Intel is once again throwing its weight behind the EduWeek conference and exhibition, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary.
The event will take place on 29 and 30 June at the Gallagher Convention Centre in Midrand, Johannesburg.
EduWeek has signed a new partnership with the Department of Basic Education, to support Edu Week for the next five years, giving the department a platform to share information on early childhood development, teacher training, inclusive education, the implementation of digital technology and safety in schools and also promoting health and sustainability.
Videsha Proothveerajh, country manager for southern Africa at Intel, comments that Intel has always been passionate about education. “We are passionate about using technology and our eco-system to make the lives of Africans better.
“Technology is a tool, and we can do amazing things with it,” she adds. “It is an enabler for us, especially in the African context and helps us to leapfrog many challenges.”
Proothveerajh adds that if South Africa, and Africa as whole, are going to feature on the world stage, we need to develop a generation that is “ready to dream big and is able to compete globally. It’s about being able to dream a future for the kids and for our country.”
But technology is not just about helping children to learn, she adds. It is a vital tool in enabling teachers in their quest to impart knowledge and to facilitate world-class classrooms.
“Need to change the conversation around education,” Proothveerajh says. “It’s about the classroom, but the teacher, the content, connectivity, the user experience – about being able to dream up possibilities. The kids in education today will make those dreams a reality.
“We all have a shared dream to make South Africa a better place – and education is one of the things we have to get right.”
The theme for this year’s EduWeek is Sustainable Development in Education, chosen in support of the United Nations’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals and UNESCO’s Global Action Plan (GAP) which focusses heavily on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).
The event plays host to 150 education product and solution providers that exhibit over the two-day event, including leading global brands such as Intel, Pearson and Microsoft. Entrance to the event is completely free and over 4 000 educational professionals attend the two-day indaba, of which 2 100 will be decision-makers comprised of principals, heads of department and university deans.
The format of the event is a two-day exhibition in which there are five dedicated conference theatres, each of which will host two full days of free content dedicated to one of five themes: early childhood development; basic education; higher education; inclusive education; and educational technology.
