ICT industry plays a critical role in the roll out of technology and financial support for transforming education in Gauteng, Gauteng’s MEC for Education Panyaza Lesufi said at a briefing hosted by SAP.

“Our education system at the moment is like an Irish coffee. It is largely black, with white on top and sprinkles of chocolate. Until we change that Irish coffee and make it a South African coffee that doesn’t recognise colour, we cannot move forward,” MEC Lesufi said.

Through its Schools of Specialisation (SoS) programme, of which SAP is a partner, the department of education is taking learners on a journey of self discovery – to realise their potential as the country’s brightest minds.

Schools of Specialisation will focus on particular disciplines such as maths and science, engineering, commerce and entrepreneurship, sport and the arts.

By honing skills in these key areas, the department is aiming to transform schooling in Gauteng.

The SoS programme forms part of the GDE’s Reorganisation of Schools (RoS) programme under the National Development Plan (NDP), and these schools will identify, select and develop high school learners who have shown potential and talent in the five disciplines.

“It must not be where you were born that determines the quality of education you can access,” MEC Lesufi said. “The quality of education must present opportunities for our children. If we can’t do that, we will not succeed.

The programme will equip each school and student with the special resources needed to excel at their chosen discipline, and the first School of Specialisation will open in April in Soweto.

Existing schools will be modernised with hardware and bandwidth, and in other cases new purpose built schools will be equipped with the facilities and teachers specific to the five disciplines.

In addition, the schools will operate differently in terms of funding and other resources, learner selection, teacher recruitment and training, support and development.

These schools will represent the pinnacle of education in Gauteng but the benefits will be felt throughout the province as new teaching methods and better facilities are rolled out as part of the MEC’s plan to transform education.

To this end the GDE and the Sci-Bono Discovery Centre wants to engage with the ICT industry to seek cooperation and support for the project.

Currently, Sci-Bono and SAP offer free training to people who are highly motivated to learn and start a career in web development and entrepreneurship, especially addressing people with financial difficulties and under-represented profiles in the web industry like women, unemployed, students and young people who drop out of school.

Leaders in the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) industry, such as SAP and the ITA, have shown their support for the SoS programme.

Opportunities worth an estimated R50 million to R100 million have been created, as the ICT industry steps up to solve some of the specific problems, such as encouraging the best teachers to teach in poorer schools by broadcasting lessons on smart boards and tablets.

“The ICT industry will play a key role in establishing and maintaining the technology needed for such an ambitious programme,” MEC Lesufi said.