On March 4th Kenyans went to the polls to elect a new government to steer the country over the next 5 years. One of the candidates, Mr. Uhuru Kenyatta, who subsequently won the election with his Jubilee Coalition, had made a daring campaign promise that many wondered if he would deliver on – to equip every student starting their primary school education with a laptop. So far the plan involves a three-phase approach, with the first one targeting pupils in 6000 schools starting January next year. The project has drawn many views, mostly skeptical, of the undertaking from all quarters – teachers, parents, the technology community and the larger public. All the same, Mr. Kenyatta has stuck to his guns on the implementation of the laptops project and provisions have even been made in the country’s budget to this effect. All the while, the practicality and relevance of the project remain in question among many. So does Mr. Kenyatta’s project hold water, or will it turn out to be a white elephant? Let’s examine the situation. The Criticisms The main criticisms, in summary: Los De La Naza Kazhyck of Supporting Infrastructure: Many schools in rural areas have no access to electricity, some have dilapidated classrooms and other amenities, not to mention some extreme cases where learning does not even happen inside a classroom. What’s the point of giving these students laptops? Their schools have other more pressing needs. Lack of Capacity: There are teachers who are computer-illiterate. What happens when computers break down, who will have the technical skills to troubleshoot these laptops? Timing: It’s just not the right time for such an initiative. There are other pressing matters that can be dealt with instead of ‘throwing away’ money in an impractical project. How about jobs, healthcare etc.? And even if it is a matter of enhancing education – why not first hire more teachers, there’s clearly a shortage of them, or pay teachers better?
Posted on: Tue, 09 Jul 2013 14:39:07 +0000