Youth from North Eastern have been urged to take up Information Technology related courses to bridge the shortage of such professionals in the region.
Ministry of Education Senior officer attached to National Council for Nomadic Education in Kenya (NACONEK) Mohamed Ibrahim said that some of the problems facing the region especially in the education sector can easily be solved if the region fully embraced ICT.
Mohamed was speaking at Garissa University during an ICT workshop for youth in Northern Kenya. The workshop is sponsored by the IBM Digital Nation Africa, the KESHO Alliance, PARENiT solution, Global Peace Foundation Kenya and the Ministry of Education.
The education officer said once the region embraces IT technology, it will be a game changer since a teacher will not necessarily be required to be physically in a classroom.
“The world is moving towards Artificial Intelligence. It is a high time we become part of that. For long we have been left behind and this has impacted negatively in our region. This time round we should not be left behind in technological advancement,” Mohamed said.
“As a region, the education sector has been affected immensely by lack of teachers who flee because of insecurity. But with technology in place we can use teachers who are not physically present in the region to teach the children using technology,” he added.
Mohamed said use of E-learning systems and systems specifically for this geographically location is a good option.
“Young people in this region can also search a lot of information in the internet and access a lot of information and education materials. This will in turn improve their understanding and will help them perform better in the exams,” he said.
Umulkheir Harun Mohamed, founder and director of Kesho Alliance said that for a long time people from Northern Kenya have not fully embraced ICT.
Umulkheir said this has had a negative impact in the region which is now forced to outsource for ICT manpower from other counties.
“I want to encourage my fellow youth to take up technical skills because that is where job opportunities are. Our counties are forced to outsource the manpower from other counties which should not be happening in this day and age,” she said.
By Jacob Songok
