Just how effective will the laptops for our pupils be?

By Ashford Kimani

The Jubilee Government promised free laptops to every pupil under the Free Primary Education. Jubilee has promised to make good one of its campaign pledges by issuing pupils with laptops.

Well, I have no doubt whatever the new government can afford the laptops.

But  my concern is the effectiveness of these laptops to the education of the targeted beneficiaries. I am a teacher and I cannot wait longer for these laptops.

Mandate to the people

However, as we wait for the new government to begin its mandate to the Kenyan people I am compelled to ask a few questions regarding these laptops.

• .

  Keep Reading

• 
  Murkomen blames Jubilee government over JKIA's sorry state

They say when the deal is too good always think twice. That is what I am doing. How many of our pupils can turn on a computer let alone operate it? How many teachers in our primary schools are computer literate?

What is, therefore, the rationale of offering these gadgets to people who can hardly operate them in the first place? Are we going to train our teachers first?

I do not know how the Jubilee government expects these pupils and teachers to effectively use laptops in their studies when to start with they lack basic knowledge on computers.

 The best the pupils will do is to play around with these new found ‘toys.’ There is also the issue of e-books. Most publishers only sell hard copies of school textbooks. Thus providing laptops that do not have soft copies of the learning materials will be an exercise in futility.

I am not sure whether the government had factored this in their pledge. Software for education is not cheap.

I believe laptops are meant to boost the performance of our pupils so they can only be useful if they are installed with the learning aids.

Technology in learning

Well, I support the idea of going technological in learning, but I think the way the government wants to roll out the programme is too ambitious.

To a little child in lower primary school, a laptop can be a distractive tool rather than an aid to learning.  Exercise books may be phased out by laptops.

Conventionally, teachers mark students’ work on these exercise books, but now with laptops the pupils may be forced to submit their homework online, which requires Internet services.

How will this be achieved immediately to all pupils particularly those in the rural areas?

Ashford Kimani, Nairobi