Countries: South
Africa
Brief Summary
(revised 2/5/2005)
-- under the leadership of the --
South African National Department of Education
and the
Limpopo Provincial Department of Education
Bridges to the Future Initiative
--a partnership of--
SchoolNet South Africa
Council on Scientific and Industrial Research
River Bend Learning Systems
International Literacy Institute
The Minister of Education has declared raising literacy levels in
South Africa as one of his top priorities, with a goal toward providing
youth and adult learners in poor communities with basic literacy and
numeracy skills. Furthermore, a new Information and Communication
Technology Education Strategy has been launched in order to advance all sectors
of education, including literacy and adult education. In order to implement
this joint strategy, the National Department of Education is building
a comprehensive delivery model, including relationships with a broad
range of organisations in South Africa.
In this context, the Bridges to the Future Initiative (BFI)
in South Africa is a collaborative partnership of four major agencies:
SchoolNet
South Africa, Council on Scientific and Industrial Research, River
Bend Learning Systems, and the International Literacy Institute (ILI),
under
the leadership of the National Department of
Education and Limpopo Provincial Department of Education. Additional
partners in this effort are expected to include HSRC, PANSALB, University
of Limpopo, and other agencies and institutions depending on their
interest and complementarity with the project. The BFI in South Africa
is part of global effort (similar projects are in various stages of
development in India, Ghana, and Mexico) aimed at using ICTs to help
the poorest of the poor.
The "digital divide" is a global phenomenon. In industrialized
countries, the knowledge economy, powered by the Internet and e-commerce,
has become a key driver of growth and productivity, leading to new
levels of prosperity. Yet, at the same time, a global digital divide
is growing, such that the poor and disadvantaged peoples of developing
countries are falling further and further behind in economic and social
development. The BFI focuses on assisting poor, disadvantaged and marginalised
youth and adults in developing countries to take advantage of new information
and communications technologies (ICTs) for improving basic literacy
and technological literacy skills as a means to participate in the
changing civil, social, and economic life of the new South Africa.
Three overlapping target phases of the BFI activities are envisioned:
(1) development of tools to improve basic education and literacy, initially
in Limpopo Province; (2) development of community learning and technology
centres (CLTCs) for lifelong learning and income-generation within
MPCCs, secondary schools and other available sites; and (3) development
of specialized ICT-supported tools for improving the quality of human
development in health, agriculture, HIV/AIDS prevention, etc. Throughout
these phases, the BFI utilizes ICTs as "enablers" both to
deliver resources and to monitor progress and effectiveness of the
results.
The BFI is a public-private collaboration of national, and international
agencies, non-profit institutions, corporations and foundations whose
main focus is to remove the joint barriers of literacy and technological
literacy, thereby assisting the world’s poorest peoples to gain
a stronger foothold in determining their own social and economic future.
Support to date of the BFI-SA has come from the World Bank, USAID,
US Department of Education, and MicroSoft Corporation. Additional funding
for the preparation of the BFI global project has been provided by;
J. P. MorganChase, Inc., IBM, Multichoice Education Foundation, Ford
Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, UNESCO, OECD, and Unicef.
The BFI in South Africa will be the first major project in literacy
and adult basic education to utilize ICTs to help illiterate, unschooled
and out-of-school youth and adults in South Africa.
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