NAIROBI – The Kenya government is partnering with stakeholders in order to ensure that the present digital divide among the urban and rural poor does not extend further.
This follows the realization that a computer literate workforce is key to the achievement of the economic blue print, Vision 2030. As the share of services sector contribution to the GDP increases while that of the agriculture declines, a skilled labor force will be necessary. The most cost effective way to achieve a computer literate society is through teaching the skills at schools especially before students graduate from high school.
Kenya Commercial Bank Group Secretary David Malakwen recently said that his institution through the KCB Foundation has invested 41,000 US dollars (Kshs 3.4 m) in a bid to support the development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in schools especially in rural areas.
“Our goal is to supplement the efforts by the ministry of education in order to enhance computer skills in students with a view to making them competent workers,” said Malakwen said during the launch of the third phase of the KCB Foundation and Computer For Schools Kenya (CFSK) partnership Last week.
“As we rapidly shift to a knowledge based economy, KCB Foundation seeks to share the heritage of having played a critical role in triggering the paradigm shift,” he said. One of the beneficiaries of the donation includes Sheik Ali Secondary School located in Mandera county on the northwestern tip of Kenya.
Its principal Ibrahim Maalim told Xinhua that his school is set to receive 21 computers from the KCB Foundation. “Currently our student population is 570 students mostly from nomadic families in the area but we only have two computers. This additional equipment will enable us to mainstream ICT in all subjects in order to allow our students be ready for the job market after they leave secondary school,” Maalim said.
Computer For Schools Kenya Director of Operations Nicholas Nzou said that since his organization was founded in 2002, it has disbursed over 48,000 computers to over 2500 schools countrywide in Kenya. “However the high cost of this technology continues to a barrier for universal access especially in the remote locations,” Nzou said. He said that those in rural areas should also be enabled to carry out research in order to update their skills by making the internet accessible to them. Lamu County based Bahari Secondary School Board of Governors Chairman Andrew Mwakisha said that at the moment his learning institution does not have a single computer so they are pleased to be part of the beneficiaries.
“Due to the remoteness of Lamu from the rest of Kenya, only ten percent of schools in area have at least one computer, so when we receive our set of equipment it will really boost ICT education the region,” Mwakisha said. Bulta Boys High School in Busia county is also set to receive a donation of computers in order to expand their computer laboratory. Principal Leonard Maroko said his school only has ten computers for a student population of 400.
“We are only able to enroll a very few students to computer courses due to the severe shortage of computers,” Maroko said. “The world is now moving towards ICT, so even teachers who are not computer literate will become irrelevant,” he said. Maroko said that they hope to incorporate the local community by offering computer lessons at subsidized rates especially in the evening as the school is set in the rural area which does not have any modern learning institutions in the vicinity. KCB Foundation Manager Rachel Gathoni said that her organization hopes to achieve the goal of one beneficiary school per county.
“Given that the national electricity grid is yet to reach some of the remote villages of Kenya’s arid and semi areas, the uptake of technology is facing challenges,” Gathoni said. Digital Pipeline Africa CEO Tom Musili said that the country has to embrace ICT in order to achieve national development. “Through the use of ICT the country can leapfrog developmental stages through learning from international best practices,” Musili said.
“ICT tends to equalize abilities of all countries regardless of their status of national development,” he added. Kenya government established the Universal Access Fund in order to roll out ICT to all areas of the country through the enactment of the Kenya Information and Communication Act. According to an ICT gaps study carried out by the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) last year, there is a growing risk of digital alienation for the rural population despite Kenya’s rapid ICT growth.
The study revealed that less than five percent of people living in rural areas use the internet in spite of growth in the number of internet users from 1.7 million in 2007 to 10 million by June 2011. Data from the ministry of information reveals that ICT accounts for about 2.8 percent to the Gross Domestic product (GDP). This figure is expected to to reach 10 percent by 2030. (Xinhua)
