ONLINE LEARNING ON THE CARDS
20 000 laptops distributed in schools and still counting
Douglas Letsholathebe says his aim is to turn the education system digital during his tenure as Minister of Education and Skills Development. Digitalising education is an area that is so close to his heart that even when some teachers and his colleagues criticised him that giving students laptops was a bad idea, he turned a deaf ear.
“As I went around the country distributing laptops in schools, those children showed us that we are far much behind, we could have done this thing 10 years ago or so.
“I am excited and cannot wait for the day when I will be told that a Physics teacher in Francistown is not well and unavailable for class, then the students log into a Physics class in Matshekge School in Bobonong.
“It will happen before 2024. I will make it happen, it is something that I want to be remembered for when I’m no longer here,” Letsholathebe assured.
The vision is to one-day reach a level where each student owns a gadget which they can use for school work.
The intention is to restructure the educational system in order to produce students who are ready for the 21st century and who will be able to shift the economy from resource-based to knowledge-based.
The Minister added that the good thing about the fourth industrialisation is that it does not require one to have big shiny offices for operation. All that is needed is a laptop, connectivity and content then students are ready to go.
Currently, the Ministry of Education is doing all it can to ensure that all senior secondary schools in the country are given gadgets to use. Among schools that have already received their laptops are Shashe, Nata, Tsabong Unified, Matsha, Gantsi and Selibe Phikwe.
The laptops are given to both students and teachers and as of the 20th September, the Ministry had awarded over 18 000 gadgets in 12 senior schools countrywide. From the 18 000 gadgets, 1500 went to teachers while the remaining 16 500 were given to students.