The project will build an ICT Centre in a farmhouse in the isolated rural community of Geluksburg in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN). The Centre will support the Dare to Dream (D2D) Programme, an integrated childhood to young adulthood educational programme funded by UNICEF in partnership with the National Department of Basic Education and the Sportstec Foundation.
The ECD centre which has been established in Geluksburg, South Africa is functioning well, but does not have an ICT for Education (ICT4E) facility through which online content can be delivered. Several service providers are ready to support the initiative with online solutions, but these cannot be utilized until the infrastructure and connectivity are established. A holistic and integrated ICT4E solution in a rural setting can make a meaningful difference to disadvantaged learners aged 3-5.
Establishing an ICT Centre in Geluksburg will tick many boxes in terms of ICT4E - management, teachers, learners, community - but more importantly, it will provide a ready-made platform for the systems that are already in place. Communication and advocacy in the area in order to get buy-in from the local stakeholders have been completed.
The ICT Centre will form part of an existing eco-system in Geluksburg and, as such, will be more likely to be sustainable. Multiple funders are already involved. Mentoring of teachers from local farm schools will help to improve teacher quality. Pre- and post-assessments of learners will provide empirical evidence of improvements. It is estimated that at least 250 learners between the ages of 3-5 will benefit from the Centre, as well as 3-5 teachers from the rural community.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
