Microsoft East Africa to issue certification to 12, 000 Kenyan teachers

The ICT Authority and Microsoft signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in April 2015 whereby a platform would be provided to enable ICT Skills training for up to 300,000 teachers and the Kenya National Library Services would provide access to Microsoft Certification through IT Academies across the country.

According to a tweet by Microsoft East Africa 12,000 teachers in Kenya are going to get Microsoft certification.

In an article by THE STAR, primary school teachers are now undergoing comprehensive training on how to use computers during teaching as an important ingredient to support the laptop project for Class One learners.

This follows the shift of the ICT training from the Ministry of Education to the Teachers Service Commission in March this year. TSC confirmed that Novel Technologies East Africa is undertaking the training contract that would see 12,000 teachers trained in the first phase at a cost of Sh118 million.

The first phase of the training started on May 30, and is expected to end on July 30.

The article also stated that the ICT training for teachers is key to the success of teaching using laptops for Class One children where 150 primary schools have already received tablet computers in the April pre-trial exercise. Teachers will get a 14 inch blue laptop, learners’ 10 inch luminous green tablets, while special need pupils will have 12 inch laptops with braille key boards, head phones and an embosser.

In March, Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i made the decision to change tact in ICT training for teachers. He is said not to have been satisfied with the work done during the training of the initial 60,000 teachers between 2013 to 2015 and immediately announced that the new training will have teachers issued with certificates upon completion unlike before.