Over 2,000 new schools that were not established when the government launched the Digital Learning Programme in 2015 are set to receive digital devices by June 2022.
While speaking during the launch in Marigima Primary School in Kieni, Nyeri County, CS Joe Mucheru acknowledged challenges in the project, vowing to improve internet and facilities.
Mucheru said the government had put in place plans to address each of the challenges.
“We are aware of the program’s limitations, which include a lack of internet access in schools to facilitate content delivery, insufficient teacher training, and high electrical costs in schools.”
“The government has put in place plans to address each of these difficulties, including lowering school power tariffs and allocating sufficient cash to the program,” Mucheru added.
The government, through the Ministry of ICT, Innovation, and Youth Affairs, will connect both public and private schools to internet services across the country as part of the SchoolNet Program.
The scheme will be executed in four phases, with wireless radio links benefiting schools within a 40-kilometre radius.
Mucheru stated that the program was in its second phase of implementation, with the Ministry and other ICT actors aiming to provide 1.2 million devices to upper primary students.
He stated that the program, which will run until 2024, will provide internet connectivity to 24,000 public primary and 15,000 secondary schools in order to improve digital learning. Special needs schools are also taken into account in the new plan.
