SA
Lissoos at forefront of education
The head of the Trade and Economic office from the Embassy of Israel to South Africa recently invited IT expert Michelle Lissoos, MD of Think Ahead Education Specialists, who spearheads the iSchoolAfrica project to go to Israel to speak of her project there. Michelle was invited to speak on the opportunities for Israeli Ed-Tech companies in SA. “I gave an overview of the educational landscape here and discussed the challenges, insights and what companies from Israel coming to South Africa need to open their eyes to,” she told SAJR.
ROBYN SASSEN
“It was because of my knowledge of the educational space,” she told the SA Jewish Report, speaking of her 15 years in the industry.
“Basically, there are different forums in Israel, where they get people from South Africa to explain to different sectors what the opportunities are for Israeli businesses in South Africa. It’s a partnership between the embassy and Israel export and international corporate affairs.
“So I was invited to speak at an Ed Tech conference on the opportunities of these companies in South Africa. I gave an overview of the educational landscape here and discussed the challenges, insights and what companies from Israel coming to South Africa need to open their eyes to.
“It was very exciting: I presented to about 10 different companies and then spent time with individual companies in consultation.”
iSchoolAfrica is at the moment in 120 government schools across the country, and some 200 private schools. “We’re really now seeing a change in education, in results and consequently in attitudes and performance.”
iPads have been in this country for just three years. “It’s a short time, but in all my years of experience in education technology, I’ve never seen such tangible results so quickly.” In a sense, the iPads have replaced the simple slates used in school education a generation ago. Only, they’re alive.
Lissoos commented on how amazing it was for her to have been in Tel Aviv, after a 14 year absence. “The vibe and the trendiness wasn’t what I anticipated. Israel has amazing technology brains: but I also realised that South African schools are actually not bad at all.
“It was good to see insights into technological and educational projects, and meeting and speaking to people in the schools in Israel, in other markets in Arabic-speaking countries, in Russia and so on.
“What happens next? The exciting thing is the relationships growing between education technology, knowledge and companies here and in Israel. The next thing will be to pilot some products in South Africa and to see if they are suitable for the market here.”
It’s really positive and reflects on the fabric that makes Israel tick. She speaks of a product called Einstein Lab Mate. “It’s a small gadget that turns your iPad into a science lab. We’re exploring different possibilities.” It feels like science fiction.
She acknowledges that education still faces major challenges. “Parents are also starting to want to take education into their own hands and are looking for solutions like iPads. All the South African text books are currently on iPad, and all matric revision is on iPad.
“It’s been such an amazing path,” she adds, speaking of her years in the field “Consumer technology has made such a difference in education, across the board.”