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|Inauguration
Voorwaarts Primary
Voorwaarts Primary has its roots in a missionary school started in Riversdal in the late 1800’s. A formal school was established in 1926 and in 1972 the school changed from a church school to a state school and became known as Voorwaarts Primary School. The school borders on the low income housing schemes of Morestond, Aloeridge and Qua-Qua as well as the informal settlement, Kwanakothula and it is from these areas that the approximately 400 learners come.Having acknowledged the growing importance to the curriculum of technology, Voorwaarts Primary invested in 10 computers in 1996 with a view to establishing their own small computer laboratory. This ambitious project was made possible by the contributions made by local businesses. Once the educators had been trained they were able to expose their learners to the wonders of technology. In addition, the principal and one of his educators trained members of the community in computer literacy in the evenings at a very reasonable cost. Riversdal Hospital’s personnel were trained at the school in this way and they use these skills daily. Unfortunately, funds raised in this way were insufficient to meet the demands of maintaining the computers and staying up to date with educational software and the computers at Voorwaarts Primary fell into disrepair. Towards the end of 2005, Voorwaarts Primary became part of the Khanya family and with the assistance and guidance of the Khanya Project, this proactive school has been able to replace their outdated system with a new computer laboratory that will add a whole new dimension to the school. Educators have been inspired by this powerful addition to their teaching tools. While many have already mastered basic computer literacy they all eagerly participate in their training sessions with their Khanya facilitator where they receive training in educational software and in the use of the technology for curriculum delivery. With their knowledge of the software they can now help and guide their learners with the completion of tasks in Language and mathematics programmes and they are also able to do their lesson planning on the computers. Technology has also streamlined and eased their administrative load. For the learners, the Khanya laboratory has really brought technology within their reach. For many some interaction with technology will be required in their every day lives and this will give them the opportunity to develop the skills to progress in the world that awaits them. Their educators believe that exposure to the technology at this early stage is of inestimable value and it will give them the advantage over other learners at schools that are not yet in possession of technology. Learners visit their Khanya laboratory twice a week and their educators have already noticed a marked improvement in the quality of their work. The laboratory has also reawakened many learners’ interest in school, with the result that they are more eager to come to school. Voorwaarts Primary trained many members of the community in their previous, very limited, computer laboratory and the community is anxious that the new laboratory is opened to all for basic computer literacy. The Khanya Project has linked this rural school with other Khanya schools as well as a result of the introduction of the Internet. Educators are able to source more information to present to their learners and Voorwaarts Primary hopes with their Khanya laboratory to live up to their name, to continue surging forwards, to meet the new worlds that they would otherwise not have been exposed to, and to conquer them.
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