UCT gets computers going at Matthew Goniwe High

On Friday 24 June a team of UCT ICTS top and middle management, including Mr Sakkie Van Rensburg, ICTS Director, set off from ICTS-on-Main Building in Mowbray by bus to Matthew Goniwe Memorial High School in Khayelitsha. This initiative, which is part of the ICTS ADAPT Intercultural Communication & Leadership Programme programme, took place after careful planning and discussion.

Coordinated by Trevor Joubert from ICTS, the decision to channel the ICTS expertise and resources into Matthew Goniwe was made in consultation with Dr Patti Silbert from the SII after conducting a two-week case study at this school in 2012. During this time, the need to improve the school’s IT system, was identified by educators and the School Management Team as a key development priority for 2013. After months of consultation with the Mr John April, Chief Network Technologist from the Western Cape Education Department and Matthew Goniwe principal Ms Ntomboxolo Mqubisa, the day of the intervention finally arrived.

MicroSoft in partnership with the Western Cape Provincial Government donated software which was installed on the school’s desktop computers and laptops by ICTS team members. While one team was deployed to install software, a second team worked in different venues in the school conducting a hardware and software audit. Included in the activities was the planting of trees donated by the UCT Gardens Department.

The collaboration between UCT ICTS and the SII represents the work of the SII University-School partnership in action. The overarching objective of the SII is to draw on university-wide resources and initiatives to enable effective school improvement in a number of schools in the Western Cape township of Khayelitsha