Starting today, the Gauteng Department of Education will begin distributing free tablets to all matric learners in public schools as part of the Paperless Classrooms project.

“As from next week Monday, all our 2016 grade 12s in Gauteng, your tablets are coming in your classrooms [sic],” Gauteng MEC of education, Panyaza Lesuf announced to a hall of attendees, which included Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa on Saturday at the Gauteng Youth Development Expo in Soweto.

“In Gauteng, deputy president, if you want to see a chalk board, if you want to see a duster, you must go to a museum, you must not go to our classrooms,” Lesufi added.

Lesufi also promised that his department would distribute unlimited free data bundles to all matrics from 5am and 9pm, starting today.

“There is no student who will have to buy airtime or data bundles in Gauteng, we’ve got the fastest [internet] connectivity ever. Students, we are doing this because this government cares for you” he said.

Lesufi urged learners to focus on their studies and stay away from anything that may distract them from performing well.

The announcement was met with much excitement from learners in the hall, many who have already received tablets holding them up in celebration.

More details on this announcement, such as the cost and how the distribution will be conducted, are yet to be made clear.

As seen last year when Paperless Classrooms were launched, the project faces a myriad of problems such as theft and vandalism of the tablets as well as matric learners not returning them to their school at the end of the school year.