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Major boost for school laptop project as Unesco promises training support
What you need to know:
- On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed and Unesco Director-General Irina Bokova signed a cooperation deal at the agency’s headquarters in Paris.
- The agreement also covers the training of 1,000 field education officers comprising county education managers, sub-county officers and quality assurance officers in the context of integration of ICT in education at the local level.
The laptop project has received a boost after Unesco agreed to support teacher and education officers’ training.
On Tuesday, Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed and Unesco Director-General Irina Bokova signed a cooperation deal at the agency’s headquarters in Paris.
The Jubilee flagship project has faced hurdles since 2013, but President Uhuru Kenyatta last week assured Kenyans that it would be realised this year.
Ms Mohamed said the integration of ICT into the education system was one of the key priorities of the government. Areas of cooperation would include scaling up teacher-training in ICT in two phases.
“The first phase will focus on developing the capacity of 11,000 teachers and 11,000 heads. The second will target a similar number,” Ms Mohamed said.
The agreement also covers the training of 1,000 field education officers comprising county education managers, sub-county officers and quality assurance officers in the context of integration of ICT in education at the local level.
It will also cover cooperation in the review of the national ICT Strategy to reflect the current and changing trends as well as support in data management to provide a robust National Education Information System.
More than a million Standard One pupils will have access to a digital learning device and appropriate curriculums as 60,000 teachers have already been trained to support the digital learning.
In February, Moi University and Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) won the Sh17 billion tender to supply the laptops.
At Katheka ABC Primary School in Machakos and Ilbisil Primary School in Kajiado, JKUAT and Positivo BGH Consortium yesterday gave demonstrations on how the laptops would work.
JKUAT Deputy Vice-Chancellor Bernard Otoki Moirongo said the consortium was committed to the digital learning plan.
“The delivery and installation of tablets is a demonstration of the commitment,” Prof Moirongo said.
He added that JKUAT was up to the task as it was the first institution to launch and assemble computers.
He said the computer assembly plant at the university, with a capacity to roll out 700 laptops a day, was fully operational.
