By Judy Vilakazi. Head of Telkom Foundation
A computer lab with no connectivity. A screen without a manual. Learning materials with no classroom to teach them in. A satellite without a connection point. Technology, no matter how advanced, means little if it cannot reach the learners it is meant to empower. For learners, connectivity is more than access to information, it is access to opportunity, participation, and a future shaped by digital inclusion.
It is with this understanding that ICT labs become more than physical spaces of learning. These beacons of connection open new pathways for millions of South African learners to develop critical digital skills and enhance literacy and numeracy. More importantly, these digitally enabled spaces provide learners with the tools needed to participate more meaningfully in a connected world, including in higher education and the world of work.
For 57 years, the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the agency of the United Nations for telecommunications has celebrated World Telecommunications Information Society Day (WTISD) annually on May 17. This year’s theme, “Digital Lifelines: Strengthening resilience in a connected world,” recognises the critical role that digital infrastructure and connectivity play in enabling resilience, participation, and inclusion in modern society.
Digital lifelines, according to the organisation, are the networks and systems that carry information around the globe. “They include mobile and fixed networks, undersea cables linking continents, satellites that support communication and navigation, and data centres that keep digital services running together…,” the organisation stated.
ICT labs are indeed such lifelines – particularly in provinces such as the Eastern Cape (EC), where the Telkom Group and the Telkom Foundation have worked to meaningfully connect schools and bring lasting socio-economic impact. Initiatives such as the Connected Schools Programme, and Openserve’s Free Fibre Schools Programme, have expanded access to digital learning and connectivity at scale. As South Africa continues working to close the digital divide, partnerships between government and the private sector remain critical to expanding access at scale.
With many schools across the country still facing serious infrastructure challenges, including unsafe buildings, overcrowding, and resource constraints – the private sector has an important role to play in accelerating meaningful and sustainable change.
Aligned with the goals of the Ministry of Communications and Digital Technologies and the Department of Basic Education, Telkom continues to support efforts to ensure schools are not only safe and dignified spaces of learning but are also equipped to participate meaningfully in the digital economy.
Our ICT lab handover at Thubalethu Secondary School in Fort Beaufort, Eastern Cape on May 15 is a tangible example of this commitment in action. With new computer screens, servers, routers, freshly painted walls, new tiling, and furniture – over 750 learners at the school now have access to a digitally enabled learning environment designed to support growth, learning, and future opportunity.
The Thubalethu handover forms part of Telkom’s broader investment in digitally connected education. Over the last three financial years, Telkom refurbished and handed over 17 ICT labs nationwide, with over 8,716 devices donated across schools nationwide, representing an investment of R33 million. In the fiscal year ending 2025 alone, the Telkom Foundation invested a total of R72.5 million, including more than R47.3 million towards education initiatives, and over R21 million invested in digital skills development.
The impact of digitally connected schools extends far beyond the classroom.
The launch of Phase 2 of the government’s SA Connect project in 2024 demonstrated how access to the internet could transform rural communities. Beyond infrastructure delivery, connectivity enables access to information, economic participation, and long-term community development. With an aim to connect over 32 000 community Wi-Fi hotspots and the connectivity of over 5 million households by this financial year, transformation is not only structural but accounts for the socio-economic development of this communities too, employment opportunities for skilled and semi-skilled workers are created in the short-and long-term.
By supporting initiatives that integrate devices, digital tools, and high-speed connectivity into classrooms, Telkom is helping to create digitally enabled learning environments. These efforts contribute to the broader goal of connecting schools in historically disadvantaged areas and strengthening the foundations of digital education.
Telkom remains committed to expanding digital access in schools by providing technology and connectivity that support modern teaching and learning. Through investments in devices, connectivity, ICT infrastructure, and fibre connectivity enablement, Telkom is building digital lifelines that extend beyond the classroom — connecting learners and educators to knowledge, opportunity, and participation in a digitally connected future.
