"Expanding Horizons, Changing Attitudes"
Councillor S.K Mashilo Executive Mayor: Nkangala District Municipality
Councillor N Mahlangu Executive Mayor: Thembisile Hani Local Municipality
Councillor S.J Sindani – Municipal Manager
Mr K.J Boshomane – Convener
Mr Mabena – District Director: Mpumalanga Provincial Department of Education
Mr E.E Mampho – Principal KwaMhlanga High School
Mrs Loren Braithwaite-Kabosha - SACF CEO
Ms Francina Kutoane - Senior Manager: Public Services at Telkom
Mrs Videsha Proothveerajh - Intel Southern Africa General Manager
Ms Masabatha Mtwecu – ARUP Education Trust
Ms Staff Sithole – CEO: Techno Girls
Leah Khoza - Regional Secretary: ANC Ekangala Region
Colonel S.P Masango, Station Commander: KwaMhlanga Police Station
I'm very pleased to interact with you today during this event that aims to advance and deepen the economic and social empowerment of young women in our country. It is indeed a great pleasure to explore strategies and opportunities by which Information and Communications Technologies may be used to improve women’s economic outlook whilst creating a conducive environment for learning and teaching.
Today’s celebrations couldn't have come at a better time as this month we are celebrating the Freedom Month under the theme: “Celebrating the Beginning of the Third Decade of our Freedom through Accelerating Radical Economic Transformation”. This is the month that saw the first democratic elections in 1994 that gave birth to freedom and constitutional democracy in South Africa. We have come a long way in addressing the economic, social and cultural challenges created under apartheid. The year 2015 ushers the beginning of the third decade of democracy and freedom.
We are all gathered here to celebrate International Girls in ICT Day. International Girls in ICT Day is an initiative backed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) Member States in Plenipotentiary Resolution 70 (Rev. Busan, 2014) to create a global environment that empowers and encourages girls and young women to consider studies and careers in the growing field of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). Resolution 70 calls for all ITU members to celebrate and commemorate International Girls in ICT Day on the fourth Thursday of April every year. This day gives an opportunity to girls and young women to see and experience ICTs in a new light encouraging them to consider a future in technology.
The International Girl in ICT Day is an on-going programme falling within the ITU’s Gender Equality and Mainstreaming in Technology (Gem-Tech) division. In line with policies and programmes of Gem-Tech, the department in the North West Province partnered with Telkom, Intel, Deloitte and School Net to develop an interactive website for the women in the community of Tlhabane, Rustenburg. This website is controlled by women and is used to address issues facing women and girl child. Training has been provided to two girls as super users and twenty more girls trained to be able to make use of the website. Intel and Deloitte developed the website whilst School Net provided the resources for the training component of the program. This project is branded Lwazi Digital Literacy Training.
The theme for this year’s International Girls in ICT is: "Expanding Horizons, Changing Attitudes". Our Broadband Policy, South Africa Connect and the National Development Plan is clear about the role which education is supposed to be playing in our economy.
The country’s ultimate vision of the National Development Plan (NDP) is to eliminate poverty and reduce inequality through economic growth by 2030. In achieving the objectives of the broader developmental framework, education has been identified as being a central component due to the role that it plays in building an inclusive society that provides equal opportunities for all and aiding all South Africans to realise their full potential particularly those previously disadvantaged by apartheid.
The NDP emphasizes that the quality of education in the country is in dire need of improvements and offers a long-term perspective on how to address the internal obstacles that constrain its delivery. A vigorous education system covering early childhood development, primary, secondary, tertiary and further education is vital for addressing poverty and inequality.
By 2030, the NDP envisages an education system that has the follow attributes:
- high quality early childhood education, with access rates that exceed 90%;
- quality school education with literacy and numeracy at globally competitive standards;
- Higher Education and Further Education Training (FET), that provides people with real opportunities to reach their full potential;
- an expanding higher education sector that is able to contribute towards rising incomes, higher productivity and the move towards a more knowledge-intensive economy; and
- a wider system of innovation that links key public institutions with areas of the economy consistent with our economic priorities.
From the proposals made by the NDP on education it is quite clear that the aim is to reform the delivery of education to cater to the developmental needs of the youth, starting from their formative years right through to their transition to adulthood. The manner in which the system aims to address the needs of the youth is such that everyone is afforded every opportunity to succeed regardless of their background. It is now up to you, our youth, to take up all opportunities given to you by government. Today you are afforded an opportunity to do some of your studies on e-learning where as some of us only started using a computer for the first time only when we went to Universities.
The NDP states that: “By 2030, ICT will underpin the development of a dynamic information society and knowledge economy that is more inclusive and prosperous. A seamless information infrastructure which will meet the needs of citizens, business and the public sector, providing access to the wide range of services required for effective economic and social participation – at a cost and quality at least equal to SA's competitors.”
