MTN SA Foundation Hands Over R1.3million Multimedia Centre To Thaba’Nchu School
MTN SA Foundation Hands Over R1.3million Multimedia Centre To Thaba’Nchu School. A step towards conquering the digital divide in the Free State by ensuring that disadvantaged learners have access to state-of-the-art digital technology was taken when the MTN SA Foundation handed over the keys to a R1.3million digital muiltimedia centre at the JS Moroka High School in Thaba’Nchu, Free State.
The multimedia centre will open the world of technology to learners, who will be able to use the facilities for everyday assignments, basic programming, problem-solving, and accessing the internet for educational material that was previously inaccessible, Arthur Mukhuvha, General Manager of the MTN SA Foundation said at the facility’s handover.
The tech and media centre, equipped with 35 computers, a server, and an interactive whiteboard for teaching, will open new horizons for learners, many of whom have no access to laptops or devices at school or home.
“For the learners at the JS Moroka High School, the new centre will offer the opportunity to develop hands-on experience with the essential technological tools and skills needed for the digital world. These benefits will assist them to be ‘the best they can be’ at school and help them acquire skills required by employers after they complete their high school educations.” Mukhuvha added that the MTN Foundation’s investment of R1 369 000 at the JS Moroka School is about reducing the digital and educational divides that make it impossible for those without access to quality education to reach their potential. “Ultimately, their loss is also the nation’s,” Mukhava notes.
The investment, which resulted from the extensive partnership between MTN and the Free State Department of Education, was also an acknowledgment that the drive to achieve educational parity and true empowerment could not be the sole responsibility of the government.
“The way forward must involve the public and private sectors working together for the ultimate benefit of the country. This will ensure that both ‘divides’ are effectively tackled simultaneously and bring significant benefits,” Mukhuva says. Assisting in elevating disadvantaged schools to the technological level of their more developed counterparts is the base activity from which learners can gain knowledge and skills – the two transformative enablers of education.
Mukhuvha notes that from this base, young people can become confident, empowered participants in building an equitable economy with opportunities and opening the benefits of a modern, connected life to all.
“We are proud of our investment in more than 300 multimedia and computer centres at schools across South Africa. We have complemented these investments with teacher training and developments like the MTN Online School, launched in cooperation with the Department of Basic Education to help speed up the digitisation of education content. Creating a new future will depend on access to empowered, quality education. At the MTN SA Foundation, we see ourselves at the coal-face of this drive as an enabler working towards a more equitable society, with projects like the JS Moroko High School’s multimedia centre, as the proof points,” Mukhuvha concludes.
