Katlehong school gets Mandela Digital Learning Platform upgrade

Thulisa Primary School in Katlehong on the East Rand received an upgrade to its Mandela Digital Learning Platform on 13 July 2022.

The school received the learning platform in 2021 as part of 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.

Principal Gladys Tibane and her team have worked hard to ensure that the library has been open to the whole community, including matric students and “second chance” weekend learners – people who did not pass Grade 12 and come to the school for lessons from the teachers.

Thulisa Primary School’s dedication towards ensuring its community thrives impressed the donor of its digital learning platform, the Sage Foundation, so much that the school was selected to receive advanced training and an upgraded Mandela Digital Learning Platform to enhance their teaching capacity.

The digital system gives the school access to the internet and is equipped with content that supports teaching and learning from Grade R to matric, in all subjects. The platform also offers a Curiosity Stream video library to make learning more visual and smart-board technology that allows teachers to create digital content aligned to the curriculum for each grade.

Teacher training had taken place weeks ahead of the upgrade, so the pupils could immediately benefit from the new digital platform.

Digital resources are limited in many schools and a platform like the Mandela Digital Learning Platform, which does not rely on personal computers but work via apps on smartphones and tablets, means more children can access the learning materials offered.