South Africa: Lost or Locked in Cupboards - Inside the R686-Million Eastern Cape Matric Tablet Programme
[GroundUp] We contacted 12 schools and not one of them is still running the programme
In South Africa, an Eastern Cape matric tablet programme costing R686 million has been largely unsuccessful, with only about 30% of the devices issued to students being used for schoolwork. The programme aimed to provide devices to 54,000 Grade 12 learners across 41 schools; however, only 53,254 devices were delivered, reaching roughly half of the province's matric cohort.
Despite the programme's focus on no-fee schools, not all qualifying schools received tablets due to budgetary constraints. The department has not answered questions regarding the delivery and recovery of the remaining tablets, which are currently stored in various states, including damaged and unassessed. MTN, the contractor responsible for the tablets and data allocation, has not reported any formal faults or replacements.
Written by urgent.news from AllAfrica's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — it may contain errors, so check the original before relying on it.
