Durban — The Minister of Communications and Digital Technologies Mondli Gungubele, along with State Information Technology Agency (Sita), launched a Cyberlab at Esizibeni Sivananda Vaswani Comprehensive High School, in Umgababa, on Thursday.
Gungubele said the Cyberlab programme, an initiative of Sita, was aimed at creating smart schools. It was a response to his call for the agency to re-establish itself as the leading expert on information and communication technology (ICT) matters in government.
He said the lab was designed to boost the school’s academic progress through internet connectivity and digital access for pupils after it registered an 85% matric pass last year.
“This is our journey to bigger things in the country, we are using this as an example to launch bigger things because we want our kids to live for something.
“That something must be relevant today and in the future,” he said.
“If young people do not know what to live for, they find themselves living for anything. But if we unleash this we make sure that everywhere we have got these centres and young people will see greater things to live for and focus on.
“The infection of sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV and STDs between the youth will go down significantly because they will have something better to do that they can focus on to train their minds and stay away from the streets,” he said.
Gungubele said the programme had been reaching and would continue to reach schools across the country.
“When it comes to IT, we must demonstrate and make them the ideal schools of the modern era and its fundamental performance must be to give hope at a young age,” he said.
“I grew up in the rural areas and we lived to become educators, nurses, and at some stage I knew how to become a driver, so young people of today must have the liberation to learn whatever they want in order for them to reach their full potential.”
Sita managing director Bongani Mabaso said the agency had donated R1.2 million to buy the equipment, including computers, hardware and software.
“We have done this to make sure that the pupils learn special skills and make sure that they are part of the 21st century.
“Digital skills are very important for the digital economy, to make sure that they grow the country,” said Mabaso.
“We need to make sure that our young people are skilled, to ensure that they know how to navigate the digital world. We need to also ensure that in the future most of the employment in this country comes from the digital economy.”
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