An economy that is driven by and still relies on minerals and resources, as well as agriculture, like SA, is outdated.
So says Panyaza Lesufi, Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) MEC, in an exclusive interview with ITWeb.
Since taking office in 2014, Lesufi has been aggressively driving ICT adoption, especially in Gauteng's township schools, to change the country's historic reliance on traditional sectors for job creation.
Lesufi says while old economies are being eliminated daily, SA's education system is still producing learners that will participate in those obsolete economies. "Technology is going to be the base that needs to be taken seriously."
To avoid contributing to the high number of unemployed youth, we must encourage young people to participate and not only be spectators of this technology-driven economy, he says.
Countries that are galloping economically, like South Korea and China, don't have to rely on mineral resources. They invest in human capital, which becomes innovative, and new economies are created, explains the MEC.
"The mining industry is no longer one of the competitive industries in the world and neither is our agriculture sector. We need to build technology and there is no way that our learners will compete with learners in South Korea or China when they still use the chalkboard, when they haven't been exposed to technology as part of their learning experience.
"That is the reason I felt that we need to radically introduce ICT in our schools and ensure our children are part of this world, otherwise they will be left behind."
Chalk and talk
Efforts by the GDE to transform the learning experience began with the introduction of the paperless classroom project last year, which saw 375 high schools in Soweto switch from chalkboards to smartboards.
As part of this initiative, grade 12 learners were the first to receive tablets, while teachers received laptops. The paperless classroom was introduced as part of the department's plans to move matric learners from using traditional learning tools to smart devices.
It started badly, but I knew this would happen because we are not in Rome, we are in Gauteng.
Panyaza Lesufi
We are now waking up in the middle of an industry revolution that is already taking place and there is nothing that we can do, says Lesufi. "We are living in a world where driverless cars and robots are a thing. Innovation and creativity is taking centre stage and our children must be part of that process."
The paperless classroom project envisages that by 2019, from grade 12 to grade seven, all learners have one tablet each, all teachers receive one laptop each and one smartboard for one classroom.
To date, the department has only managed this feat for grade 12 classes.
"With grade 11 ? because the return of tablets by grade 12 was very low ? it was very difficult to incorporate that element with that grade.
"Next year, we want to ensure all learners in grade 11 and 12 are on that platform. This is very important because it allows learners to be creative and innovative; it allows them to do things that I never thought our learners can execute," he explains.
Stumbling blocks
Although the GDE's efforts to provide modernised technologies in township schools have been commended, the project has been a prime target of theft.
Lesufi admits the department's largest expenditure with regards to this project has been the recovery of missing devices. "It started badly, but I knew this would happen because we are not in Rome, we are in Gauteng."
According to Lesufi, the smart devices went missing as a result of learners handing them over to loan sharks.
"I give somebody who is poor a tablet worth R2 500; they go to the loan shark and say hold on to this tablet and lend me R1 000, and he comes back and says the tablet is lost because he or she can't afford to pay back the mashonisa [loan shark] or they take it to second-hand goods shops.
"Because we can track them now, we can go back to the mashonisa and say this device is ours and not yours."
In terms of crime, the GDE was hit hard when it came to smartboards, as it didn't think anyone would want to steal them, because it is not a television set and Gauteng is the only province that has smartboards, he says.
"We lost almost 150 last year. Now we have installed tracking devices and we are recovering them. There was a syndicate and since the arrest of that syndicate, the numbers have gone down drastically."
According to Lesufi, theft is not the only challenge the department has faced in terms of the rollout of ICT in schools. The digital divide between the teacher and learner is also worrisome.
He notes learners complain about their teachers, saying students must spend time showing teachers how to do things.
We are producing teachers that are not going to be needed, says Lesufi. "We need to fix this at university level, where the quality of teachers that are coming into the education space must be a ready to teach product, not an awaiting to be trained teacher.
"Our teacher training component must move its speed. The problem with technology is that it imposes itself on you whether you like it or not ? so you adapt or perish.
"Teacher training is indeed important."
Public servant
Although his efforts may be viewed as a good start to him being tipped as the next minister of education, Lesufi says he has no such aspirations.
"I've been a public servant my entire life; I've never worked in the private sector. I enjoy establishing institutions and that is what I like. I would rather stick to what I know I enjoy the best and what I have studied."
Lesufi says during his time as MEC, he is working on making Gauteng the star pupil of the digital revolution.
He explains: "That is the position we have taken. Anything that is ICT needs to start in Gauteng; we need to be seen as the entry point.
"There is no economy that will invest in a country where the ICT is bad...we need to move to ensure that whoever wants to invest in Gauteng, they must know that we've got skilled people who not only provide ICT support, but the ICT infrastructure is also the best. It starts in Gauteng."
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