School principals in the Western Cape received an early Christmas gift. The computer company HP donated 13 of its laptops to principals from the Winelands, Overberg and Southern Suburbs.
The national lockdown severely impacted schools, and with the sudden shift to at-home learning and teaching, technology and digital tools are no longer just one component of learning, but have become crucial to the ongoing development of learners, connecting educators with pupils, who connect with one another and to resources and learning materials.
Now, more than ever, use of technology is deemed vital in supporting children’s learning.
Some leading ICT companies in South Africa have redirected their resources in partnership with global giant HP to roll out IT hardware to learners and schools during the Covid-19 crisis, to ensure education continues during school closures.
The donation is in line with the HP Refresh Program in South Africa, a non-profit initiative that has been launched globally.
It is the mission of this charitable initiative to encourage any South African business to donate their old and unwanted laptops and desktops to the programme.
These devices will then be securely cleaned of data, sanitised, reloaded with a basic operating system and distributed to deserving schools and colleges countrywide.
Executives of contributing companies are lending their time and expertise to this project, which is intended to change the lives of students and the communities they live in around the country.
These include HP executives Michael van Lier and Mikhail Sidorenko, Tarsus Distribution MD Gary Pickford, GO Rentals Directors Evan Berger and Ron Keschner, and Dispose IT Director Clayton Heldsinger.
Jessica Batts, Learning Process Facilitator of the organisation Symphonia for South Africa, which facilitates the Partners for Possibility Program (PfP) in the Winelands and Overberg regions, said the need within local schools is enormous.
She said she was overwhelmed with joy in receiving the laptops and distributing them to the PfP school principals, who spent long hours at school. They will definitely enable them to be operational and connected away from school.
This gesture is appreciated by these deserving schools and school principals.
