Digital Literacy Programme to roll out 1.2 million devices by December

The Digital Literacy Programme (DLP) is set to roll out 1.2 million devices by December to all public primary schools in the country.

The project which is set to commence on Friday 30^thSeptember will see cabinet secretaries and principal secretaries head out to 60 public primary schools across the country for the next 30 days, to oversee the inspection and installation of the digital devices.

The digital devices under DLP project include laptops for the teachers, tablets for the pupils and braille embossers for Special Learners, projectors, digital content servers and wireless routers.

The devices have built-in Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) approved content and through the Kenya Education online cloud platform content for class 1, 2 and 3 is readily available with class 5 to 8 downloadable for free.

“We are now starting on a journey that will without a doubt transform not just the education sector but the entire economy. When we put these devices in the hands of our children, we are securing not just their future but that of the country and look forward to being a global IT power house in a few years,” said Joe Mucheru, Cabinet Secretary Ministry for ICT during the press briefing.

The Government has received over 160, 000 devices since the first batch of digital literacy devices were delivered from China in August and more are to be expected though plans are underway to ensure the devices are assembled locally.

“Two consortia: JKUAT/Positivo BGH and Moi University/JP Courto are setting up assembly plants with JKUAT set to begin its assembly operation in October. The plant which has a capacity of assembling 750, 000 devices per year will create 3, 000 local jobs,” said Mucheru.

The program is employing a multi-sectoral approach bringing together different Ministries, Departments and Agencies.

The Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Education, Science and Technology Fred Matiang’i said, “Over 70,000 teachers have been trained on incorporating ICT in teaching and learning with 1,000 more to be trained weekly from October. The Teachers Service Commission has been handling the training of teachers.”

DLP project resumes from the pilot phase in May whereby 12, 000 devices were delivered to 150 Public primary schools.

“During the POC phase, we witnessed children from different backgrounds interact with the devices for the first time and within a few hours able to use them with ease. Now imagine what such a child will be able to do with the tablet in a few months,” said Mucheru.