Abstract
The onslaught of the novel Coronavirus has forced the South African education sector into embracing new practices. These practices are aligned with the goals and vision of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) which sees technologies and technology-based teaching at the forefront.
However, the forced forward movement into the 4IR has not been easy for all school leaders, teachers, and learners. It is against this backdrop that a generic qualitative approach study grounded within the interpretivist paradigm was conducted. The study aimed to examine the complexities leaders in semi-rural South African schools face when leading towards the 4IR. The study closely examined, through means of semi-structured interviews, the challenges leaders face due to their schools’ geographical background, socio-economic status of the community, and past inequalities. Furthermore, the study examined what support leaders feel they need in order to lead towards the 4IR in their schools.
The findings from the study articulated that, leaders are ready and willing to implement the needed 4IR strategies in their everyday schooling; however, they are faced with underfunding, lack of parental and departmental support, and a lack of teacher training which creates a gap in learner Information and Communications Technology (ICT) knowledge acquisition and retainment. The study additionally found that due to the geographical location of the schools, learners and the school face danger if they have ICT hardware such as laptops, cell phones, and tablets. The risk of robbery and school vandalisation is exponentially higher when these items are on the school premises. Additionally, the study noted that leaders feel there is a disconnect between departmental wants, state policy, and what is needed to lead learners into the 4IR. The findings of the study suggest that there is a need for a statewide redress of ICT policy and a need for a clear vision and mission from the government when it comes to the measures that need to be taken to lead towards the 4IR and education. The study further suggests that there is a desperate need for equity in the distribution of ICT resources to poorer schools; with this, comes the need for a redress of past inequalities against marginalised groups.
Keywords: Fourth industrial revolution; semi-rural primary schools; ICT policy; leading in the 4IR; ICT resources; equitable distribution.