This once more should come as an exciting opportunity for the youth. “A dynamic information society and knowledge economy that is more inclusive and prosperous” will mean that for you to start learning how to use ICTs now and integrating them into your everyday learning is not just a nice-to-have kind of a thing but a valuable investment for the near future.
I feel urged to talk about Cyber-Security because the realm wherein we interact in using ICTs is not a safe one at all, more especially because we are now encouraging you, our young girls, to make use of these ICTs and also have a role to play in the ICT sector. Crime committed online is punishable just as crime in the streets is punishable. My Department working together with other Security Cluster Departments has developed a National Cyber-Security Awareness Strategy.
The objectives of the strategy are:
- to create awareness amongst South African citizens regarding cyberspace;
- to identify and inform citizens regarding cyber incidents in South Africa;
- to establish partnerships with the Private sector and Civil Society to share ideas on prevention and mitigation of cyber incidents;
- to develop awareness mechanisms and interventions tailored to needs of specific sections of the South African population; and
- to create institutional mechanisms.
It is important that we be able to identify what we can do and what we cannot do as well as being able to identify when we are being wronged. Through the information available on the internet, the pamphlets which are often distributed and perhaps the advertisements we see on TV, we need to continually educate ourselves.
ICTs for education are seen as an enabler for teaching and learning. As the country has created a shift into technology overdrive, resulting in increased use of technology in schools there is therefore an increased demand for content. An increase in the demand for content has a direct relation to the thirst for bandwidth more especially from education perspective resulting in both learners and teachers using the internet for supplementary content. South Africa has published the SA Connect Policy for broadband roll-out and one of the key priority area's for broadband rollout is that of education. With 26000 schools complimented by 11.2 million learners the demand in the education sector surpasses any other sector in the country, resulting in this being one of the top priorities.
Country-wide Broadband rollout has started earlier this month and priority is currently given to the eight districts which are the NHI pilot sites. These are: OR. Tambo (EC), Gert Sibande (MP), Pixley ka Seme (NC),Thabo Mofutsanyane (FS), Umgungundlovu & Umzinyathi (KZN), Dr Kenneth Kaunda (NW) and Pixley ka Seme (NC).
The national Broadband Policy- SA Connect clearly identifies four areas of interventions, called strategies in the policy, which have to be implemented for us to see the realities of broadband access in the country. These are: digital readiness, digital development, digital future and digital opportunity. In terms of Broadband Policy, we aim to reach 100% broadband adoption by 2020 at a speed averaging 10 Megabits per second (Mbps) for government institutions, and 80% of schools and health facilities at 100Mbps and for citizens at a speed of 5Mbps.
In my interaction with the ICT industry, it was acknowledged that there is a need to develop formal support structures to attract and retain women in the ICT sector through mentorship programmes, scholarships and internships. Through key flagship programmes such as Techno-girl, the Forum envisages to be a lever for exposing young women from an early age into the ICT industry, in a way e-skilling them.
In its report, "Measuring the information Society 2013", the International Telecommunication Union estimated that by the end of 2013, 2.7 billion people (40 percent of the world's inhabitants) were using the Internet. However, men are twice more likely to have access to the Internet than women. According to Intel's report Women and the Web: "on average across the developing world, nearly 25 percent fewer women than men have access to the Internet, and the gender gap soars to nearly 45 percent in regions like sub-Saharan Africa." How many of these are women in South Africa? And what do these statistics mean in terms of women access to ICTs?
Women have to understand the value of the Internet and ICTs in terms of sustainable livelihoods and transforming their quality of life. Women have to understand the Internet as a resource for empowerment, for restoration, for self-development and for arming oneself in the knowledge economy. To add on this the recent development in the Internet space is the Internet of things which speaks directly to the role of the Internet in the economy.
There are a number of ways in which we can make use of ICTs to expand our horizons whilst we change our attitudes towards ICTs:
ICTs Are Essential For Development
We have seen how ICTs have changed the world, from the classroom (digital classroom and e-learning), to the home technology (remote control systems, TV, connected spaces, etc). It is also proving helpful for remote and rural areas (e-agriculture, e-health/ tele-medicine, e-post, e-banking). It provides solutions to ensure that citizens’ lives improve for the better!
ICT offers opportunities
ICTs improve lives, technology changes the world. Young people have access to smart phones, an instrument which can be used to provide information to the world and connect you to the world. The smartphones offer applications such as twitter, whatsapp, facebook, etc- which previously one had to walk to the internet cafe to be able to have access. This information has been made easier to access from one platform. The information and applications made available have also converged to ensure that services better and improve the quality of life of the young and old. The same gadget can access information for government services, medical assistance, educational learning, and current affairs. It is however critical that the use of these gadget and platforms are used responsibly (to avoid posting information online that is destructive to another human being, false, malicious and can incite violence!).
