Mogwase – Learners at Temogo Special School in the North West have become the latest group of pupils to get connected to Information and Communication Technology (ICT), which will help to prepare them for life after school.
Through a partnership between the Office of the Deputy Minister of Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, and MTN South Africa Foundation, the learners were handed over a R458 000 accessible computer lab, with specialised equipment that is responsive to the special needs of blind and partially sighted learners.
The school has now joined 10 other schools -- which have learners with intellectual disabilities -- that have received the specialised equipment since January this year.
The laboratory has 22 computers with specialised software. It has more than eight different specialised programmes that assist children with intellectual disabilities to interact with the programme and computer.
An elated learner at Temogo, Tshireletso Molotsi, thanked the department and MTN, saying the computer lab will “unlock their future”.
“I never thought that one day we will have such equipment. You have opened the eyes of the blind and the future is in our hands… You are a blessing to us,” an emotional Tshireletso said on Wednesday.
School teacher Lydia Matabane, who teaches computer studies, said the specialised computers will make her work easier and give her learners a shot at a brighter future.
“Before, it was difficult to work with them, as the school was using (a programme) which doesn’t suit the learners’ needs because some of them can’t read. Some of them can’t see and some of them are slow learners.
“I started today to teach them with the new computers with specialised software, and it only took me 30 minutes and they understood what was being taught,” said Matabane.
Deputy Minister Bogopane-Zulu said the programmes will assist the school in implementing the curriculum for children with intellectual disabilities, so that they can be on par with their peers, who don’t have intellectual disabilities.
“I know as a blind person what a computer does in my everyday life and how ICT makes me as competent as my peers. I want to see to it that children with disabilities are taught computers at an early age, so that they stand a better chance.
“My intention and dream is to make sure that every child with a disability in the education system has access to computers - and not just an ordinary computer but to the computer that is loaded with specialised equipment that they are able to use,” said the deputy minister.
The department wants to connect 45 schools by the end of this year, and hopes to do the same every year. It also wants to target ordinary rural schools.
MTN Senior Manager: Education, Eric Matsomane, said their partnership with the department will continue to grow.
“We want to see our kids become ICT gurus from Grade R and there’s no going back. ICT is here to stay and ours is to adapt, improve and utilise it. From today, this laboratory is not MTN’s or the department’s - it’s yours. Use it maximally,” Matsomane told learners. – SAnews.gov.za
