Samsung hands over solar school

Samsung has handed over a Solar Powered Internet School to the Bafedile Secondary School in the North West Province. The school is made from a shipping container and is able to house up to 21 students.

In partnership with the Local Traditional Council in the North West province, Samsung has handed over a Solar Powered Internet School (SPIS) to the community of Maubane. The SPIS is a solar-powered, mobile and completely independent classroom – geared towards increasing accessibility to education and connectivity in schools with limited infrastructure.

The school is a 12 metre long, repurposed shipping container that can house up to 21 students. Each school is equipped with a 50″ electronic board, Internet-enabled tablets, Samsung netbooks and Wi-Fi cameras, all of which are powered by a solar panelled roof that generates electricity for up to nine hours per day.

“The SPIS programme forms part of Samsung’s global Hope for Children initiative, which has an ambitious goal to directly impact the lives of 5-million Africans by 2015, through education or medical support,” says Michelle Potgieter, Director of Corporate Marketing and Communications at Samsung SA. “Samsung aims for young people across the world to enjoy new learning possibilities through collaborative programmes. Furthermore, we are privileged to be working with traditional leaders in the North West as part of Samsung’s strategy to provide an educational solution and accelerate rural development.

Kgosi Maubane, Local Traditional council leader in Maubane, added: “Our kids will no longer wander the streets and will be out of harm’s way thanks to the SPIS that has been provided to us to educate our community. Samsung’s programme to invest in areas that are under-serviced, contributes to the upliftment of communities and aid in equipping the locals with skills they would otherwise not have been afforded.

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