Collaborative partnerships and the transformation of secondary education through ICTs in South Africa

The focus of this study is on lessons learned by elite collaborative partnerships that use information and communication technologies (ICTs) to improve secondary education in South Africa. This study presents enabling and constraining factors in the integration of ICTs in secondary education. This research is based on two case studies in South Africa, namely: the Mindset Network Organization and the Khanya Education Technology Project. These case studies were used to develop conceptual and practical models of educational technology implementation in secondary schools by elite collaborative partnerships within the context of a developing country.;Secondary education provision in Africa has not expanded enough to absorb the increasing number of primary school graduates. Due to these challenges, the prospect of meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in most countries in the Africa is remote. The magnitude of the challenge in the secondary education calls for a reconsideration of traditional approaches to secondary education provision. However, governments in Africa lack the resources needed to build more schools to accommodate the rising demand for secondary education made possible. In the light of this problem, innovative approaches are needed to improve secondary education in Africa. Because of resource constraints, governments in the region cannot successful integrate ICTs in secondary education alone. This underscores the need for collaboration between the government, the private sector and the civil society.;This study uses the actor-network and policy network theories to examine the dimensions of ICT integration and implementation processes in secondary schools by collaborations. The study argues that collaborative partnerships do not only implement and engage in ICT in education policy processes, they also serve as change agents in the paradigm shift in system of teaching and learning in South Africa. The research contributes to strategies in the implementation of ICT in education policy Africa. Qualitative data was used to generate useful policy lessons for the management of elite collaborative initiatives in application of ICTs for secondary education transformation in Sub-Saharan Africa.