An anonymous reader writes “State education in South Africa has been described as ‘in crisis’. A recent report (pdf) says that even the top 20% of private schools only achieve the same results as the average in other middle income countries like Chile. In maths and science, teachers often can’t answer and don’t understand the questions they have to set their pupils. One government school in Johannesburg, however, has taken an enormously bold step and gone ‘fully digital’ in a move that others may follow. Since January, all pupils have been required to buy a tablet computer instead of textbooks — which, astonishingly, saves families around R500 ($50) in the first year and R1500 ($150) in subsequent years, a huge amount of money for many families there. The teachers are confident that that learning outcomes are better as well — and if the end of year tests in a month’s time are positive, other schools may follow suit.”… An anonymous reader writes “State education in South Africa has been described as ‘in crisis’. A recent report (pdf) says that even the top 20% of private schools only achieve the same results as the average in other middle income countries like Chile. In maths and science, teachers often can’t answer and don’t understand the questions they have to set their pupils. One government school in Johannesburg, however, has taken an enormously bold step and gone ‘fully digital’ in a move that others may follow. Since January, all pupils have been required to buy a tablet computer instead of textbooks — which, astonishingly, saves families around R500 ($50) in the first year and R1500 ($150) in subsequent years, a huge amount of money for many families there. The teachers are confident that that learning outcomes are better as well — and if the end of year tests in a month’s time are positive, other schools may follow suit.”

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