Two Limpopo schools joined a virtual network of high-quality mathematics and science teaching when they were added to the highly acclaimed Ligbron e-learning system today – thanks to Coca-Cola Beverages South Africa (CCBSA).
Pupils at Gerson Ntjie and Masobe high schools in Limpopo’s Mankweng district will start training on the interactive, South African-designed system that links learners studying maths and science in selected areas around the country.
They will be joining a virtual school body that has grown to almost 39 000 learners, 5 400 of them in Grade 12. A total of 31 secondary schools are serviced from the Ligbron Academy of Technology in Ermelo since the Ligbron e-learning system (LES) was first rolled out in Mpumalanga in June 2015.
The pupils will attend virtual realtime classes every Tuesday and Thursday between 8am and 9am in the morning and between 3pm and 4pm in the afternoon, while teachers at the school will receive a full Grade 8 to matric package on science and mathematics, including daily lessons, pre-recorded video lessons, questions on all topics and memorandums.
The LES system remotely connects students from rural areas using laptops, desktops, tablets, interactive whiteboards and the sites are connected via the internet. The teacher in Ermelo presents the lesson over the network, while pupils at the remote sites can communicate with each other either using VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) or by writing on the SMART Board which then appears on all other SMART Boards and devices in the session.
CCBSA’s head of enterprise and community development, Tsholofelo Mqhayi, says the sponsorship of the Ligbron e-learning system provided an opportunity to improve productivity in the classroom, increase the level of teaching and learning, at the same time, connect a virtual community of scholars across the country.
“We were very heartened when we partnered with LES on this initiative to hear that learners gain 34,5% more knowledge after a 40-minute e-learning maths class, with a 19% spike in knowledge after a science class. As a company, we have an appreciation of the challenges faced by educators and understand the Department of Education’s mandate to increase Maths and Science teaching and learning, and have committed ourselves to being part of the solution,” said Mqhayi
“CCBSA is committed to meaningfully contributing to the communities we serve through projects that support education and economic growth. We have no doubt that an initiative such as this which will dramatically assist the level of education being offered, improve the matric pass rate in these important subjects and upskill the teachers involved, is one of the greatest interventions we could have made in an area like this.
Having seen results of this initiative in Mpumalanga, the company is hopeful that the same positive results will be realised in Limpopo.