By Siphiwe Nyathi
Groblersdal – Teaching and learning at Bosele School for the Blind and Deaf in Mosterlus, outside Groblersdal, will become more exciting with the donation of a specialised computer laboratory.
Speaking during the handover of the computer lab on Thursday, Deputy Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, urged parents to treat their children as gifts, whether they are able-bodied or not.
“Your responsibility is to give them the best support ever and get them ready for the journey ahead. Our teachers should treat pupils with disabilities as if they were what they ought to be and help them become what they are capable of becoming," she said.
The deputy minister read poems to the children, their parents and the school teachers.
She further thanked MTN SA Foundation for contributing the laboratory, which has specialised equipment to meet the needs of the pupils.
Spokesperson for the ministry, Emilie Olifant, said the school was identified as one of the schools for the visually impaired in need of a computer lab.
“It was found that children who complete matric at Bosele only get to meet a computer at a higher learning institution which is a disadvantage and has affected their performance,” she said.
Olifant said the centre would address the educational, socio-economic, recreational, emotional and psychological needs of the pupils at the school.
School principal Job Dooka said the ICT centre would go a long way in making a difference to the pupils because of the special resources that are installed in the computers.
“We are very humbled by the donation of this special centre. Pupils will able to use the computers that have Job Access With Speech and also a printer that can convert normal words into Braille. Their learning in class will be improved,” said Dooka.
He said the foundation donated 31 advanced computers and a printer that is connected to all the computers.
MTN SA Foundation General Manager Kusile Mtunzi-Hairwadzi said they had identified the needs and challenges of the school through their partnership with Deputy Minister Bogopane- Zulu's ministry.
“We realised that we needed to help the school achieve its mission to provide pupils with quality education and assist in developing their potential by purchasing and donating the equipment that they required," said Mtunzi-Hairwadzi.
"We hope the donation aids the school in becoming an effective and efficient centre for learning and prepare them to the digital world." – SAnews.gov.za
