Telkom has kicked off its ambitious bid to connect 2000 schools across the country to the internet by the end of 2010 with the opening of the first Telkom Internet Café at a high school in the Western Cape.
The Grassy Park High School in Cape Town was the first to benefit from the project.
The telecoms provider has dedicated R22 million to the project and has partnered with the Western Cape education department’s Khanya initiative, which uses education technology to support teaching and learning.
“We are deeply grateful to Telkom for this investment, which will enable learners to leap the digital divide by gaining access to high-speed, broadband internet connectivity at their schools. The investment will cover no less than 150 schools,” said Ron Swartz, head of the Western Cape education department.
Telkom will also be providing each of the participating schools with interactive white boards, data projectors and laptops. The schools will also have free broadband access to the internet for the first year, and will be offered reduced rates thereafter. Khanya will help Telkom to select the schools over the course of the next two months and will assist the project through training and technical support.
“This will make it possible for these schools to afford internet connectivity for their learners. We have already connected 98.4% of Western Cape schools to the internet, but in many cases, this is used for email for administration purposes, and not necessarily for teaching and learning,” added Swartz.
“The problem has simply been cost. Many of our schools cannot afford to use the internet for teaching and learning, simply because of the cost of connectivity. The Telkom project will now make it possible for participating schools to afford greater use of the internet for teaching and learning support.”