Bridging the digital divide one class at a time
5 February 2024 | Story Leonie Bolleurs
At the end of 2023, a cohort of 60 participants received certificates for completing courses in MS Word and MS Excel during the certificate handover ceremony that took place in the Equitas Auditorium on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus.
Dr Rouxan Fouché, a lecturer in the
Department of Computer Science and Informatics at the University of the Free State (UFS), has been involved in the Information Technology Service-Learning (ITSL) project since 2015. The main goal of this project – in which 1 061 community members have been trained to date – is to address the digital divide in the Mangaung and surrounding areas by providing a service to the community.
“The digital divide has a significant impact on communities in South Africa. Therefore, the Department of Computer Science and Informatics developed a service-learning module to address the issue,” said Dr Fouché, who also completed his PhD on this topic in 2022.
Community involvement is keyAt the end of 2023, a cohort of 60 participants received certificates for completing courses in Microsoft (MS) Word and MS Excel during the certificate handover ceremony held in the Equitas Auditorium on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus. In 2023, Dr Wynand Nel, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Informatics, joined the project to assist with its implementation.
Through the annual ITSL project, students in the CSIS2642 module provide computer literacy training to community members over a ten-week period as part of the service-learning component. Classes were presented each Friday from 10:00 to 13:00 in a computer laboratory on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus. Additionally, this project was also implemented at the loveLife Youth Development Centre in Botshabelo.
Individuals are recruited with the help of community partner organisations responsible for the selection process. During his studies, Dr Fouché found that it is important to involve the community in the training process, which includes decision making and knowledge sharing.
New skills lead to new opportunities The project has been successful in providing computer literacy training to the community, significantly impacting the lives of participants. This success is evident in the increased employment opportunities now available to many community members – opportunities previously inaccessible due to their lack of computer literacy skills.
Sarah, who participated in this project, stands as one of its success stories. Not only did she find her way out of poverty and became a provider for her family, but she also shared the skills she mastered with her family and fellow community members.
Sarah shares her story: “I worked as an unpaid volunteer at the loveLife facility in Botshabelo while also attending high school and living with my family. I decided to register when I heard about the ITSL project being implemented at the loveLife Youth Development Centre. I believed it would be advantageous to participate in the project, since a well-known institution organised it. I enjoyed the project very much. I improved my computer literacy skills during the project, while also being able to help some of the other participants who were struggling. I am very proud of the qualifications I received through the project, since the qualifications helped me find employment. Immediately after completing the ITSL project, I applied for a facilitator position in the computer labs at the loveLife facility in Botshabelo. I enjoyed the project so much that I wanted to come back and be the one to facilitate the project for other community members. I wanted to apply my computer literacy skills to teach other people.”
While working at loveLife, Sarah applied for a position with USAID involving data capturing and presenting sessions. This position helped Sarah to become self-sufficient. She relocated to Welkom and no longer lives with her parents. Currently, she sends money home for food and electricity, and she also assists people in her new community by helping them write and send out their CVs after introducing them to online vacancies.