The University of South Africa (Unisa) has appointed telecommunications group Vodacom Business to provide future-ready digital solutions to students and staff and ensure that quality distance learning is a reality.

With immediate effect, as part of a two-year contract, Vodacom will unlock free and reliable access to essential online resources and tools for Unisa students and staff.

“This partnership is a continuation of the important work Vodacom Business has been doing to shape a futureproof education sector,” says Vodacom Business public enterprise managing executive Poppy Tshabalala.

Vodacom’s partnerships in 2020 with several higher-education institutions ensured their students and staff had the data and digital tools necessary to continue online learning during the Covid-19 restrictions.

This has addressed an immediate need to digitalise education amid the Covid-19 lockdowns; however, the various partnerships have also tackled a longer-term need to transform the education sector for a digital-first future.

“Students empowered by our digital solutions can continue their learning, unimpeded, from wherever they are, while sharpening their digital literacy. This sets them up for success as meaningful contributors to a technologically advanced future,” says Tshabalala.

Vodacom Business implemented its first solution at Unisa, the Reverse Billed Data (RBD), through which the university will be able to offer students free access to its website, online content, applications and data services.

This will enable students and staff, irrespective of their own personal airtime or data balance, to access these digital resources, while Unisa only pays for relevant use through an innovative pricing model.

The second solution to be implemented at Unisa is the Connected Digital Education Platform, developed by Vodacom Business and Microsoft South Africa, through which the university’s students and staff will have free access to several Microsoft Office 365 virtual communication and collaboration tools, including Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Office.

Further, lecturers can access the platform’s planning software to prepare lessons and content ahead of time and automate admin-intensive tasks.

The platform solution also covers any additional data needs aside from those provided through the RBD solution.

This is done through the Vodacom Business EduBundle which provides free access to educational websites specified by Unisa, and through Vodacom Business Anytime Data Bundles for access to any other online resource using a subsidised 30-day 10 GB data bundle with a 20 GB Night Owl allocation, the company explains.

“Our digital solutions enrich the distance-learning experience, making it affordable for students and staff alike, while equipping them with the tools needed to effectively teach and learn online,” says Tshabalala, noting that partnerships such as this will play a key role in improving connectivity in the education sector, democratising access to quality education.

“With quality education and digital literacy as the cornerstones of a future-ready nation, these partnerships are essential to our country’s future economic prosperity.”