Pupils can access thousands of free e-books during the coronavirus shutdown period with Snapplify

As pupils and parents enter a new term, many will engage with educators and continue the school year remotely for the first time - a potentially difficult transition. Though working together now means being apart for a short time, it is important to ensure that life and routines go on as best they can, especially when it comes to education.

Snapplify has a long history of supporting educational institutions as they transition towards 4IR classrooms and announced a new initiative to help pupils as they embark upon their remote learning journey.

The programme launched by the ed-tech industry leader is called Free Access – a programme to provide short-term access to digital e-books, e-textbooks and other resources for pupils at no cost. The broad selection of digital content covers educational resources for the CAPS curriculum, including e-textbooks, readers, teacher guides and study guides, as well as interactive products like the Zoom In series.

Snapplify’s Free Access programme brings together partners from across the education industry. The local publishers who have pledged their support for the programme include Oxford University Press South Africa, Cambridge University Press, Via Afrika, All Copy Publishers, and Consumo Publishers, with more to be announced in the coming weeks. Any user is able to access the free e-books with a registered Snapplify user account. Pupils and parents are encouraged to register a free account to make use of this exclusive offer until December 31.

“The need for parents and educators to collaborate more closely has never been more important than now – and both can be reassured that Snapplify is here to help them, every step of the way,” explains Snapplify CEO, Wesley Lynch. “We're proud of our digital education community and the willingness of our partners to come together to offer the most extensive collection of free content available for remote learning.”

Enterprise tier of Engage also unlocked for remainder of 2020

Snapplify has also made the Enterprise tier of its Engage e-learning platform open to all schools at no cost until 31 December 2020. This provides all schools access to top tier added benefits of the platform, including advanced administration tools and integrations, and user data analytics.

As he addressed the nation about the initial 17-day nationwide lockdown that was implemented from March 27, President Cyril Ramaphosa called on South Africans to unite: “There is no doubt in my mind that we will prevail. South Africans have come together like never before to wage the struggle against this virus, together.” This collaboration by several partners in the digital education space echoes this message, while working to support continued education with minimal disruptions.

This sentiment is shared by the Snapplify Foundation, which aims to improve accessibility, scale and quality of education across all communities in Africa. Digital tools are an essential support mechanism to break down barriers to access to education and opportunities for personal and professional growth. Going digital also presents an opportunity to diversify the standard curriculum offering with a variety of long-term benefits – such as teaching valuable technical soft skills and promoting safe practices and communications online.

• Article provided by Snapplify