70,000 teachers trained on ICT, Matiang’i says

Over 70,000 teachers have been trained on Information Communication Technology (ICT) to effectively deliver on e-learning initiative by the government.

Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has said that the digital literacy programme requires teachers with digital skills, noting that they need to have the appropriate ICT skills to work in the smart schools that the programme requires.

The government has set December this year as the period in which all the 23,951 public schools will receive tablets for the rollout of the project.

Dr Matiang’i made the remarks at the 2016 Global ICT Capacity Building Symposium in partnership with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) held in Nairobi recently.

The overall objective for the symposium was to provide strategic direction to the national and international community on issues relating to capacity building in ICT.

It also aims to strengthen cooperation among the global ICT capacity building community, particularly as the world focuses on the achievement of the 17 SDGs across all development sectors.

Dr Matiang’i disclosed that the ongoing digital literacy programme was open to children in private educational institutions, saying there were no private children.

“All children belong to the state,” said Dr Matiang’i noting that the government training infrastructure on ICT was open to teachers in private basic educational institutions.

He said ICT had made possible the establishment of National Open Universal University which will lead to growth and expansion of higher education.

ICT Cabinet Secretary Joseph Mucheru said ICT has capacity to transform lives, noting that the society needs a workforce that has ICT skills and competencies.

The Jubilee government’s promise of free laptops for primary schools will reach more than 1.2 million pupils by mid next year. It has been delayed since 2013.

A total of 600,000 units are being imported from China while the rest will be assembled locally starting this month by Moi University and Jomo Kenyatta University of Science and Technology (JKUAT).

Part of Sh17 billion they were allocated for the project is being used to import the tablets.

About 12,000 devices are in 150 schools countrywide for trial with three schools in every county and nine special education schools receiving the tablets.