Who We Are?
Background
The key premise and cornerstone of "Do Me A Favour" is to bridge the digital divide by giving equal access and opportunities to matriculants in rural areas as matriculants in "urban" and more affluent areas. We do this by facilitating their online university applications which is the next step into their bright futures. This is however hampered by a few factors including:
Access
This includes access to technological infrastructure (computers/laptops, scanners), course/career content and online university applications
Cost
The regular cost of transportation to access the internet and the distance between the town and the rural area concerned. The high costs of internet which range between R20-R40 and hour, which is also mirrored in the high cost of data
Usage
The ability to use the aforesaid infrastructure-lack of knowledge and familiarity in using computers, navigating the internet and ultimately completing online university applications
Support
Due to unstable/irregular interaction with computers/laptops and the internet most learners don't have the “know-how” of navigating the internet or using the supporting infrastructure. Lack of support or guidance of the latter means a longer amount of time spent using the internet which has higher cost implications
What do we do/About us?
South Africa sees +800000 matriculants across 6888 examination centers complete their annual NSC examinations. More than half of those matriculants don’t have access to the internet or technological infrastructure which is a necessity for the next steps into their futures-placing learners at a distinct disadvantage when compared to their peers. This giving
“Do Me A Favour” an opportunity to bridge this gap for learners, creating hope for a better and brighter future
• Making high school internet access and connectivity a living commonplace
The digital divide and the need to allow and facilitate equal opportunities for all learners gives us a unique place in the lives and potential futures of the learners. When matriculants reach the end of their 13-year schooling career and are all seated to complete their NSC examinations, we all know that it’s crunch time and that everyone needs to come face to face with the next chapter of their lives-tertiary education. Where 99% of the respective applications are accessed and completed online. This is a sad reality or even the end of the chapter for learners in the most rural parts of South Africa who don’t have internet access which holds the key in the next step of their futures-a privilege to some and a need to others. An estimated 35.1% of state schools lack internet connectivity, depriving approximately 8,000 schools of all the administrative, communication and teaching resources that internet connectivity has to offer. Most of these schools lie in rural areas.