Multinational electronics company Samsung Electronics Africa, together with nongovernmental organisation Habitat for Humanity and the Gauteng Department of Education, officially unveiled the Solar Powered Internet School at Refalletse Primary School in Orange Farm, Gauteng, last month.
On average, less than 25% of rural areas on the African continent have access to electricity, and the Solar Powered Internet School has been designed particularly for use in such rural areas.
Samsung Electronics Africa public affairs and corporate citizenship head Ntutule Tshenye said during the ceremony that the initiative was an example of Samsung’s investment in corporate citizenship – which focused on education and harnessing the company’s innovation legacy to respond to the needs of people – on the continent.
“Samsung is keen on supporting societies and their communities in many different ways and the Solar Powered Internet School will provide better transfer of knowledge, learning and research opportunities for learners and teachers,” he stated.
Tshenye added that this would also equip learners and teachers with necessary employable skills for the future.
The school is housed in a 12-m-long shipping container, which makes it easy to transport by truck to remote rural areas. The fold-away solar panels provide enough energy to power the classroom’s equipment 24 hours a day and can function for a week without additional sunshine.
The solar panels are made from rubber instead of glass to ensure that they are durable enough to survive long journeys across the continent.
The school is fitted with a 65-inch electronic board and Samsung notebooks, which are optimised for use in a solar-powered environment.
It is also equipped with a router, a file server and a video camera, which are all designed to communicate through 3G or satellite connection. The server contains a complete South African school curriculum from grade 0 to grade 12.
“The integration of information and communi-cation technology in our education system will undoubtedly raise the quality of education our country,” said Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi during the unveiling ceremony.
He noted that empowering the primary school with solar-powered Internet will enable not only teachers to engage in more research while preparing for their lessons but also learners to gain more knowledge from online content.
“We are proud to partner with Samsung Electronics Africa and the provincial depart-ment of education to assist the Orange Farm community in creating an environment that would facilitate learning for the whole commu-nity,” said Habitat for Humanity marketing manager Adrienne Burke at the ceremony.