by TINTSWALO BALOYI
JOHANNESBURG, (CAJ News) – THE MTN SA Foundation has opened a R1,3 million digital multimedia centre at a high school in the Free State, a move aimed at conquering the digital divide.
The JS Moroka High School in Thaba’Nchu is the beneficiary.
The multimedia centre is to open the world of technology to learners, who will be able to use the facilities for everyday assignments, basic programming, problem-solving and accessing the internet for educational material that was previously inaccessible, said Arthur Mukhuvha, General Manager of the MTN SA Foundation, at the facility’s handover.
The tech and media centre is equipped with 35 computers, a server and an interactive whiteboard for teaching.
Mukhuvha added that the MTN Foundation’s investment at the JS Moroka School was about reducing the digital and educational divides that make it impossible for those without access to quality education to reach their potential. “Ultimately, their loss is also the nation’s,” he noted.
The investment resulted from the extensive partnership between MTN and the Free State Department of Education.
The MTN SA Foundation has invested in more than 300 multimedia and computer centres at schools across South Africa.
It has complemented these investments with teacher training and developments like the MTN Online School, launched in cooperation with the Department of Basic Education to help speed up the digitisation of education content.
Mukhuva said creating a new future would depend on access to empowered, quality education.
“At the MTN SA Foundation, we see ourselves at the coal-face of this drive as an enabler working towards a more equitable society, with projects like the JS Moroko High School’s multimedia centre, as the proof points.”
– CAJ News