Address by Naledi Pandor MP, Minister of Science and Technology, at the launch of the Technology and Rural Education for Development (Tech4Red) energy project, Mvuzo Junior Secondary school, Cofimvaba, Eastern Cape
Aaah!!! Dali’mvula uMhlekazi u S.D Matanzima
MEC for Education in the Eastern Cape, Mandla Makupula
Councillor Mxolisi Koyo, Executive Mayor of the Chris Hani municipality
Councillor Kholiswa Vimbayo, Mayor of Intsika Local Municipality
Andrew Hinkly, Anglo American Platinum
Gavin Coetzer, CEO of Clean Energy Investments, and
Mike Hellyar, MD of Air Products South Africa
School Governing Body members, Mr Mfebe, Mr Tame and Mr Galada.
Good morning.
It's a pleasure to be here in Cofimvaba and in Mvuzo Secondary school.
I'm pleasedto be here today. For two reasons. First, I'm pleased to see so many different participants involved in one project, the local community, government, business, non profit organisations.
The DST began collaborating with the Department of Basic Education and the Eastern Cape Department of Educationin 2012, looking at how a range of technologies could be deployed to address education-related challenges in a rural context. It was called the Tech4Red project. The project is unique in the sense that it demonstrates not only how technology could enhance the educational outcomes but there is also a need to ensure that the environment in which learners learn is conducive.
The project therefore contributesto the improvement of rural education through ICT-led innovation in nutrition, agri-teaching, water, sanitation and e-health. It's comprehensive, holistic, and aimed at serving the best interests of the school child. It began with a ICT team from the CSIR's Meraka, which ran a comprehensive scoping exercise of 26 schools in the Ncibadistrict of the Cofimvaba School District in the Eastern Cape to see what ICT technologies were suitable.
The CSIR's Meraka Institute uses new and existing technologies to improve maths and science teaching, initiatives like Dr Math, a mobile Maths tutoring programme. Corporates offered tablets. The HSRC undertook important monitoring and evaluation work. Then the Department of Rural Development and Land Reformjoined forces and set about testing different sanitation options, with the help of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Water Research Commission.
The listing of participants doesn't capture the real innovation of the Cofimvaba project. The real innovation is in the way that different levels of government and business and non-profits work together.
We thought it might work, then we saw it was working, and so we wanted to take it to scale, that is, start similar initiatives in other rural areas.
But one crucial aspect was missing. And that was an alternative energy source.
Today we are able to celebrate the alternative energy contribution of three companies to the Tech4Red project at Cofimvaba,namely Anglo Platinum (supplier of the three fuel cell systems), Air Products (supplier of hydrogen) and Clean Energy Investments (project implementer). I have signed a collaboration agreement that in summary indicates that Air Product, Anglo American Platinum and Clean Energy Investments will be responsible for the maintenance and operation cost for a period of three years. This period started from the date when the systems became operational (September 2014). Then after three years these fuel cell systems will be donated to DST which will then hand over to the Department of Education (Eastern Cape).
The original intention was to have installed the two solar systems by June this year, however I am happy to announce that both of them are operational.
Second, I'm pleasedto see science and technology at work. I no longer have to talk about new ideas bearing fruit in twenty years time. I can tell South Africa and the world that science and technology bring people together for innovative solutions.
You can always tell when something really works. Journalists write books about them. They write books about successful projects. So we have a book about SKA written by Sarah Wild. We are also about to have a book about CAPRISA by Linda Nordling. And we are also about to have a book about Cofimvaba by Sarah Wild.
There they are. Some of our initiatives, the SKA, CAPRISA and Cofimvaba are making an enormous contribution to socio-economic development.
Young people growing up in South Africa today are far more fortunate than preceding generations. Our government is striving hard to ensure all our children have education of high quality, nutrition and work opportunities. We still face many challenges as we must insure learners can read well and succeed in mathematics and science. Our intervention through this project is to help all our schools achieve these objectives.
The evidence that poverty undermines opportunity and future successis overwhelming. Yet I believe that schools can make a difference to disadvantage and that they can help overcome effectsof inherited poverty. We celebrate those schools in rural areas where the results are above expectation and resources are poor. There are districts that achieve above provincial average success rates. We know what makes those districts successful.
Hard working, committed teachers, arriving on time, of sober mind and body, well prepared for their lessons (and tablets and technology help) and teaching for the duration of the school day make schools work.
South Africa has achieved a lot of educational change in the first 20 years of democracy. Educational change is a slow and often painful process. But it's premised on the institutionalisation of educational routines. We look to make learning and teaching routine in schools. We look to make teaching and learning happen in our classrooms every day, so that when learners leave home in the morning they know that the teacher will be in the classroom, that the teacher will be prepared adequately for his/her lessons and that all learners will be expected to work hard in class.
It's only when we are able to build this routine through the innovative technologies we are using that we will be able to improve the quality of education in all our schools.
Thank you.
