Huawei marks women's day with more DigiSchools in 30 counties

As the world celebrated International Women's Day, one key message stood out - the need and importance of leaving no woman behind in technological advances, as emphasised in this year's theme, DigitAll, Embrace Equity.

Huawei Kenya in partnership with the Kenya Institute of Special Education, Unesco, ICT Authority, and the Government of Kenya came together to make this day at KISE.

The event displayed milestones made towards achieving this through a project initiated by Huawei Kenya.

"Our 'Women in Technology Initiative' incorporates many other aspects of training those who may work in the sector in the future through the ICT Academy," said Steven Zhang, Deputy CEO, Huawei Kenya at the event.

The event was an affirmation of the huge responsibility that technological companies play in promoting gender equality and women's empowerment. For this to happen, as reiterated by officials representing the partners, emphasis must be put on the need for collaborations and partnerships for connectivity that delivers.

According to Dr Norman Kiogora, Director, KISE, hosting the event at the institute was an affirmation of recognising the unique challenges faced by women and persons with disabilities.

"Digital literacy is one of the seven core competencies for learners in basic education under the Kenyan Competency-Based Curriculum, and the Government plans to provide all public schools with electricity, projectors, and laptops for teachers, tablets for students, and a Content Server and Access Point that hosts digitised curriculum," noted the KISE director.

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As part of Unesco's Global Coalition for Education, Huawei in partnership with the UN body, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of ICT launched the DigiSchools in 2021 in response to Covid-19 challenges.

"The post-Covid-19 project saw 13 rural schools provided with technological solutions and teacher support that enabled the development of sustainable solutions leveraging the government's 9,000-km fibre network," said Zhang.

He explained that while schools close to the fibre network are directly connected to fibre, more remote schools have been connected using wireless technologies. In cases of remote schools that are not reachable through fibre, Huawei technology has been applied to connect the remote schools through the construction of small towers at the nearest fibre connection point.

"The same technology has been used at the schools, with Huawei's leading point-to-point microwave solutions, bringing the Internet from one to the other," said the CEO, adding that currently, the DigiSchools enjoy a Wi-Fi connectivity speed of 100 or more.

The successful project, noted Prof Hubert Gijzen, Unesco Regional Director, has benefited school administrators, teachers, and learners, especially in Special Needs schools.

"School administrators now use the internet to access government systems to register students, manage examinations, and host teacher HR systems, while teachers download the latest teaching guidelines, and have full access to other approved online content," said Prof Gijzen.

Meanwhile, she adds, the students not only receive higher quality lessons but also learn how to use the internet for research. All this is in line with this year's IWD of DigitAll, while at the same time embracing Equity.

According to First Lady Rachel Ruto, it is critical to get schools in Kenya into the digital space. "I am delighted to see Huawei, and Unesco take up this challenge by coming up with an initiative to help learners, especially in the rural areas," said the First Lady in a speech by her Chief of Staff, Nancy Salamba.

Josephine Mwende of KISE said technology has made life easier and more convenient for her, especially with bank transactions where she no longer has to share her details with others to assist her despite living with cerebral palsy.

"On this International Women's Day, let's recognise the unique challenges faced by women and persons living with disabilities and recommit to building a more inclusive and accessible world that values and celebrates the diversity of all women," she said.

Irene Wanjiru, a teacher from Garissa Special School for the Handicapped, said she was excited that the learners can access the Internet, meaning that at the time of exiting school, they will be as competent as learners from urban schools. She is optimistic that the school will produce competent learners who will get jobs and also create some. Such is the importance of DigitAll, she concluded.

At the event, teachers and learners from the DigiSchools project were awarded for outstanding performances in 12 categories. The awards included Huawei Matepad T10 tablets given to teachers and students with special needs to aid them in their day-to-day challenges. The tech firm also donated an IdealHub, a 3-in-1 smart interactive board to the institution.

"These gifts and awards are more than just giving out a device. It is about empowering them to learn and teach in a more accessible and inclusive way of making it easier for them to communicate, learn, and teach," noted Director Kiogora.

At the end of the ceremony, Huawei in a colourful and pomp fete launched phase II of the DigiSchools that "connected" 17 more counties bringing the total to 30, the number of counties that will benefit from the project. This second phase will help identify critical issues affecting special needs schools and learners.

"On this special day, International Women's Day, we are proud to be launching the second phase of the program, which we consider a major contribution towards ensuring that every girl, every woman is digitalised, a sign of Huawei's solidarity in embracing equity," said Maureen Mwaniki, Director, Public Relations and Women in Technology, Huawei.

Her sentiments were echoed by Adam Lane, Government Affairs, Huawei Kenya who explained that Huawei Kenya plans to have all 47 counties in the DigiSchools project by the Vision 2030 timeline.

As the curtains fell on the event, all partners agreed that Huawei, UNESCO, and the ICT Ministry had done a commendable job, through the resources that they put towards ensuring that the DigiSchools program was not only successful but sustainable.

The Chief Guest was Nancy Salamba, Chief of Staff, Office of the First Lady of the Republic of Kenya. Other guests were Dr John Chumo, CEO, of Mama Doing Good, Jotham Kamau of Ministry of Public Service.