The sustainability of information and communication technology (ICT) in previously disadvantaged public schools in Gauteng, South Africa

Abstract

In 2015, a Member of the Executive Council (MEC) of the Gauteng provincial legislature, South Africa, introduced the “Classroom of the  Future” programme in previously disadvantaged schools, allowing an integration of information and communication technology into  classrooms. In this article we focus on the sustainability of ICT in these schools. We regard sustainability as meeting one’s needs without  compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The sample constituted 18 participants from 6 disadvantaged  schools in the Classroom of the Future initiative. Semi-structured face-to-face and telephonic interviews were employed for data  collection. Our results show that ineffective teacher professional development for ICT, and inconsistent and timeous service delivery from  the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) technicians/teacher trainers were a major deterrent to effective ICT implementation.  Additionally, the phasing-in approach to the rollout of ICT was a serious challenge to ICT sustainability in schools. We recommend  improved teacher professional development initiatives pertaining to ICT to be instituted in schools where heads of departmenti take responsibility for empowering post-level one (PL 1) teachers on ICT to improve classroom learning. We also advocate for new improved  service delivery from GDE technicians/teacher trainers, who are held accountable for fulfilling their mandates.