Education in South Africa gets a large slice of public spending compared with most other countries, usually around 20% of total state expenditure together with about 5.3% of GDP. Despite this overwhelming financial commitment to education, it is apparent that South Africa still has significant educational challenges as reflected in the current numeracy, literacy and matric pass rates.
Government spends approximately R3 billion annually on Learning and Teaching Support Materials. Our analysis is that a large portion of this expenditure is spent on the associated logistics of delivering paper-based textbooks throughout the country. Making sure that every child in every school starts the year with all his/her textbooks have proven to be one of the most intractable obstacles in the delivery of quality education in South Africa. Significant backlogs in the delivery of Learner and Teacher Support Materials (LTSM) have had an adverse effect on teaching time and learner performance.
In 2010, there were 12,260,099 learners who were taught by 418,109 teachers in 25,850 schools. Government has stated that there is a serious shortage of teachers and that we will need 25,000 new teachers every year in order to cope with learner demand. The Learner/Educator ratio (LER) was 29.3 compared to 25.8 for Sub-Saharan Africa and 18.0 compared to the global average according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. LER is an indicator of education quality and is significant as a high ratio makes it difficult for pupils to follow in the classroom and teachers have less time to address the needs of each individual student. Private schools have started to see the adoption of Apple’s iPad in the classroom with interactive learning aids. This trend adds to the widening gap between the rich and poor, urban and rural in education.
If improving learning outcomes and eliminating inequality are the key challenges for South African schools, how can this be achieved? The many different studies and initiatives that have attempted to solve these challenges tend to point to the same underlying problems. In particular, it is clear that in many schools and classrooms the way teaching occurs must change.
The programme of action from government states that ‘teachers are to be in class, on time, teaching and making use of textbooks’. This is echoed in the ‘triple T’ of the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign (QLTC), a multi-stakeholder campaign, which underlines the importance of ‘Teachers, Textbooks and Time’ in improving learning. The Textbook is defined as an effective tool to ensure consistency, coverage, appropriate pacing and better quality instruction in implementing the curriculum. While we support this point of view, our belief is that the paper-based textbook is not a sustainable model in terms of its long term cost as well as how it engages the learner in achieving the desired performance goals set by the Department of Basic Education.
Our approach to overcome the limitations associated with a paper-based textbook, the high teacher to learner ratio and the quality of instruction, is to introduce a Mobile Tablet Solution together with digital textbooks and other teaching and learner aids. We believe that this approach will enhance the teaching and learner experience within the current prevailing conditions inside and outside the classroom. From a cost perspective, there is a significant savings in the way that budgets could be allocated and spent. One Tablet device could potentially be used throughout the entire K-12 schooling per learner versus an average of 7 paper-based textbooks per learner per year. A Mobile Tablet Solution will also provide Learner and Teachers with access to a multitude of quality interactive and engaging information and tools. And because Content and Applications are distributed electronically, the backlogs and inequalities associated with the traditional model will be cleared. In addition, Learning Resources will be up-to-date and relevant.
The Language of Learning and Training (LOLT) statistics and how it pertains to the 11 official languages presents an opportunity for Translation Services of content to be published into the official languages. It also opens up an opportunity for Local Content Developers to publish and electronically distribute their work. IT Services and Training will be needed to successfully adopt and support these technological changes in the classroom. With a total of 12,227,963 learners, 413,067 educators and 25,906 schools spread across 9 provinces, this will represent a significant impact in the creation of new jobs and opportunities for more citizens to participate in the economy. There are numerous benefits and ripple effects if this vision can be realised.
This is what drives our passion.
Government spends approximately R3 billion annually on Learning and Teaching Support Materials. Our analysis is that a large portion of this expenditure is spent on the associated logistics of delivering paper-based textbooks throughout the country. Making sure that every child in every school starts the year with all his/her textbooks have proven to be one of the most intractable obstacles in the delivery of quality education in South Africa. Significant backlogs in the delivery of Learner and Teacher Support Materials (LTSM) have had an adverse effect on teaching time and learner performance.
In 2010, there were 12,260,099 learners who were taught by 418,109 teachers in 25,850 schools. Government has stated that there is a serious shortage of teachers and that we will need 25,000 new teachers every year in order to cope with learner demand. The Learner/Educator ratio (LER) was 29.3 compared to 25.8 for Sub-Saharan Africa and 18.0 compared to the global average according to the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. LER is an indicator of education quality and is significant as a high ratio makes it difficult for pupils to follow in the classroom and teachers have less time to address the needs of each individual student. Private schools have started to see the adoption of Apple’s iPad in the classroom with interactive learning aids. This trend adds to the widening gap between the rich and poor, urban and rural in education.
If improving learning outcomes and eliminating inequality are the key challenges for South African schools, how can this be achieved? The many different studies and initiatives that have attempted to solve these challenges tend to point to the same underlying problems. In particular, it is clear that in many schools and classrooms the way teaching occurs must change.
The programme of action from government states that ‘teachers are to be in class, on time, teaching and making use of textbooks’. This is echoed in the ‘triple T’ of the Quality Learning and Teaching Campaign (QLTC), a multi-stakeholder campaign, which underlines the importance of ‘Teachers, Textbooks and Time’ in improving learning. The Textbook is defined as an effective tool to ensure consistency, coverage, appropriate pacing and better quality instruction in implementing the curriculum. While we support this point of view, our belief is that the paper-based textbook is not a sustainable model in terms of its long term cost as well as how it engages the learner in achieving the desired performance goals set by the Department of Basic Education.
Our approach to overcome the limitations associated with a paper-based textbook, the high teacher to learner ratio and the quality of instruction, is to introduce a Mobile Tablet Solution together with digital textbooks and other teaching and learner aids. We believe that this approach will enhance the teaching and learner experience within the current prevailing conditions inside and outside the classroom. From a cost perspective, there is a significant savings in the way that budgets could be allocated and spent. One Tablet device could potentially be used throughout the entire K-12 schooling per learner versus an average of 7 paper-based textbooks per learner per year. A Mobile Tablet Solution will also provide Learner and Teachers with access to a multitude of quality interactive and engaging information and tools. And because Content and Applications are distributed electronically, the backlogs and inequalities associated with the traditional model will be cleared. In addition, Learning Resources will be up-to-date and relevant.
The shift from a paper to a digital format also has an impact on the environment in terms of our carbon footprint relating to our consumption of paper, printing and logistics associated with the current distribution model.
South Africa has 11 official languages. The unemployment rate in South Africa was reported at 25.7% in the second quarter of 2011. The number of registered individual taxpayers in South Africa was 5.9 million in 2009/10 from a population of +50 million. Taking these numbers into consideration, what are the potential new job opportunities that are created by introducing this technology into the education sector?
The Language of Learning and Training (LOLT) statistics and how it pertains to the 11 official languages presents an opportunity for Translation Services of content to be published into the official languages. It also opens up an opportunity for Local Content Developers to publish and electronically distribute their work. IT Services and Training will be needed to successfully adopt and support these technological changes in the classroom. With a total of 12,227,963 learners, 413,067 educators and 25,906 schools spread across 9 provinces, this will represent a significant impact in the creation of new jobs and opportunities for more citizens to participate in the economy. There are numerous benefits and ripple effects if this vision can be realised.
This is what drives our passion.
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