|
The project aims to develop a
physically and educationally new type of learning environment
which will lead to increased learning without necessarily
increasing teacher numbers. Both the teaching methods and the
environment must be affordable and sustainable. Workshops, which
are participative and interactive, will be conducted with various
stakeholders such as potential users, education departments and
individual consultants.
Solutions developed will consist
of a wide range of workable options such as clustering, sharing
and multi-purpose use. As part of the solution, options such as
community based education resource and communication centres will
be considered. These might serve clusters of schools, and provide
hubs for distance education as well as providing a variety of
community based services. Examples of these are health and
welfare, community adult education programs, after-school study
support, small and medium business enterprise advice, library and
information access and 'telecentre' services. The prototypes are
the true beginning of the project, rather than the end. If the
project is as successful as anticipated, it should have
nation-wide relevance and potential. Currently the 29,000 schools
in South Africa have an estimated replacement value of some R88bn,
and represent a substantial asset, which cannot be disregarded.
This project has the potential not only to establish future
educational models but also to impact on and improve the
usefulness of existing facilities. |