As part of our collaboration with Intel, the Department of Science and Technology, and the Square Kilometre Array (SKA), SmartLabs has helped to launch several community projects, starting with the tiny Karoo town of Carnarvon, with the aim of propelling rural schools into the Information Age through technology access and education outcomes.
The SKA SA e-Schools Initiative, a R2.5 million project powered by Intel, was launched in 2013 with the aim of encouraging more children in remote areas to pursue tertiary studies in maths, science and engineering. As part of Phase 3 of the project – the implementation phase – the e-School plan has now been rolled out to five schools in the three town closes to the main SKA site, they are: Carnarvon Primary School, Carnarvon High School, Van Wyksvlei Intermediate School, Nico Bekker Intermediate School and Williston High School.
Overall, 10 classrooms as well as the Carnarvon community centre were equipped with ClassMate computers, teacher laptops, content, servers and printers in mobile trolleys from SmartLabs, and free curriculum-based learning solutions through Intel’s recently launched Explore and Learn Education solution.