Samsung Electronics East Africa has donated more tablets at Arap Moi Primary School to enhance digital learning.
The school – which was the recipient of a Samsung Solar Powered Internet School in 2014 – has received 20 additional Samsung tablets, four projectors and four all share cast dongles from the Korea Education and Research Information Service (KERIS), in partnership with Samsung Electronics East Africa.
In addition, a number of activities have been carried out such as painting of the school walls, as well as football and netball tournaments. Arap Moi Primary School is home to 1,700 learners, including a special unit for children with disabilities, and the installation of a Samsung Solar Powered Internet School (SPIS) has proved to be beneficial.
The project, which began in May 2014, marked an initiative which aimed to improve the quality of education at the school as well as other neighboring communities that fell outside the grid.
Since the installation of the facility, there has been a steady improvement in the school’s performance in the national exams. From a mean score of 258.70 in 2013, 264.91 in 2014, the school steadily rose to a mean score of 272.84 in 2015.
Ms Rhodah Kipkore, the school headteacher, said class attendance has improved as pupils are eager to interact with the computers both for learning and research. “The school intake has greatly improved due to the presence of the SPIS. This year the school saw a population increase of 300 students”, she says. “All teachers have been trained on the basic usage of computers and the SPIS as a whole.”
Vice President and Managing Director of Samsung Electronics East Africa, Mr Jung Hyun Park, said “our solutions are built with the intention of bringing hope to the people who will be using them. Arap Moi Primary School and the greater community of Kajiado county and indeed Kenya, will now have access to education using technology of the highest standard. We are committed to our vision to impact the lives of many through innovation and skills development in the communities we operate.”
The SPIS is more learner-centred as opposed to teacher-centred. Teachers are able to research and get rich online content which they can then integrate with their class to improve the teaching process by giving better demonstrations and examples, Mr. Park said.
“In order to monitor progress, learners cannot go online without a teacher’s permission. Teachers are also able to monitor what learners are doing on their laptops,” he said.
