MEC Mshengu and Dr Song Launch a High-Tech Computer Centre in Siqongweni High School

O Ministro da Educação de KwaZulu-Natal, Kwazi Mshengu, e o Diretor Executivo da Aberdare Cables, Dr. Haiyan Song, lançaram oficialmente, na quinta-feira, 08 de agosto de 2019, um centro informático de alta tecnologia numa das escolas com melhor desempenho na província, a Siqongweni High School, em Imbali Township, Pietermaritzburg.

A disponibilização do centro informático, que foi doado pela Aberdare Cables, foi anunciada pelo Presidente Cyril Ramaphosa durante a sua visita à escola em janeiro deste ano. A Escola Secundária de Siqongweni é uma das escolas com melhor desempenho no país, com uma taxa de aprovação matricial de 84%.

O centro informático está totalmente equipado com sistemas informáticos modernos e ligação à Internet. O MEC Mshengu comprometeu-se a instalar livros electrónicos e outros materiais de estudo digitais para garantir que o centro dispõe de todos os novos sistemas tecnológicos necessários para melhorar o desempenho dos alunos.

O MEC afirmou que, à medida que o mundo moderno evolui e se torna sofisticado devido às rápidas mudanças tecnológicas, as instituições de ensino na África do Sul precisam de se adaptar e aclimatar ao novo sistema de educação digital que foi adotado por muitos países em todo o mundo.

“We strongly believe that the computer centre facility we launched today here in Siqongweni High School will serve this purpose as we aim to advance and revolutionize our basic education in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The launch of this facility is in line with one of our strategic objectives which is to rigorously develop our leaners’ technological skills to ensure that they compete with the best in the world.

We are prepared to work very closely with the private sector and our social partners to improve our education system, particularly in the areas of technology, mathematics and science, to prepare our youth for the fourth industrial revolution,” said MEC Mshengu.

The donation of the computer is part of the Aberdare’s socio-economic development programme AberSchool Project, which was launched in 2017 in Pietermaritzburg to assist in addressing the low mathematics, physics and science subject pass rate in the country as well as to encourage pupils to take on these subjects. Siqongweni is one of the beneficiaries of this project.

Aberdare CEO, Dr Haiyan Song said the donation of the centre forms part of the company’s socio-economic development programme which aims to assist township and rural youth to improve their performances in key subjects and to acquire basic technological skills against the background of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

“The world is swiftly moving towards the full Fourth Industrial Revolution, therefore it is our conviction as Aberdare that the youth in townships and rural areas need to be equipped with necessary technological skills to be relevant in this new technological era and to ensure that they are not left behind in the era of internet of things.

I believe that if one changes the life of a young person, he or she will certainly changes the community and the country in general because young people are the future of this country and the world,” he said.

O Dr. Song acrescentou ainda que a educação é poder e é a única ferramenta poderosa que os jovens sul-africanos podem utilizar para mudar as condições deste país, para corrigir os erros do passado, para erradicar a pobreza, o desemprego e a desigualdade e, eventualmente, para fazer crescer a economia.

The donation of the computer is part of the Aberdare’s socio-economic development programme AberSchool Project, which was launched in 2017 in Pietermaritzburg to assist in addressing the low mathematics, physics and science subject pass rate in the country as well as to encourage pupils to take on these subjects. Siqongweni is one of the beneficiaries of this project.