Disparities between those who have access to digital learning and those who do not during the hard lockdown inspired a Cape mobile app developer to create a free educational mobile app that can help children from previously disadvantaged communities.
Edu Hub, the brainchild of former Belgravia High School pupil Brandon Wilson, was created 15 months ago as a result of the initial lockdown announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa in March last year.
It covers educational content as per CAPS syllabus for Grades 10 to 12.
The app focuses on maths, physical sciences, maths literacy, life sciences and English (first additional language).
"I did a lot of introspective sorts of inner work and asked myself the question of how I can contribute and be of value to my community, society and country at large, and Edu Hub was produced," said Wilson.
The 43-year-old app developer, raised in Athlone, said following some interaction with friends he realised that teachers were not coping with the education crisis, which involved a lot of online work.
He said most learners in quintile 1, 2 amd 3 schools struggled due to difficulties accessing an affordable online platform and data.
Teachers mainly depended on WhatsApp as a platform for teaching and learning. Unlike in well-resourced schools there had been no Zoom, Hangout or MS Teams.
"By crisis, we’re talking about how learners were able to access schooling education notes, exercise sheets and lessons during these tumultuous times. A teacher sharing on a large WhatsApp group with a large number of learners was proving to be a nightmare of an exercise, as parents were zoning in on confusion and often not able to convey meaning and help their kids with schoolwork," Wilson said.
Edu Hub, launched two weeks ago, gives learners and teachers alike access to a number of educational materials.
The app, which can be downloaded for free from the Google Play Store, takes up less than 10 megabits of data, making it easy to download for entry-level Android phones.
Wilson said that in creating and researching educational materials from the basic Department of Education portals, he noted that there are three focus areas.
"The first part of the app is that it has explanation videos. The videos are of South African teachers and tutors giving white board video explanations on every topic related to the CAPS system. The second part of the app is the actual study guides and revision educational books. Thirdly and more importantly, the app has past question papers with marking guidelines and memorandums," he said.
There are more than 500 explainer videos, 300 pages of worksheets, and past papers dating back to 2014.
Wilson said that in the next few weeks, more subjects such as geography, accounting and Afrikaans(first additional language) would be added.