By Noxolo Mnisi and Busisiwe Maluleka
Rhodes University Community Engagement (RUCE) in collaboration with the Rhodes University IT department have been donating old computers to local schools around Makhanda.
The recent donations were made to Nathaniel Nyaluza Secondary School in Fingo Village.
Now and again, with the assistance of RUCE, the IT division at Rhodes University rols out computers when updating their labs.
RUCE developed the project to help schools that need digital learning material so that teachers and pupils can enhance their computer skills.
The Social Innovation Hub is one of the programmes at RUCE, and according to coordinator, Thandiwe Matjibeni, the project is a collaboration between RUCE, Rhodes University IT department, IT Solutions, a local company that upgrades old devices at cost value, and GBS which donated funds for IT Solutions to do the upgrades.
The number of computers donated yearly usually depends on the availability of resources as it is typically random. In the previous year, they donated 30 computers, and some of the schools that benefited from the project include Grahamstown Primary School, Home of Joy, an organisation that works with children, Archie Mbolekwa Senior Secondary School, ADP and the Nutrition Centre.
The recent computer donations were made to Nathaniel Nyaluza on 19 August.
The school’s principal, Mzwandile Kleyi, learned about the programme from a parent who works in the Information Systems department at Rhodes University. He advised him to write a letter requesting the old computers since the school had an empty lab without any computers. This became easy for him as he also worked at the Rhodes University IT department in 2001. He managed to get positive feedback from the department.
The computers will improve teaching and learning and help pupils improve their computer skills so that they won’t struggle when they get into higher education institutions, as they will be required to use them to submit assignments.
Kleyi indicated that he wrote a request to the Department of Education to introduce Computer Applied in Technology ( CAT) as the eighth subject so that the pupils can learn how to use the computers. The subject is going to be a compulsory subject for grade 10 to 12 pupils.
Nathaniel Nyaluza will be the first school in the township of Makhanda to offer the subject.
Although computers are available to every pupil in the school, the subject is only for grade 10 to 12 pupils.
The school has two teachers equipped with skills, knowledge and qualifications to teach the pupils. The school also works with an NGO known as Inkululeko to help grade 12 pupils apply for university places next year.
The NGO has its own tablets, which it uses to help the pupils, but it needs more to accommodate all the pupils as they have 70 matriculants. The computers will add to the number of tablets to accommodate everyone.
