Cape Town – Self-taught coder and entrepreneur Lesego Finger decided to forfeit his income so that this year's matriculants could use his Matric Live app to stay on track with their education.
This year has been tough for South African learners as they have had to swiftly adjust to remote learning during lockdown.
Finger, 21, designed the Matric Live app, which won the Best Education Solution category at the 2019 MTN Business App of the Year Awards.
The app helped Grade 10 to 12 learners during lockdown, forgone its nominal fee and added another 20 000 registrations to its database.
While he was still in high school, Finger said he thought about developing an app that could help fellow learners cope with matric.
He started by loading the subjects he was good at and grew the app from there.
“Now, there are 15 subjects available. For a subscription fee of R10 a month, or a lump sum payment of R100 a year, all the content of the app is available. When SA went into lockdown, we stopped charging this fee,” Finger said.
With his decision to enable free access, his whole source of income disappeared.
He said that the true reward is the messages he has received from so many grateful learners.
Despite being approached by the corporate world to buy Matric Live, with offers of a permanent job and a large share in the profits, Finger has decided to remain just where he is.
He said he would continue his work alongside his team of five permanent specialists.
The Department of Education has also used his services to set up an app that enables learners to source previous exam papers to help prepare for matric.
Finger said going forward he would like to expand the reach of the app so it covers grades R to 12, and examine the opportunity for university courses.
“I also believe that there is a way to develop an app that will allow people to write exams at home. Devices now come with cameras with microphones.
’’There are also tools that can flag eye movements, keystrokes, and also record screens, so that the integrity of an online exam can be guaranteed,” Finger explained.
This year he submitted the latest version of the Matric Live App with new functionalities as a contender in the 2020 MTN Business App of the Year Awards.
“Being a category winner in the 2019 Awards brought us a lot of attention, it brought thousands of people to Matric Live. Another win could benefit us further,” he said.
Kholo Magagane, head of marketing at MTN SA Business, said that apps like Matric Live are filling the gaps in the delivery of education in SA.
Not only during a worldwide pandemic, but also, and perhaps more importantly, in terms of bringing access to education to more youth in rural or disadvantaged communities.
“The world needs more people like Lesego – people who make a real and meaningful difference, whilst harnessing the power of technology.
’’We are pleased to see that he has built onto his app, making him eligible to enter his new and improved version this year,” Magagane said.
Magagane wished all entrants the best of luck ahead of the grand finale on Thursday, when all the finalists and winners will be revealed.
This year marks the ninth edition of the MTN Business App of the Year Awards. It is aimed not only at encouraging the efforts of local developers, but on further building an industry that will contribute to transforming key sectors in SA, while rebuilding the economy.
The ceremony will be live-streamed, for more information people may visit appoftheyear.co.za
Updates on the competition will be posted on @MTNBusinessZA on Twitter. Anyone interested in participating in the conversation can follow #mtnappawards on social media.
African News Agency (ANA)