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 Plagued
by a lack of resources and a learner to teacher ratio of as
high as 50:1, schools in the immediate and surrounding areas
of the Sappi Kwa-Dukuza Resource Centre have, for years, experienced
a pass rate of below 50% in grade 12—the worst in the province
of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
As a result, many young people are left never having acquired
the skills to get a job or to contribute to the overall economic
development of their town, their province or their country.
Research has shown there are more than 118 schools reaching
some 78,000 learners in the immediate and surrounding areas.
It is clear that something needs and needed to be done.
A Digitally-Enabled Solution. Sappi,
a leading international paper and pulp producer with its head
office in South Africa, decided to take a proactive approach
to the dilemma by establishing the Sappi Kwa-Dukuza Resource
Centre. The Centre aims to address this education crisis by
providing the digital, technical and academic resources to as
many learners as it can.
| For a video "tour" of the Sappi Kwa-Dukuza
Resource Center, click
here to contact WRI. |
The Centre not only assists youth, but also
opens up new learning opportunities for parents, educators,
small business entrepreneurs, and the unemployed, which together
make up 28% of its membership base. The remaining 72% of the
Centre's more than 3,500 members are school-going learners.
Available Resources. The Centre's
offerings range from basic school-based technology education
to resources that promote the closure of the digital divide.
TechnoLab. Using a model pioneered
by Rand Afrikaans university, the TechnoLab addresses both technology
promotion and the need to develop a human resource base skilled
in engineering.
School learners aged 12 and up are selected to participate in
after-school lessons designed to prepare them for the working
environment—teaching not only physics, mathematics and
computer programming, but also basic life skills.
 Digital
Village. Over 60% of current job opportunities in South
Africa require computer literacy at entry levels. But geographic
and financial restraints make it impossible for many of the
schools in the Kwa-Dukuza area to provide their learners with
instruction in computers.
The Resource Centre's 40-computer "Digital Village" addresses
this gap. The computers not only connect users to the rest of
the world via e-mail and the Internet, but also provide the
opportunity to learn to use interactive educational software,
as well as vital business packages like Microsoft Word, Excel
and PowerPoint.
Computer Instruction. On-site computer
facilitators, many of them volunteers, are available to assist
interested members. Educators have used their guidance to locate
new and exciting lesson plans; schools and small businesses
have used it to take advantage of financial software packages;
and individuals have used it to acquire basic computer skills.
Most lessons are held in an African language.
Other resources include a reference
and study area; educational teaching aids like televideos, projectors,
and models; conference facilities; and high-volume professional
duplication, lamination, bookbinding, and faxing facilities.
Many schools, especially schools in inaccessible outlying areas,
have made use of these facilities to provide—some for the
very first time—lesson material and examination papers
to learners. Where some teachers previously had to make do with
a single broken blackboard, they now have the ability to teach
in a more professional and effective manner. In high peak exam
times, duplication figures have exceeded 80,000 copies in one
month.
 The
Model.The Kwa-Dukuza community is predominantly lower-income,
and the Centre's focus is to provide access to resources to
as many individuals as possible. For this reason, management
provides membership opportunities at a minimum cost on a three-month
cycle, and no additional charges are levied for access to computers
and the Internet. Administration services like printing, faxing,
photocopying, lamination, and bookbinding are provided at cost.
Six full-time staff members work at the Centre, alongside a
core of 10-15 volunteers or "trainees." In addition, a Management
Committee and a Trustee Board have been established to assist
with administrative issues and decision-making.
Neither trainees nor Board/Committee members receive remuneration
for their assistance to the Centre. The trainee program is popular
because of the skills enhancement that comes with it—called
a work progression program, the Centre aims to develop skills
in its trainees so that they can obtain employment elsewhere.
Presently, funding and in-kind support from companies sustain
the Centre's operations.
Managing for Results. The Kwa-Dukuza
Resource Centre aims to help learners achieving the seven basic
outcomes that are the foundation for education and training
in South Africa. These outcomes are considered essential for
the life-long learning and development of an individual.
The Centre measures its success on basis of its enrollment figures
and usage rates. Since opening in June 2000, 3,621 members have
enrolled at the Centre and approximately 300 members pass through
its doors on a daily basis. Usage of the Digital Village routinely
peaks at over 80%.
Student success is another important performance indicator.
In some cases, learners are from areas that do not have electricity
at all and have never seen television in their lives. Inspired
by the added impact of audio and visual stimuli, children find
these modern communication media immensely gripping and motivating.
The more advanced TechnoLab learners are assessed on their understanding
of concepts as well as development of critical life skills,
like teamwork, communication, leadership, and problem solving.
This information is then fed back to the schools they attend
during the day.
 Expanding
Impact. The Centre has formed a partnership with Oracle
Corporation in South Africa, which plans to recruit learners
from the TechnoLab into their post-school Academy. Upon completion
of that course, many new avenues for employment and further
education will be open to them. Oracle has agreed to finance
a part of the TechnoLab's operational costs, but this is not
a condition for access to the pool of recruits.
Additional partnerships exist by which organizations, including
Sappi, recruit volunteer "trainees" from the Centre's work progression
program. This program is being marketed extensively to companies
in Kwa-Dukuza and surrounding areas. Three trainees have also
been absorbed into the staff of the Centre itself, on a full-
or part-time basis. One of the most successful was awarded a
volunteer award, and Sappi has sponsored his studies through
a distance education center.
New Developments.
 A partnership with the University
of South Africa (UNISA), the largest distance education institution
in the country, will begin in the next couple of weeks. The
Centre will be a satellite for UNISA learners to receive additional
support, including in-person tutoring. This partnership is intended
not only to support current learners, but also to provide more
learners with accessibility to higher education. The Centre
will benefit from increased membership enrollment and usage
rates.
Maths and science are the
required subjects for entry into technological fields of study
and careers. However, these subjects are not the most popular--in
2001, only 34% of learners nationwide chose maths and science
in their final year of schooling, and of these only 68.6% passed.
To address this crisis, the Centre would like to establish a
science and technology exploratorium. The exploratorium would
provide models and resources for learners to use, and promote
science and technology as a career.
The Centre is hoping to expand,
not only in KwaZulu/Natal but also in other provinces of South
Africa. An Africare assessment of the eight "Digital Villages"
it has helped set up has determined that the Sappi Kwa-Dukuza
Resource Center is a model that should be replicated.
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