Lenasia’s Sharicrest Primary School gets a Mandela Digital Learning Platform
Sharicrest Primary School, which lies on the outskirts of Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, was excited to receive its new Mandela Digital Learning Platform on 14 July 2022.
The school is attended by more than 1 400 children from the Thembelihle informal settlement. The learning platform was donated by the Mandela Day Library Project, the primary Mandela Day focus for South African non-profit organisation Participate for Good, which operates a fully automated system for gathering funds for the programme. This particular platform was donated through funding provided by the Sage Foundation.
Already trained to use the platform, Sharicrest’s teachers couldn’t wait to show the children the new multimedia platform that will enhance their learning experiences and connect them to the digital world.
Principal Devi Latchman and her dedicated teachers have made inroads in providing quality schooling to these children, who have access to a fully stocked library. This asset is now enhanced through the learning platform with its access to the internet, a video library from Curiosity Stream, smart-board software, Google-shared resources and curriculum-aligned lesson content.
The Mandela Digital Learning Platform also provides the coding courses that the Department of Basic Education announced in 2022 would become part of the curriculum.
“Investing in the future of the youth is a positive step forward for South Africa. We all need to be part of the solution. The Sage Foundation and the Mandela Education Programme are proud of this system that has been developed to address some of the critical issues schools deal with in digital education,” says Robert Coutts, CEO of the Mandela Education Programme.