21st Century Education Dream Becomes Cape Town School’s Reality After R500 000 Computer Lab Refurbishment
For Immediate Release:
24 August 2022
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A Cape Town primary school’s belief in 21st-century education for its historically disadvantaged
learners has received an appreciable boost with the refurbishment of its 15-year-old computer lab,
valued at some R500 000.
Financially challenged Heathfield Primary School had long made do with computer equipment
installed in 2007, but never upgraded, despite constant breakdowns or hardware and the availability
of only long outdated software, until the South African Muslim Charitable Trust (SAMCT) heard of
the school’s plight, stepping in with the R500 000 make-over. The intervention has provided learners
with access to technology designed to assist their learning and provide access to the world.
Speaking at a recent event to mark the hand-over of the refurbished IT facility, Mr. Faried Boltman, a
Trustee of the SAMCT, said: “This make-over of the school’s computer lab, replaces aged and
outdated equipment, thus affording learners access to the latest developments and providing
teaching staff with the tools necessary for the delivery of effective IT education.”
He added: “The world is riding the technological wave and IT expertise – from a very early age – is
becoming an imperative for learners globally. Having both an understanding of and the ability to
adopt a technology-driven way of life, for both work and leisure, is vital. South Africa and its people
are no exception in this regard. Educating the youth of today and tomorrow in the ways of
technology is critical if our learners are not to be left floundering in the backwaters of an increasingly
technologically-aware society.”
Many South African schools face seemingly insurmountable IT education challenges, however.
“Sadly, there is a fundamental problem… so many of this country’s schools are incredibly under-
resourced – let alone having the capability of promoting and incorporating information technology
in the curriculum. In the longer term, this will disadvantage millions of young South Africans who will
grow up in a technological age, but with the inability to actively participate in an economy, in a
business, and a life driven by computers and electronic devices. Government cannot keep pace with
growing public school needs as existing facilities crumble and the large-scale development of new
schools appears to be an unachievable pipe-dream. Given this, Government’s ability to equip schools
for a technological future is simply out of the question.”
However, learners are desperate for access to technology and education which encompasses
computer literacy.
Mr. Boltman said: “Many of those schools lucky enough to have computer labs, simply do not have
the funds necessary to keep pace with the rapid advances in the IT field and are forced to make do
with old, outdated hardware and software. This is an untenable situation as it leaves historically
disadvantaged learners at such schools well behind their counterparts attending schools with state-
of-the-art IT facilities. Heathfield Primary School, with more than 600 learners, is just such a school.
Catering for largely impoverished learners, the school has long battled with aging IT infrastructure.”
“The school was lucky enough in 2007 to have been provided with a computer lab, but after
extensive use during the past 15 years, without the benefit of the upgrade, its computers have come
to the end of their lifespan and are shutting down, despite the school’s best efforts to extend a bit
further the life of this equipment for the benefit of learners. Unfortunately, the school’s dire
financial situation has simply prevented any new capital investment in IT, meaning its dream of
providing its learners with access to computer-aided MCO, Greenshoots Maths and coding has
remained exactly that… a dream.”
Until now. Upon hearing of the slow demise of Heathfield Primary’s computers, the South African
Muslim Charitable Trust moved to provide the school with an R500 000 refurbishment of its
computer lab, bringing software up-to-date and enabling the school to finally realize its IT delivery
dream for the benefit of its learners.
The SAMCT was created in 2008, the result of a partnership between Old Mutual Unit Trusts and Al
Baraka Bank, for the creation, marketing, and distribution of a suite of Shariah Funds. This has
ensured that the South African Muslim Charitable Trust is the beneficiary of this Shariah suite of
funds, enabling it to provide funding, services and other resources for the improvement of the lives
of the vulnerable, deprived and disadvantaged. It has been singularly successful in delivering sizeable
assistance solutions throughout South Africa – irrespective of race or religion – and continues to work
to support needy organizations in the fields of social development, poverty alleviation, healthcare,
and education.
“Despite the school’s financial constraints and its laudable serving of learners from historically
disadvantaged backgrounds, many of its learners go on to attend some of the area’s top former
Model C Schools, where they excel. It is, therefore, our hope that in providing this refurbished
computer lab, the school will now be able to further grow its level of educational excellence.”
“I take this opportunity to wish the Principal, staff, and learners of Heathfield Primary School every
success in the future and that your well-founded belief in the need for 21st Century education for
21st Century learners goes from strength to strength through the utilization of the new computer
equipment provided,” Mr. Boltman concluded.
ends
For more information about SAMCT or its Heathfield Primary School Computer Lab Refurbishment, please contact:
Rasheeda Motala
Social Responsibility Officer
Tel: 084 506 2280
Email: samct@samct.co.za