UCT opens ‘affordable’ online high school
Vice-chancellor Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng said the UCT Online High School was “the most affordable private high school” in the country and would be opened to pupils from all socioeconomic backgrounds.
UCT has partnered with tech-enabled start-up, Valenture Institute, which was founded in 2019. The institute is also a partner of the St Stithians Online High School.Applications for the UCT school opened on Wednesday and the first intake of grades 8 to 11 will begin in January. The first Grade 12 intake will be in 2023. The school will follow the National Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement offering 10 subjects to grades 8 and 9. Grades 10, 11 and 12 will take on 14 subjects.
The 2019 General Household Survey found that only 6.2% of pupils in grades R to 12 had access to a fixed line internet connection at home. Of those who lacked connectivity at home, only 2.5% reported having access to the internet in a library or community hall, and 6.7% reported having internet at school.While 71.2% of school-going age children said they had access to the internet via a cellphone or other mobile device, only 18.2% had access to a desktop computer or laptop.
Phakeng said universities were known for criticising what was wrong and what the UCT school was trying to do was explore possible solutions to the “multifaceted” challenges in basic education.“It may feel disruptive and it may feel like the environment is not ready because of poverty and inequality – the environment is never going to be 100% ready. We’ve got to take it on. Once we take it on, some parts will come on board and enable it even further,” the vice-chancellor said.
For somebody staying in a township, even with connectivity, they may be sharing facilities with a lot of people and that might be a problemGustafsson said one of the most important functions of a traditional school was that it provided a structured and learning-focused environment, particularly for pupils from disadvantaged households. But in these homes, there was less space, it was often noisy and there were a lot of disruptions.
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