PROGRESS ON BFI PROJECT IN SOUTH AFRICA

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December 2002

SOUTH AFRICA

Johannesburg -- In conjunction with the Government of South Africa and several NGO partners, the International Literacy Institute (ILI) has moved forward on a major agenda to meet the needs of thousands of illiterate or low literate South African adults and youths through an innovative technology-based training and literacy program. The Bridges to the Future Initiative in South Africa (BFI-SA) was formally adopted by the Government of South Africa in a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in Bloemfontein on December 8, 2002. This MOU sets in motion a new and important initiative to revitalize literacy work in South Africa.

Mr. Thamsanqa D. Mseleku, Director-General of SA Dept of Education and Prof. Dan Wagner of ILI sign MOU to formalize the BFI project in South Africa

Central to the strategy for the BFI-SA is the creation of special working partnerships with NGOs based in South Africa. The focal partner for the BFI in South Africa is SchoolNet South Africa (SNSA), a well-known NGO that has had a major impact on implementing technology-based projects on a national scale in South Africa. In December 2002, SNSA and ILI signed an MOU formalizing their close working partnership to achieve the goals of the BFI project in South Africa set forth in the Government MOU.

Further progress to solidify expertise and support for BFI-SA was achieved with the launch of the University and Technology-for-Literacy/Basic Education Partnership in South Africa (UTLP-SA) at the University of South Africa (UNISA) on December 6, 2002. A dozen higher education institutions and universities, with more than 20 South African specialists, participated in this meeting, funded primarily through the support of the Ford Foundation. One major goal of the workshop was to galvanize the efforts of South African (and Southern African) universities in utilizing their considerable expertise and high tech resources to support basic education and literacy through information and communication technologies (ICTs), and to enhance and implement national priorities toward helping the poor in South Africa.

Beyond the many productive ideas generated at this workshop, one concrete outcome was the decision to support a number of innovative pilot projects to be undertaken by higher education institutions in South Africa in the coming 12-month period, with a commitment to seek additional support for those projects with the most promise.

Mr. Rod Grewan, CEO of SNSA, and Prof. Dan Wagner of ILI at the moment of the signing of their bilateral MOU in Johannesburg

A final report on the workshop will be available at www.literacy.org and on UNISA’s website.

Participants at the first UTLP-SA meeting held at UNISA, Pretoria, South Africa on December 6, 2002.

The International Literacy Institute is also pleased to report that USAID has chosen ILI and its BFI-SA project as one of a small number of key pilot projects to be funded through the DOT-COM initiative. Working closely with Education Development Center, Inc. (EDC) and Academy for Educational Development (AED) — two collaborating NGOs based in Washington, DC — the ILI will use these pilot funds to plan and prepare the first stages of the BFI-SA in partnership with the Government of South Africa and SchoolNet South Africa.

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Contact Information
Dr. Janet C. Smith
Manager of Communications, International Literacy Institute
University of Pennsylvania/Graduate School of Education
Email: smith@literacy.upenn.edu
Phone: +1 (215) 746-6736