Kenya ICT Board receives Sh160m boost from WB

By FREDRICK OBURA

World Bank (WB) has announced $2 Million (Sh160M) grant to help the Government speed up its integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into education system.

The grant, to be managed by Ministry of Information and Communication’s national agency — the ICT Board — will help students in universities and colleges acquire laptops at a subsidised rate.

Under the programme, students will be eligible for between 15 per cent and 33 per cent price rebate on the purchase of laptops from select retailers.

With laptops, students will be able to access the Internet, already available on campus and off-campus from service providers.

"We are going to use local telecommunication companies, Airtel Kenya, Telkom Kenya, Essar, and Safaricom to avail the machines to students," says ICT Board Chief Executive Officer Paul Kukubo.

He says there are about 15,000 laptops available for rebate purchase under this scheme, five per cent of which would be reserved for physically challenged students.

"The initiative empowers students to carry out research, and complete assignments in time," Kukubo says.

"The laptop programme will specifically help students to explore the opportunities Internet offers and add value to our education system."

Digital Literacy

Archor Arina, a senior official in the Ministry of Higher Education says through the programme, students will become ambassadors for greater digital literacy across their communities and in their homes.

Arina lauded the initiative as leveraging the country’s bid to achieve greater student innovation and entrepreneurship, with students collaborating to create and execute bankable business ideas through the launched opportunity.

"With laptops, students will be able to access the Internet, already available on campus and off-campus from service providers. This will open several opportunities to them if used responsibly," he says. Wezesha, the name of the programme complements another initiative currently underway.

The ongoing programme, through the Kenya ICT Board and the Kenya Education network (KENET) provides subsidised Internet access across all universities and colleges in the country.

The programme allows a student to first of all shop for a computer, then key in his or her details in a Wezesha portal to be verified by college administration and the ICT Board.

A student would then be able to get the laptop either from Safaricom, Airtel Kenya, Essar telecommunication or at the Telkom Kenya outlets Sh9, 000 less the marked price.

"We are putting Internet technology in the hands of those who need it most, students. This will give a boost to e-learning and improve overall performance in schools," says Arina.

The programme echoes an earlier partnership between the Kenya Institute of Education, Equity Bank, Safaricom and Microsoft that sought to increase use of computers in classrooms.

The Equity Bank-funded initiative announced earlier this year, allows teachers to purchase laptops in a 24-month check off system.

The laptops come pre-installed with Windows 7 Starter Edition and the Kenya 8.4.4. Curriculum, and Internet at discounted rates of Sh4 per 10 Megabytes per day.

To enjoy the offer dubbed "mwalimu dot com", a teacher will have to visit one of 59 Safaricom shops countrywide and choose a laptop (notebook or netbook) that they would like to purchase.

Buying a laptop

The shop will then issue them with a proforma that they will take to an Equity Bank branch. The branch will fully finance the purchase by debiting Safaricom’s account with the money and from here; the teacher can collect the laptop.

The laptops are priced between Sh46,000 for a HP netbook to Sh68,400 (one-off price) for a laptop or between Sh2,253 to Sh5,671 per month on check off basis.

Each laptop is bundled with a 3G modem and free antivirus software. Equity Bank Chief Executive James Mwangi says they were targeting 260,000 teachers in a bid to nurture ICT skills in the country through them.

"The idea behind this partnership is to offer an easy payment method to all Kenyans interested in owning a laptop," Dr Mwangi says.

"Now teachers and other Kenyans have an opportunity to purchase laptop of their choice through financing from Equity Bank."

In a past interview, Michael Joseph, former Safaricom CEO said the cost of purchasing a laptop was prohibitive despite the fact that the only way for Kenya to create new jobs is through the ICT industry," said Joseph, adding that ICT training made people employable.

Joseph had noted that the cost of Internet-enabled devices was a major barrier to increasing data penetration in Kenya.

"These initiatives present a major breakthrough towards enabling more people to gain ICT skills and improving utility of the Internet.