Tokelo Khausela
TELECOMMUNICATIONS giants, Vodacom Lesotho, through its charitable arm, Vodacom Foundation, has donated 50 smart pens to visually impaired students at St Catherine’s High School in Maseru.
The donation will help in the enhancement of communication, provision of access to learning for the visually impaired and in exploring innovative and technologically driven methods of learning.
The foundation’s support aligns with its mandate to promote access to inclusive education in the countrys.
The c-pens have a camera which scans and reads. They also have recorders to store notes and their screens accommodate the partially blind as they can adjust light to suit their levels of exposure. The user can also access an online dictionary and listen to notes at their own speed preference.
Speaking at the handover ceremony, Vodacom’s Executive Head of Regulatory and External Affairs, Tṧepo Ntaopane, said they felt obliged to shape Lesotho’s future by investing in inclusive education.
“The standard of education has changed, comparing to the time when I was a scholar. To achieve the best quality, we need to include everyone because everybody has their own skills and capabilities and they need to use those to change our country, but most importantly we must acknowledge that we are different,” Mr Ntaopane said.
“We must invest in the education of children from start to finish to bridge the gap of affordability, thus, ensuring children go to school regardless of their family situations or state of being, and we must do it till they reach university”, he said.
Rabasotho Ramoeletsi, from Lesotho National Federation of Organizations of the Disabled (LNFOD), thanked Vodacom for its generosity which he said would greatly help the visually impaired community studying at St Catherine’s.
He said LNFOD was mandated to influence the society to change perspectives towards people living with disability.
“Disability is not inability and Vodacom is aware of that because today they did not donate food…..They gave these devices that are going to change the lives of the recipients.
“They will enhance the speed of learning and these learners need to use them to their own benefit by learning as much as they can in order to excel,” Mr Ramoeletsi said.
On behalf of the Ministry of Gender, Youth and Social Development, Relebohile Molapo, from the ministry’s Disability Services Department, said it was their responsibility to promote and protect the rights of people living with disabilities in a collaborative fashion.
“I applaud Vodacom because they have contributed an enabling environment for these children to participate equally in learning. We need to remove all barriers that hinder these children from unleashing their full potential,” Ms Molapo said.
