Vodacom Foundation

Vodacom today joined hands with the Department of Education and several business partners to establish an ICT Resource Centre that will provide e-education facilities to educators and learners in the Nkangala region of Mpumalanga Province.

Vodacom's investment occupies the second floor of the extensive resource centre in eMalahleni, Mpumalanga. The Vodacom facility offers:

• 50 computers
• Educational aids and models;
• Internet connectivity; and
• Educational Content
• Training: Centre Manager and Subject Advisors.

In addition to the above, Vodacom will supply connectivity, content hosting, and internet connectivity for the next three years. Where necessary, Vodacom Foundation has also refurbished the building.

Mthobi Tyamzashe, Chairman of the Vodacom Foundation, said: "There is no doubt that e-education will be at the heart of future excellence in education, and has the potential to play a crucial role in the training of South Africa's teachers to be effective educators. Vodacom, through the Vodacom Foundation, and with the assistance of its business partners, is pleased to make a contribution to our country's future through the establishment of this ICT Resource Centre."

Vodacom's partners in this initiative are:

• The Department of Education;

•·Microsoft, which is supplying software, "Partners in Learning" programme content and certification for teachers and public;

•·Dell, which has provided computers;

•·Cisco, supplying certification and training;

•·Mindset, which has made educational curriculum content available; and

•·Intel, providing training content for teacher development.

The Vodacom facility is an accredited Microsoft training facility, and will also be registered as a Cisco technical training facility. As part of their partnership commitment, both Microsoft and Cisco will provide training at a minimal fee to members of the community who'll be making use of the facility.

Vodacom's investment in the eMalahleni ICT Resource Centre is part of the Vodacom Foundation's vision to provide one such centre in each province in South Africa.

The second ICT Centre, based in the North West Province is almost complete. The combined budget for these two Centres is R4 million.

Through this flagship project, one of the Foundation's Ikwezi or legacy projects, Vodacom aims to give strong impetus to the introduction of ICT into education by becoming an organic part of a process of ICT diffusion into schools. The project's key objectives are:

• To establish regional ICT Resource Centres for use by educators and students;
• To deliver free training and online educational support to the educators on an ongoing basis;
• To provide and host online e-education content to ensure access to information and education content.

The Vodacom ICT Resource Centres will focus on educator and learner training and development. Services to be delivered by the Centres include:

• Continuous teacher training, including subject-specific training;
• Multi-media resources to be used as teaching and learning aids;
• General internet access for the pupils and the community at large;
• Digital educational content to be accessed by teachers and pupils;
• ICT training for the community at large; and
• General communication services for the community.

In addition to Vodacom's sponsorship, the Centre offers an interactive science centre, a career guidance centre, and a high tech ICT resource centre facility. The full Centre has been made possible through the support of multiple donors, including Anglo American, the Mpumalanga Department of Education, the National Department of Basic Education, Eskom Foundation, and MTN SA Foundation.