​A total of 505 schools from the Western, Northern and Eastern Cape are part of the Telematic Schools project, an initiative which seeks to address important educational challenges in South Africa. It started as a pilot project in 2009 to improve the Grade 12 year-end results of participating schools. The total number of participating schools is set to rise to 672, with 167 Eastern Cape schools seeking to join the project.

The project, which is driven by the Stellenbosch University Telematic division's interactive satellite platform, has partnerships with the Centre for Learning Technologies, the Western Cape Department of Education and the Departments of Education around South Africa. SU is the strategic partner for the project. Through satellite and internet streaming services as well as administrative support through project websites, a Facebook page, communications technologies, evaluation and reporting, the project is growing to a possible national footprint.

The presenters explain core concepts and address problem areas where learners have experienced difficulties in previous examinations.

Learners have indicated that the project has been helpful in preparations for exams, motivate them to improve their school results and encouraged them to study further.

"Telematic has helped me a lot in my studies and encourages me to take my exams very seriously," a learner said, who participated in an anonymous survey of the Eastern Cape Department of Education (ECED). "It has assisted me in the skill of participating and listening skill. I like to thank the broadcasts a lot keep up with the good work University of Stellenbosch."

"SU would love to see the project grow with even more schools from all parts of SA taking part in the meaningful initiative," said JP Bosman, Head of the Centre for Learning Technologies. "We would also like to see more grades participating, as well as extending the content in terms of subjects and number of broadcasts. An interesting idea also emerged to use the Telematic Schools platform to potentially do teacher training, which is a critical need to further the education system in SA. We are dreaming of, in future, to have a second satellite broadcast studio dedicated to the Telematic Schools Project."