February 2002 - Volume 1, Issue 1

South African Township Schools: Struggling for ICT Knowledge!

There were grave inequalities of access to the provision of services and opportunities between black and white schools during the apartheid era in South Africa. Township schools around Johannesburg are often overcrowded that has resulted in widespread disparities between white and other schools for black, Indian and coloured citizens in the possession of computers let alone the Internet.

In spite of the growing gap in the provision of education, under privileged schools are struggling for the dissemination of ICT knowledge in order to provide opportunities for education, employment and empowerment.

In line with the above objectives, an ICT Project was established as part of a partnership between the University of the Witwatersrand - highly reputed in sub-Saharan Africa and other continents - and twenty township schools in Soweto, Tembisa and Kathlenhong to enable more pupils to enter further education by improving their academic skills and abilities in Mathematics, Science and English.

In 1996 five secondary schools were selected for ICT education and to serve as centres for other schools located in close proximity. The criteria for the selection were appropriateness of the location, availability of space and educators, security, establishment of committees consisting of representatives from the satellite schools, teachers, principals and students.

Each centre was provided with the necessary ICT instruments. The computer centres were arranged with desks around the walls of the classroom in a U shape to allow up to 4 pupils to use one workstation at a time. Two teachers from each computer centre were provided with training in computer troubleshooting and the use of educational software.

A timetable was set up and the maximum number of pupils from each school and a fee of US$15.00 to cover recurrent costs for each pupil per year were fixed. Since 1996, a total of 3,000 pupils have had the opportunity to acquire new skills in the use of ICT. They have been able to deepen their knowledge in traditional courses such as Mathematics, Science and English. The initial number of 10 teachers who were trained in ICT has now grown to 200. Interestingly, they have been able to make a presentation to national teachers' conference on the subject under discussion.

The introduction of ICT in the schools has enabled the pupils to expand their knowledge, gain entrance to Tertiary Education, improve self-confidence in learning and broaden their prospects of employment.

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 its own Web site that enabled them to make contacts and friends around the world. For example, 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. This Project has attracted an enormous interest from the media and it has featured a number of international TV programmes, major newspapers and the BBC World Service. One Education Department has also made computer studies a matriculation subject to further stimulate the use of computers in schools at all levels.

Several problems were encountered during the running of the Project, such as, inadequate communication system, overload for educators, long distance to organize meetings and training, lack of transport for the coordinator, missing of ICT in curriculum at national and regional levels, lack of support due to poor management skills and computer literacy of principals, governing bodies and parents and sources for expansion.

The future aim will focus on the sustainability, integration of ICT in the curriculum, spreading the skills and sharing experiences, opening the centres to the community and using them as models for further development.

What can our ICT educators and vocational instructors learn from the experiences of these township schools in South Africa?