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Kenya’s schools ill-equipped for digital skills training
A computer research center at a learning institution. Only 24.6 percent of teachers in secondary schools have gone through some form of digital literacy training.
Only 33.8 percent of Kenya’s secondary schools own teacher teaching devices and only 40 percent own operational computer labs, a fresh report now indicates, shining a spotlight on the deep-rooted gaps that could hurt the country’s ambition of attaining status as the continental digital and tech hub.
The survey, conducted by a non-profit organisation Usawa Agenda and published by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS), further indicates that nationally, only 24.6 percent of teachers in secondary schools have gone through some form of digital literacy training.
Of these, female teachers are slightly more at 26.9 percent against the male proportion of 23.5 percent, with county schools having the highest percentage of teachers trained in digital literacy at 29.1 percent as extra-county schools lag at 19.3 percent.
According to the report, of the 40 percent segment that owns operational computer labs, less than half (49.8 percent) are connected to the internet.
“Nationally, 33.9 percent of the secondary schools in Kenya offer computer lessons. 63.3 percent of boy schools, 53.7 percent of girl schools and 24 percent of mixed schools offer computer lessons,” notes the report.
“92.1 percent of national schools compared to 17.3 percent of sub-county schools and 50.1 percent of private schools offer computer lessons.”
The average number of learners sharing a computer countrywide stands at 52 while the average percentage of schools that possess a functional official telephone line is at 49.6 percent.
About distance learning, 51.3 percent of the schools reached less than 25 percent of their learners remotely while 32.1 percent of the schools reached between 25 percent and 50 percent of their learners via e-studies.
Only 0.6 percent of the schools reached all their learners remotely.
“WhatsApp was by far the most preferred platform for remotely reaching learners during the extended school closures. Among the sub-county and county schools, the second-most preferred platform was SMS, which was also second most preferred nationally,” the report reads.
“Among national and extra-county schools, the second most preferred platform was the online school portal.”
The one digital device owned by the greatest number of schools is the video deck at 84.5 percent while the one owned by the least number is a television set at 35.5 percent.
The data, which paints a picture of suppressed emphasis on digital literacy skills in the school curriculum, comes to light at a time when the government is racing to ignite the takeoff of the country’s digital economy, powered by three pillars among them enhanced tech skills, internet connectivity as well as establishment of a supportive infrastructure.
In 2013, former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Jubilee juggernaut rode to power on the back of lofty pledges of a national digital transformation, at the heart of which was a digital literacy programme through which school-going learners would receive free government laptops.
The much-publicised Sh24.6 billion project would later morph into the issuance of tablets to Class One pupils before facing a myriad of headwinds that eventually hindered its takeoff.
Among the challenges included poor school infrastructure including lack of power connection, budget cuts, as well as inadequate curriculum development and teacher training.
Last year, a survey of youth and entrepreneurs trained under the DigiTruck digital literacy skills programme showed nearly half of the trainees who had received lessons over the preceding four years had reported a rise in income, underscoring the value derived from a better-equipped skill set.
The findings of the survey also reflected a shift in employment opportunities beyond the traditional formal jobs market, whose growth has stagnated in recent years.
Earlier in 2023, then ICT and Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary Eliud Owalo had announced that trainees onboarded to the State-backed Jitume programme for free tech skills development were minting up to Sh250,000 monthly from digital jobs.
Launched in December 2022 by President William Ruto, the Jitume programme targets technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institutions countrywide, with 23,000 virtual desktops and over one million learners.
The government has also activated the Kenya Advanced Institute of Technology (KAIST) to provide masters and doctorate-level training in science, technology, and innovation.
