The Ministry of Education is working on a programme that will enable students in Kenya access learning materials online.
The project, which is in partnership with the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) and the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK), aims at digitising the current learning syllabus so as to enhance e-learning in the country.
When releasing the 2008 Kenya Primary Certificate of Education (KCPE) results yesterday, Education minister Prof Sam Ongeri said the ministry’s aim is to adopt electronic learning in most schools as a way of embracing information technology (IT).
“Although we have been using mobile phones and the Internet to release results, we are in the process of digitising the learning syllabus to offer e-learning in our schools and to scale up our use of IT,” said Prof Ongeri.
The pilot phase of the programme kicked off in August this year in sixteen schools across the eight provinces and will cost Sh15,208,000. CCK supplied each of the selected schools with a server, four computers and a printer.
As part of their contribution to the project, telecommunication operators in Kenya will provide free Internet connectivity for at least 12 months. The schools were selected randomly from areas with telecommunications network coverage.
In total, CCK is expected to fund the project to the tune of Sh33,208,000. The funds will be used in procuring hardware and software to facilitate the development of digital content for secondary school Form One students.
KIE, on its part, will provide specialised staff for example teachers, IT specialists, and curriculum developers) who will develop digital content for eleven Form One subjects.
The Commission shall provide additional funding to scale up the project to cover all the secondary schools in the country at an additional cost of Sh18 million.
However, CCK and KIE hope that once the Universal Access Fund is established, they shall replicate this project to all schools (primary schools included) in the country.
The success of the implementation of the Fund that proposes to levy telecommunication operators’ additional taxes, however depends on whether President Kibaki will sign to law the Controversial Kenya Communication Amendment Bill 2008.
It is after the law comes to force that the regulator will be able to collect these funds from the operators.