30 May 2021

 Member of Parliament for Mmathethe/Molapowabojang constituency, Dr Edwin Dikoloti has commended Orange Botswana for making strides in bridging the digital divide in schools.

Speaking at an occasion of Orange Botswana’s digital schools rollout programme in Magoriapitse recently, he said it was a dot.com century that needed a digitised learning process to heighten performance in schools.

Dr Dikoloti, who is also Minister of Health and Wellness, lauded Orange Botswana for having identified a need and acted upon it at a time when the world was standing on the brink of a technological revolution that would fundamentally alter the way people lived, worked and related to one another.

He said digitalisation was among priorities in President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi’s road map that was envisaged to have the potential to unlock and enable high productivity among people. 

He said ICT accorded pupils an equal opportunity to develop their lives irrespective of their background, adding that the gadgets would facilitate the learning process.

He said the investment would also improve the competitive edge of the school. 

Dr Dikoloti said the donation came at an opportune time taking into account the COVID-19 pandemic as it disrupted face to face interactions, thus making online services paramount.

Speaking at the same occasion, Orange Botswana’s director of legal and corporate affairs, Ms Lepata Mafa said digital education content was packaged in such a way that it would tease pupils into learning.

She said the content was approved by the Department of Curriculum Development and Evaluation and was interactive to optimise pupils output.

Ms Mafa said the gadgets would also speed up the marking process and giving feedback to improve performance in schools.

She said they had equipped teachers with ICT integration skills to enable them to mix teaching and technology for efficiency.

For his part, acting deputy director for ICT and media services in the Ministry of Basic Education, Mr Taolo Tsimanyane applauded Orange Botswana for the donation.

He advised the recipients to protect the gadgets as they were an investment of high value.

Southern District Council chairperson, Mr Thamiso Chabalala expressed gratitude for the noble gesture and assured the network service provider that the gadgets were in good hands and would be put to good use.

He said Orange Botswana donated because it wanted to meet people at their point of need despite the ravages of COVID-19. 

Orange Botswana donated 50 tablets, 50 headsets and a server to Magoriapitse Primary School as part of its countrywide digital schools roll-out programme, which started in 2018. 

It also donated 295 sanitisers to the school. 

 

Orange Botswana has partnered with the ministries of basic education and local government and rural development in rolling out the program me. ENDS