A wealth of opportunities for John Mdluli Primary School after generous donation

MBOMBELA – John Mdluli Primary School in Mataffin was the lucky recipient of a state-of-the-art mobile science cart last Thursday. The donation was made possible by Diebold Nixdorf, in partnership with Partners for Possibility (PfP).

As the handover proceeded, the school principal, Sibongile Sibuyi, acknowledged the enormity of the donation in terms of its generosity and the implications it held for the school and learners who would benefit from the gesture.

“Your generous donation is the reason we are here today,” she said.

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“You have no idea what your generosity will do to change the lives of our children who will later become assets to their families and the community at large because of the skills they will gain from using this equipment.

“You are putting a smile on the faces of our learners by making it possible to equip our children for the fourth industrial revolution. The possibility has turned into a reality.”

Similar sentiments were echoed by the school’s deputy principal, Stanley Charles, who added that the resources would go a long way in improving teaching and learning in the school by adding a new, interactive dimension.

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The guest of honour, Jan Mkhwanazi, who is the chief director of FET, reiterated the importance of taking care of the equipment in order for other generations of learners to enjoy the same benefits the donation would provide.

The guests included Albert van Jaarsveld from Smart Labs, who gave a detailed account of how the partnership was established and how the equipment worked.

“The syllabi included here are free and were developed in collaboration with the Department of Education. Where there was a shortfall, information was sourced which is included in the school curriculum.

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“Data will be provided to recipient schools and, in instances where certain schools do not utilise all the data, the remainder will be extended to those which have a high data consumption,” he said.

Van Jaarsveld cautioned that the system was not introduced to replace teachers, but rather to be used as an effective tool to facilitate teaching and learning.

Kammy Reddy explained that it meant to eliminate disparities between rural and urban schools by introducing technology to areas which largely do not have access to new ways of teaching.

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“Be creative in using the equipment and create that magic with the tools with which we are providing you,” she said.

Mel Tomlinson from PfP thanked everyone who made it possible.

“These kinds of wonderful opportunities send ripples of hope to all these little faces in the audience.”