“We are living in a time of accelerated technological change and progress, labelled as the fourth industrial evolution. This technological disruption is a major cause of structural unemployment and a factor when dissecting or analysing the current underperforming South African economy. The onset of the fourth industrial revolution requires a different skill set to drive the economy and compete effectively, hence the focus on STEM subjects and careers. With this considered, still only four out of ten (40.9%) public schools possess a fully equipped computer laboratory in South Africa,” Said Tyrone Pols, project manager at SAME.
The school is a quantile-two ranked school and a home of learning for learners with special needs and disabilities. Young South Africans have been encouraged to become more involved in the ICT sector, though for learners at disadvantaged schools, it remains a foreign concept as they have no access to computer labs as was the scenario at Phembindlela Primary School. The new computer lab will afford learners at Phembindlela an opportunity to become computer literate and realise their aspirations.
“The school is ecstatic to be receiving such a generous and much needed gift. We are so happy for all the work General Electric, Eskom and SAME Foundation have done and we can now start producing learners who are computer literate and able to contribute towards the fourth industrial revolution,” said Thuli Mavuso, deputy principal of Phembindlela Primary School.
