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THE Mpumalanga Department of Education is positive that Ubuhle Buzile E-Learning programme, which was launched in April by Premier, Refilwe Mtshweni Tsipane, is revolutionizing the delivery of teaching and learning within the province.
The launch event coincided with the delivery of 55000 tablets for Grade 12 learners and 6700 laptops for teachers in the quintiles 1 to 3 schools.
Speaking at that occasion, an elated Mtsweni-Tsipane said: “We are taking a giant leap in the educational field today, with Ubuhlebuzile secondary school, as the base to launch the e-Learning Programme. It gives me pleasure to be a part of this history-making moment, joining hands with the community of Mkhondo Municipality, as our provincial government is making this bold move.”
“This is evidence of our commitment in equipping the Grade 12 Class with the tools that will optimise their learning. There is more to these technological tools, that we are handing over today: They are the fruits that stem from the 4th industrial revolution era that we are in; They are catalysts of change that to thrust both learners and teachers into a digital age in which their
capacity will be elevated to national standards.”
The gadgets will optimise the quality of learning across the province and through this initiative.
“We will move a step closer to attaining the ideals of the Strategic Framework for Schooling 2030, Mpumalanga Vision 2030, The African Union: Agenda 2063 and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and provide quality, effective and non-colonial education to the children of our beautiful Province,” said Mtsweni-Tsipane.
“We are a first step towards the realisation of our vision to ensure a “One Tablet-One Learner” for the
benefit of our children.”
These sentiments were confirmed by Sibongile Irene Gondwe, Principal of Sitintile Secondary School, who lauded E-Learning being introduced at her school from January 2022.
“As a school, we’re under the Mathematics, Science and Technology Academy aligned schools whereby, e-Learning assists a lot,” Gondwe said.
Gondwe said that since the tablets were introduced to the learners after a two-year Covid-19 pandemic challenge, they are certain that they will make it at the end of the year because of the progressive support considering that learners are able to access all information whether they are at school, in the bus or car and at home.
“A learning environment has been created for them around the clock. We are definitely going to improve our pass rate since we’ve got these gadgets which are assisting teaching and learning at school and other social spaces. Learners are also able to download past examination question papers to acquaint themselves with how to approach their examinations at all costs,” Gondwe said.
“I must say there’s open communication between learners and educators through this system as WhatsApp messages are exchanged between learners and the educators at all times. So, we don’t have a huge problem in terms of communication. We will definitely improve our pass mark from last year’s 69% to 85% because we have put all strategies in place to ensure we succeed.”
The principal said that there are many strategies in place that have profiled the learners according to their abilities.
“We have streamlined them and have provided questionnaires to determine their abilities. The top learners will also be pushed to leverage up to Level 7 and go higher still. The learners on the border line will be provided the easy to answer questions, will be pushed from Level one to three, hence we’re confident of attaining our 85% and above, we will obtain it at the end of this academic year,” said Gondwe.
She asserted further that since the e-Learning was introduced and the gadgets distributed among the learners, learners are able to interact with their teachers and among themselves, too.
“They are able to, through WhatsApp, ask questions on things they require explanation. That is why I’ve said we’re gunning for 85% pass mark this year because there’s just a hive of activity between the teachers and learners. Above that, data is there and at school we’re controlling its usage in a good manner. We ensure that learners don’t come with their own gadgets, or cards, but stick to the ones supplied to them, hence this academic year, we’re going to receive good results, a thing that is very motivational, indeed,” she ended.
Thembeka Secondary School Principal, Mlungisi Khoza, said they are very excited about the E-Learning gadgets.
“As principals, I must confess that we were very excited because we foresaw that they would contribute a lot in enhancing learning and teaching at our schools. These tablets will go a long way in assisting learners in terms of resourcefulness. They replace the textbooks which would be lacking due to retrieval challenges, now the gadgets are closing that gap,” Khoza said.
“We did experience teething problems as this was something new for our schools. The learners got excited as some abused these gadgets by not using the available data the right way. It’s ensuring that the data provided is adequately used for learning and research purposes, including communicating with educators through WhatsApp and also communicating with their peers, discussing
and advising each other on subject matters. All subjects are covered on the system.”
A learner from Thembeka Secondary school, Njabulo Chauke, said: “When they were first introduced to us, we saw them as befitting to help us cover up for learning lost due to Covid-19. We found it to be packed up with a lot of learning material and study guides that came in handy for us to really get down to studying hard.”
“On the other hand, this system has come in handy because in the past, we used to experience lack of textbooks, but now we have all textbooks in our gadgets. I’m doing seven subjects which is Physical Science, Mathematics, Life Sciences, English, Life Orientation, among others,” Chauke said.
Nhlanhla Madonsela, a learner from Sitintile High School, said: “The tablets have come in very handy for me and I’ve been embroiled in all its activities they have really assisted me a lot. We are able to browse the internet. It has enhanced my learning abilities as it provides textbooks which are more useful study guides. I improved my pass mark for Mathematics, for instance, from 43 to 76%. I’m optimistic that our school will attain a 100% pass rate this year because of the wealth of study material available in these tablets,” she stated.
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