The Information and Communication Technology (ICT) forum launched in February this year by Minister of Education Kader Asmal continues to gain momentum, with a further conference due to be held later this month.
President Thabo Mbeki underlined the importance of making a meaningful ICT intervention: “We must succeed within our own borders to bridge the structural gaps that exist between developed South Africa and underdeveloped South Africa, ending the poverty and underdevelopment typical of the countries of the South.”
This ambitious ICT initiative will need all the help it can get to succeed, and role players from business to NGOs to government – in fact, any one with a stake in ICT and education – will have to come on board in a big way. Asmal is hoping to cement partnerships at this month’s forum.
It is envisaged that the ICT strategy should concentrate on:
– the development and supply of an ICT infrastructure over a 10 year period, which includes putting ICT in schools and colleges, and linking them to a learning network;
– the development of online curriculum resources. This will involve creating digital learning support material that can be accessed by all schools through a central education portal;
– training educators to use ICT for teaching, which will involve developing the necessary training modules and software. The massive scope of the project, intended to bridge the digital divide, is accompanied by costs of a similar magnitude. The cost is expected to run into several billion rand.
– The Teacher/M&G Media, Johannesburg, November 2001.