Twine, known for its ability to bring large-scale school management software to small schools, is being piloted in 8 schools outside Cape Town, in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Twine was selected specifically to help bring Edsby to individual schools within the large province of 1.2 million students.
Principals and educators in the pilot expressed excitement during their recent training about how Twine will reduce time spent on administrative tasks while increasing communications with families and students. Ease of use and accessibility from mobile devices were identified as key factors for success, given the wide range of technology access and experience in the communities served by the pilot schools.
“I’m thrilled to see the impact Twine can have in these communities, and that the same benefits we see in North America bringing enterprise technology to independent schools apply much the same way overseas,” said Gary Falcon, CEO of Twine. “Educators everywhere face the same challenges, from lesson planning, scheduling, and assessment to helping students individually and in groups, keeping parents informed, and keeping current. Twine helps in all these areas.”
Local teacher and administrator training was completed October 25th, and launch of Twine to students and parents is planned for January 2020. The project is being spearheaded by SchoolTree in South Africa, with support from the Western Cape Department of Education and corporate partners including Twine, Edsby, Microsoft, Pick ‘n’ Pay, and MySchool-MyVillage-MyPlanet.