Primary & Secondary Education News South Africa

School for visually impaired receives specialised computer lab

Teaching and learning at Bosele School for the Blind and Deaf in Mosterlus, outside Groblersdal, will become more exciting with the donation of a specialised computer laboratory.
Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu says the donation of computer to blind and deaf children will benefit their education. Image:
Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu says the donation of computer to blind and deaf children will benefit their education. Image: This Ability

Speaking during the handover of the computer lab, Deputy Minister for Women, Children and People with Disabilities, Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu, urged parents to treat their children as gifts, whether they are able-bodied or not.

"Your responsibility is to give them the best support ever and get them ready for the journey ahead. Our teachers should treat pupils with disabilities as if they were what they ought to be and help them become what they are capable of becoming," she said.

She further thanked MTN SA Foundation for contributing the laboratory, which has specialised equipment to meet the needs of the pupils.

Spokesman for the ministry, Emilie Olifant, said the school was identified as one of the schools for the visually impaired in need of a computer lab.

"It was found that children who complete matric at Bosele only get to use a computer at a higher learning institution which is a disadvantage and has affected their performance," she said.

Support for children

Olifant said the centre would address the educational, socio-economic, recreational, emotional and psychological needs of the pupils at the school.

School principal Job Dooka said the ICT centre would go a long way towards making a difference to the pupils because of the special resources that are installed in the computers.

"We are very humbled by the donation of this special centre. Pupils will able to use the computers that have Job Access With Speech and also a printer that can convert normal words into Braille. Their learning in class will be improved," said Dooka.

He said the foundation donated 31 advanced computers and a printer that is connected to all the computers.

MTN SA Foundation general manager Kusile Mtunzi-Hairwadzi said they had identified the needs and challenges of the school through their partnership with Bogopane-Zulu's ministry.

"We realised that we needed to help the school achieve its potential to provide pupils with quality education and assist in developing them by purchasing and donating the equipment they required," said Mtunzi-Hairwadzi.

"We hope the donation helps the school to become an effective and efficient centre for learning and prepare them for the digital world," he added.

Source: SAnews.gov.za

SAnews.gov.za is a South African government news service, published by the Government Communication and Information System (GCIS). SAnews.gov.za (formerly BuaNews) was established to provide quick and easy access to articles and feature stories aimed at keeping the public informed about the implementation of government mandates.

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