Community planning for rural education in South Africa

An Analysis of Digital Inclusion Projects: Three Crucial Factors and Four Key Components

“…The Siyabuswa Educational Improvement and Development Trust (SEIDET) was a project initiated by local community members to provide supplementary education to an area where less than 2% of young non-caucasians held college diplomas and less than 0.2% held university degrees (Phahlamohlaka & Friend, 2004). Initially, SEIDET was developed when Jackie Phahlamohlaka, a Siyabuswa native and graduate school student, was challenged by community members to create a secondary education program aimed at improving mathematics and science opportunities, however SEIDET eventually expanded to include ICTbased interventions (Madon et al, 2009).…”

“…SEIDET was founded in 1992 and began as a non-governmental project designed to provide supplementary education to young people in a rural town that had witnessed substantial educational disadvantage over several years (Phahlamohlaka & Friend, 2004). Eventually, in 1998, the program expanded when SEIDET teamed up with a private company to establish a 27 computer facility within the Siyabuswa community to provide secondary school teachers with a way to meet their computer literacy course requirements (Madon et al, 2009).…”

“…From the beginning, the SEIDET project was built around voluntary tutors providing supplementary education to a multitude of subjects including ICT integration and commerce while promoting a high level of community involvement in community learning through relationships formed between tertiary institutions and the private sector (Phahlamohlaka & Friend, 2004). In addition to the subject matter taught, the program also included career guidance and work placement for students.…”

The Use of the Repertory Grid for Collaboration and Reflection in a Research Context

“…From an academic perspective, the culture of trust that exists between these two entities has allowed researchers to do valuable research on the unique context and processes of SEIDET. Reports on this research have been published in various academic journals and proceedings of conferences (Conradie 1998;De Kock 2000;Phahlamohlaka and Friend 2004;Phahlamohlaka and Lotriet 2002a, b;Scheepers and De Villiers 1999;Siebeling 2004).…”

“…Over the years, researchers in the Department of Informatics have facilitated several interventions at SEIDET and various facilitation techniques have been used with varying degrees of success (Phahlamohlaka and Friend 2004). These interventions have all been intended to enhance community-based development.…”