ICT empowers
The same ICT tool can create platforms for social networks, establishing community website and create awareness for programmes. As a Government we are investing in the “female capital”, as more than half of South African people are female and a further 40% is a young person which includes young women. ICT offer a tool for economic trading, to market products and to sell online. Though this platform, we hope to improve the social fabric of young women in their endeavour of being leaders of tomorrow, uplifting the communities and upholding the values for the future of their children. As we are aware when young women are empowered they stand up and take the challenge with both hands and there is no doubt that with knowledge, commitment and passion that they have displayed in the workshops they will spread the word and become the ambassadors. This will support income generation for sustainability of the community.
ICT unleashes new world
There are new technologies and innovation being created daily by young women around the world, and this represent a dynamic force in the global arena (equal opportunity and level playing field). Unfortunately in South Africa, young women, despite being a significant portion of the population and a potential force for driving development, continue to be underrepresented in ICT and Science, Engineering and Technology sectors. We are urging you to take up Maths, Science, Engineering, and Computer Studies both at school and in the institutions of higher learning. The department is working closely with Department of Science and Technology who adopted the Youth into Science Strategy with a specific focus on young women where they have an annual science and technology career expo to encourage young girls to consider careers in the field of Science Engineering and Technology. We have our own training academy, Ikamva National eSkills Institute as well as a SETA focusing specifically on ICT in the country who will develop and nurture your potentials. From there we expect that you will develop innovation applications (and be bold to develop them in our local language so that more people can understand and use them), develop new technologies to support our digital platforms. We expect to see many of you leading our ICT sector companies; some of you in the regional and international organisation championing ICT programmes.
When you Train a girl, you produce a Young Leader!
Today is the start of us fostering a partnership of governments, businesses and community of KwaMhlanga to play a collective role in ensuring that ICTs are leveraged to address women’s developmental issues, with a specific focus on young women and girls in addressing the development of ICT content so to address women’s issues and empowerment; as well as using ICTs as an enabler for entrepreneurship; and enhancing current ICT skills in line with new technologies. We need to continue to invest in research and development in order to develop ICT programmes that address challenges faced by the second economy and people with limited resources and women; and prioritising the promotion of local languages and content, as an economic enabler.
What we now know as the information society has been revolutionised by the ever changing digital media. Advances by various governments in ICTs have dramatically changed the learning and teaching process. New learning opportunities have been opened up and access to educational resources beyond the traditional means have also been opened up, giving Universities an opportunity to exploit the available research and development areas. The provision of a telecommunication infrastructure available for learning and teaching is gradually increasing, and many schools are taking an advantage of the benefits of ICTs to enhance the quality of teaching and learning. All of these should then keep you motivated and want to one day be a leader in the ICT Industry.
Our society is known to be one of the highly unequal societies in the whole world with a Gini Coefficient of 0.6%. We all know that these inequalities translate even to an extent of getting to our education system. To add to this challenge, our society has been so used to patriarchal tendencies and we now even treat these tendencies as if they are part of our culture. In our societies there is still that fear that a girl child cannot learn Mathematics or Physical Science. Even young girls themselves are not motivated to study these subjects. Education should be used as an entry point throughout all the value chain.
Looking back at where we started, a study conducted by Kahn in 2003 mathematics HG and SG, across all schools (low and high fee) in each and every Province African boy students outperformed African girl students by up to a half. Overall boys’ pass rate was 44% compared to girls’ at 33%. Gender marginalization has not changed much since then. The 2011 National Senior Certificate results (all groups) reveal that males outperformed females by 9.5 percentage points in mathematics and by 6.6 percentage points in physical science.
The 2011 census results, showed that in the first decade of our democracy 2.7% of men and 2% of women who had tertiary qualifications in South Africa had qualifications in the fields of natural, physical and mathematical sciences. By 2011, this had declined to 2% of men and 1.8% of women.
According to OECD out of 58% of university degrees awarded to women in 2012, women’s participation is firmly embedded in tertiary education (OECD, 2014c). However, there is a gender gap when it comes to the fields of study that men and women choose. As shown in Figure 4, women are significantly under-represented in STEM subjects (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). In computer science, only 20% of graduates in 2012 were female, lower than the 23% of twelve years prior. It is the only subject with a decrease in the share of female students since 2000, indicating that more still needs to be done to encourage women to study computing.
Through policy interventions we will ensure that support for girl children in Mathematics, Science and Technology becomes one of the service obligations.
I thank you.
