Region 10 schools going smart, solar in 2019

Starting in 2019, the Region 10 Department of Education will be focusing on the green initiative and bringing schools on board to rely on renewable energy.
Regional Education Officer of Region 10 (ag) Keane Adams says solar panels will be installed in more schools in the new year. Another transition the department will be making is to transform traditional chalkboard classrooms into smart classrooms which will revolutionise learning to meet the standards of a technological educational sector.
“That is one criterion we are trying to fill, come 2019, we will have more solar energies in all schools and in 2019 too, we will have smart classrooms where children will be better able to interact, it will no longer be chalk and talk, so we are getting there,” Adams told the Department of Information.
For this new term, most schools were given a facelift, allowing the children to commence the new school term in a cleaner, brighter and more conducive

environment. The focus, according to Adams, was the beautification of sanitary blocks, the physical infrastructure and the overall aesthetics of the school, so that children, as well as teachers, can feel more comfortable and learning can be done more effectively.
“I am happy and elated that children are better accommodated because for Region 10, we would have exhausted our budget for furniture and equipment, schools are better equipped. We are not 100 per cent, but we are better than where we were six months ago. We are a bit more comfortable,” Adams is quoted by the Department of Public Information as saying.
The schools that would have seen extensive refurbishing are the South Amelia’s Ward, Pine Street, Republic Avenue, Kwakwani Water Front, Kwakwani Park, Retrieve Nursery Schools, the Mackenzie and Watooka Day Primary Schools and the Christianburg Wismar and the Linden Foundation Secondary School as well the Mackenzie High School amongst others. Refurbishing works include tiling, painting, ceiling, replacement of equipment and furniture and other improvement works to the physical structure of the school.