At least 351 primary schools out of 377 have been connected to digital literacy devices in Trans Nzoia County.
Speaking to the press in his Kitale office on Thursday, Trans Nzoia County commissioner (CC), Samson Ojwang said only 26 new schools are not connected to the digital learning.
At the same time, Ojwang who was flanked by the County Director of Education (CDE), Dr. Salome Maina and her TSC counterpart, Boniface Okumu said 27,000 digital devices were distributed to pupils in local public primary schools.
He commended parents and teachers for embracing the programme which he said was the way to go, especially during this era of advanced technology around the world.
According to the CC, the digital learning programme has encouraged more pupils to attend classes, adding that the enrolment in primary schools had increased drastically.
“In 2015 we had around 202,000 pupils in Trans Nzoia in public schools but the enrolment increased to 237,000 in 2018,” he said.
On her part, Dr. Maina said that digital literacy programme is a good enabler of the Curriculum Based Programme (CBC), which had been accepted by teachers and parents in the region.
She allayed fears that the digital programme was a failure, adding that almost all schools in the region are using the devices.
The CDE however, said that there was no policy on replacement of the devices in case they are lost.
Another challenge, she pointed out, was retirement of the already trained teachers under the programme and phobia of some of the old teachers to embrace use of the devices.
But even so, the director attributed the success of the programme in the area to teamwork from various stakeholders, including the Kenya power company.
By Pauline Ikanda
