On Tuesday, July 18, 2017, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans, Ms. Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula in partnership with Armscor and the University of Fort Hare (UFH) will officiate at the handover ceremony of mobile computer laboratories.

Since the advent of democracy, the Department of Education has put a lot of effort into addressing challenges faced by students and teachers, particularly from low socioeconomic status and previously disadvantaged schools. Nevertheless, teaching and learning subjects such as maths and science remain a solemn challenge in South Africa.

It is against this backdrop that Armscor embarked on a nationwide partnership with schools and institutions of higher learning to explore sustainable ways of assisting teachers and learners, mainlyin science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects.

In July 2016, Armscor collaborated with UFH to educate and create awareness about maintenance and development of defence capability. To further stimulate and maintain interest in learning STEM subjects, students were offered extra lessons every Saturday, as part of the Learner Intervention Programme (LIP).Resultantly, a total of 280 learners from 30 schools around Bisho and Alice have thus far benefitted from the programme.

Throughout his life, former President Nelson Mandela held education close to his heart. As a contribution to keeping his legacy alive, Minister Mapisa-Nqakula will officially hand over mobile labs to rural Eastern Cape schools associated with LIP. “Our hope is for every learner to have a solid education and we believe that such intervention programmes go a long way in empowering learners to reach their full potential”, said Minister Mapisa-Nqakula.

The Eastern Cape provincial government leadership will be present to lend support to the Minister. 

Members of the media are invited to attend the official hand-over ceremony as follows:

Date:     Tuesday, 18 July, 2017
Time:     08h30 for 09h00
Venue: University of Fort Hare, Alice Campus
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Enquiries: Joy Nonzukiso Peter on 082 9900407