A total of 706 public primary schools out of 709 in Nandi County have received Digital Learning Devices (DLP) under the digital literacy programme.
In a report presented to the County Development and Implementation Coordination Committee (CDICC), the County Director of Education, Willie Machocho said only three schools have not received the devices.
“Chesirgan, Kamagap and ADC Tolilet primary schools in Nandi East, South and North Sub counties respectively are only institutions not yet supplied with devices,” noted Machocho.
On the other hand, beneficiary schools have already received up to 28,625 Learner Digital Devices and 1,412 Teacher Digital Devices.
However, the Director pointed out various challenges facing the programme in the county for instance, lack of power connectivity due to faulty transformers.
Some schools have also not been connected to the national grid pending meter installation.
The other challenge is insecurity concerns whereby a total of ten schools have been broken into, 54 Teacher Digital Devices, 31 Learner Digital Devices and 6 projectors stolen.
Elsewhere, aging workforce whereby most of the teachers are about to retire and cannot easily grasp matters technology also poses a challenge.
At the same time, some other schools have fewer learning devices due to increased class enrollment since the government considered year 2014 figures to distribute the devices but the numbers have up-scaled.
Nonetheless, despite the challenges, the programme has realized several benefits to the learners, teachers and the community at large.
One of the benefits noted is the reduction in absenteeism and increased admission in schools.
Communities across the county have been also connected to electricity as more schools have been connected to the national grid.
DLP has also provided a range of jobs, including ICT support centres, business opportunities in digital education, content development and e-waste management and disposal.
In addition, the programme has enhanced learning in most public and private schools through the use of digital technologies, thus growing Kenya’s global profile as a leader and hub in ICT.
DLP was started by the government in 2013 to ensure pupils in standard one to three are able to use digital technology in learning with the sole objective of transforming the education system in Kenya.
Going forward in the second phase of the programme, computer laboratories are going to be set up to enable learners in the upper grade access the gadgets to ensure inclusivity for all.
By Bethsheba Abuya
