The Gauteng department of education has rubbished reports that suggest the provincial government’s plan to distribute tablets into classrooms to improve education has come to an end with the recall of up to 88 000 tablets.

Reports published online suggested that Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi announced that 88 000 tablets would be withdrawn permanently from schools across the province after a series of burglaries at schools.

But department spokesman Phumla Sekhonyane has denied this.

She says the tablets are simply being recalled so that they can be fitted with tracking technologies to ensure they are not stolen.

Sekhonyane explains that the department introduced 88 000 tablets into schools in 2013. These tablets lacked security features that allowed the department to track them if they were stolen. As soon as the tracking technology is installed in the devices — 60 000 are affected — they will be sent back to the schools, she says.

“In 2014, when the new MEC came in, we said we should have a holistic approach and look at smart classrooms … connectivity and security — a whole strategy. This was after the 88 000 tablets had been distributed in 2013,” she says.

The department put in place a proof of concept in five schools — most of them in townships — in 2014. This involved making classrooms fully “e-ready”, with the correct equipment, furniture and lighting in place. About 3 500 tablets were distributed to these schools and all were fitted with tracking technology in case of theft.

“Only 11 of these tablets have been stolen, and five of these have been recovered. The remaining six continue to be switched off. If they are switched on, we will recover them,” Sekhonyane says.

Of the 88 000 devices distributed in 2013, about 60 000 are still in the field, she says. About 3 000 of them have, unfortunately, been stolen, necessitating the recall so the tracking technology can be implemented in then before they are sent back to the schools. — (c) 2015 NewsCentral Media