Total budget in US$ : -

Contact Information

Violet Madingoane

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