Google announces Ksh 200 million grant to support use of ICT in Education in Kenya

Google has announced a Ksh 200 Million (USD $2M) grant to RTI International aimed at improving learning outcomes amongst lower primary pupils in all public schools in Kenya. The grant is part of a broader Ksh 5 billion (USD 50 Million) commitment from Google.org to help close global education gaps.

The grant will help RTI International meet the goal of the TusomeEarly Grade Reading Activity a collaboration between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (UKAID) to improve access to quality education in Kenya.

“We believe every student deserves access to quality education and recognize that technology can play a vital role in creating richer learning environments,” said Michael Murungi, Google Manager for Policy, East Africa.

Google.org has given more than $110M over the past 5 years to help close gaps in education – whether globally through early and ongoing support for innovators like Khan Academy or focused support to future technologists.

Tusomeutilizes innovative data-based instructional improvement methods in reading and use of ICT integrated support through tablets which are installed with an openly licensed mobile platform (“Tangerine: Tutor”) designed by RTI International and optimized for low bandwidth use, ensuring access to curricula content even in remote/rural parts of the country.

“In addition to funding, we connect our grantees to technical expertise from Google volunteers and tools and products that accelerate their progress. To complement the funding through the Design Sprint, Tangerine:Tutorwill collaborate with three technical Googlers to improve the platform and enable it to scale to more countries,  added Mr Murungi.

The sprint is a five-day process focused on answering critical business questions through design, prototyping, and testing ideas with customers. The sprint also aims at improving the app experience and empowering teacher coaches to better utilize data. The outcomes of the design sprint will help with the adaptability and accessibility of the platform allowing it to further scale and reach more coaches, teachers, and students.

Tangerine:Tutor: is the first national tablet deployment in education and hopes to expand to Uganda, Malawi and Nepal, utilizing lessons learned from in Kenya, hence making the country a springboard for adoption of ICTs in education.

Speaking during the event, Director-General in the Ministry of Education, Mrs. Leah Rotich, said that “the Ministry has zoned the country into 1150 Educational zones with each zone manned by a Curriculum Support Officer (CSOs). All the CSOs have been trained and provided with tablets loaded with Tangerine:Tutor. Tablets have also been provided to the County Directors of Education, Sub-County Directors of Education, the Teachers Service Commission County Directors and the Quality Assurance and Standards Field Staff. These tablets are loaded with instructional materials to help them manage, support and supervise the CSOs in their respective counties.”

Mrs. Rotich added that the classroom observation data uploaded by the curriculum support officers provides the Ministry as well as the Teacher’s Service Commission with actual data, on time, for planning and for the utilization of resources in every school. “Having access to pupils’ learning information has been essential for the Ministry and has been constantly used to make decisions about the quality of education delivery”.

Speaking during the announcement, Tusome’s Chief of Party, Salome Ong’ele said As a platform that can be adapted to local curricula and context, Tangerine:Tutor is uniquely positioned to help governments and NGOs close the teacher skills gap.

Over the next 12 months, RTI International will use the USD 2M grant to undertake enhancements on the Tangerine:Tutor Platform, procure and deploy the devices, mostly tablets.

She added that, “Funding and technical expertise from Google.org will help RTI enhance Tangerine:Tutor’s technical infrastructure and open-source documentation to help the product scale to other educational systems, including  Uganda, Malawi and Nepal, in pursuit of their five-year goal of supporting teachers to reach 4 million students.”

The introduction of Free Primary Education in Kenya has been successful in ensuring that children have the opportunity to attend school. Gross primary enrollment rates are now above 100%. (UNESCO). However, student performance has been poor, especially on tests of Kiswahili and English literacy in the early grades, said the Ministry of Education’s Director ICT4D Director, Mr. John Temba.

At a broader level, the grant will help improve the literacy skills of more than 6 million children in primary schools, in line with Tusome’sgoal of building the capacity of over 100,000 Standard 1, 2 and 3 teachers, 1,300 Curriculum Support Officers, 67 instructional coaches supporting APBET institutions and over 300 senior education personnel.