Township schools have always been disadvantaged when it comes to having teaching resources however, Sinoyolo Dikana, a teacher at Mthimkhulu Primary School in Vosloorus obtained position two in the province, in excellence in technology-enhanced teaching and learning despite all the circumstances.
He is originally from Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, and came to Johannesburg in 2014 to complete his studies at the University of Witwatersrand, and in 2015, he started teaching.
“I qualified to teach English (Gr 7-12) and Life Orientation (Gr 7-9) however I ended up teaching at a primary school where I’m currently teaching English (Gr 7), Life Orientation (Gr 7), and Natural Science (Gr 7)”.
He entered a competition under the category: Excellence in Technology Enhanced Teaching and Learning related to ICT.
“It started when I was trying to show my learners a video on my laptop, and I took a picture and shared it on social media asking for assistance and a good Samaritan reached out and bought a projector for us”.
“Obtaining this award showed me that we as teachers still have a long way to go in terms of using ICT in our teaching and learning, and it also came as a confirmation that I’m on the right track”.
Dikana mentioned that he realised that this kind of creativity is needed in schools, especially in township schools where resources are limited, and that he should continue to look for other ways to do teaching better.
Dikana mentioned there hasn’t been a direct benefit that came with the award however there is an underestimated and soft benefit to it.
“We got a functioning computer lab and tablets to teach mathematics in the intermediate phase in collaboration with “Click Foundation”.
“We also got introduced to another program called Jumpstart which uses tablets to teach mathematics in the foundation phase”.
Dikana mentioned that all of this came because people started noticing their efforts towards having ICT in education as part of their activities in school.
“I plan to use this award as a way to recruit and show people that we do know how to use resources effectively and if one is interested in investing and sponsoring us with coding and robotics kit, or tablets and laptops, or anything ICT related, consider us because we have been recognised by the province as a school and I have been recognised as an educator that is doing well in the area”.
As a school, we are grateful and appreciative of the organisation and individuals. If one is interested in donating, they can reach out to us on our social media pages:
Facebook: @Mthimkhulu Primary SchoolTwitter: Mthimkhulu Primary School
By Manare Hopane