By Standard Digital Reporter

Nairobi, Kenya: President Uhuru Kenyatta insisted his Administration was keen on equipping all pupils joining Standard One next year with laptops amid sharp criticism from education experts and observers.

While addressing a joint session of Parliament bringing together the Senate and the National Assembly, Tuesday afternoon Uhuru reiterated his  government’s commitment to achieving what has been dubbed an ambitious dream.

Said Uhuru: “My Government has committed itself to delivering on the promise of free laptops for our standard one children starting next year.  Some have said that this is too ambitious. “

The President added : “I say that we cannot afford to leave any of our children without tools to compete in the digital age. Yes, our ambition is great but the scale of that ambition is the only one sufficient to meet the scale of our nation’s challenge. As such, I call upon both Houses to work with me to ensure that in future, the laptops we provide are assembled locally.”

Uhuru’s pledge has been at the centre of discussion of public and social media with many Kenyans saying it was a misplaced priority as there were more deserving investments required to be made in the primary education and not just laptops.

Teachers’ Unions have similarly rubbished Uhuru’s pledge for laptops saying it was not a priority as were teachers to boost the ratio of instructors to the children.

Others have argued that the president does not have touch with the reality of most of Kenya’s rural schools and should have consulted experts and key stakeholders before making such ambitious yet misplaced schemes.

“Majority of teachers are not even computer literate how will they guide children using laptops? One of the top unionists asked.

On social media Uhuru’s pledge has similarly been greeted with both praise and venom and caricatured with low cost toy-like laptops from the East.

His regime that is battling to buy laptops is already complaining of a huge and unsustainable wage bill of Sh458 billion which is half of revenue government collects annually.

He also faces stiff opposition from MPs and Senators who seeking to hike their pay sooner rather than later. It was not immediately clear how much locally assembled laptops would cost.