Cape Town - The African News Agency (ANA) celebrated the launch of its new brainchild – Student360 on Monday.
Student360 – is an educational news, curricula and advice platform for pupils, educators, parents and advertisers.
The site, which has been built in collaboration with the education department regarding content used, includes study materials and worksheets for pupils from Grades 1 to 11 while crucial worksheets, revisorary past examinations papers have been made available for matriculants (Grade 12).
The clean-cut website also has a mix of the latest news within the education sector, learning, schools and colleges, study guides, past papers and more to assist learners.
All content on the website is free, worksheets can be accessed offline and worksheets can be shared with friends.
ANA CEO, Vasantha Angamuthu said a long time dream has been brought to life.
“Building and managing an education portal has been a long held dream of ours and our decision to launch it now, in a time of Covid-19, was a response to the need we recognised among teachers, learners and parents to salvage the 2020 academic year,” Angamuthu said.
She went further staying it was a long-term investment for future generations.
“We are excited to offer this platform to educational institutions – from government schools, universities and colleges to private schools, colleges and universities," Angamuthu said.
“We call on them to support this initiative and partner with us to drive excellence in education in South Africa.”
During the virtual launch, Chief Director of the Kwa-Zulu Natal Education Department, Mbongiseni Mazibuko said online learning platforms have become the future and Covid-19 should be seen as a blessing in disguise.
“Covid-19 has taught us teaching and learning cannot be confined to the four walls of the classroom. It can happen remotely. Former model-c schools used to be way ahead as compared to the majority of our learners,” he said.
“Covid-19 came to us as a blessing in disguise, forcing us to do things differently, forcing us to think differently and forcing us to channel our energies and our efforts into the right spacesand for the right reasons,” Mazibuko said.
Mazibuko went further stating Covid-19 has now forced all schools, regardless if it’s located in a township or in the suburbs to be on the same pace of learning.
Student360 content editor, Tony Oosthuizen said they will continue to make improvements on the portal and ensure pupils only receive the best.
“We are committed to ensuring that we all work together to make the best of a difficult year due to Covid-19 and to play our role in this community to ensure pupils are supported and make the best decisions for the future careers," Oosthuizen said.
“ Student360 is here for the long haul for generations of pupils to come.”