As Kenyan institutions struggle with embracing technology in the learning process, an educational organizational EdTech East Africa is calling for partnerships to succeed.
Speaking at Meru University of Science and Technology (MUST) during the EdTech East Africa Summit, its CEO Jennifer Otieno called for stakeholders’ collaborations to improve the use of technology to improve access to quality and effective education in various levels of education.
The workshop which brought together Ministry of Education, basic to higher education players in Central region, including learners and explored the use of digital tools in the learning process, in addition to identifying the gaps in infrastructure and capacity of the educators.
Speaking at the summit which also brought together innovators at various varsities in the region, Otieno called for stakeholders to mobilize resources and enhance partnerships with public and private learning institutions and government to work together in promoting digital education.
“We are doing this because we want to listen to the community in Central region to understand what is unique about education and education technology in Central Kenya, what is working here and what solutions are emerging from the students, entrepreneurs and other innovators that are operating in this ecosystem and what we can do to upscale (technology) in other parts of the country,” she said.
Otieno said the organization is seeking to assess the use of technology in institutions across the country for it to come up with solutions, in collaboration with its partners.
“We also want to understand what is not working, where are the gaps and what still needs to be done in order to ensure that every learner has access to an effective, inclusive and resilient education. Part of our work through this summit is to bring together those leaders from across the education technology system-policy makers, students and young and seasoned entrepreneurs, researchers, funders who can then come together and solve challenges,” said Otieno.
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She noted that the challenges of enhancing technology in Kenyan learning institutions cannot be solved by the government or any other entity working alone, hence the need for collaborations with all the relevant stakeholders.
“We know that there is no single actor in the education system who can solve these challenges alone and it really does require collaboration. We also believe that the solutions are going to come from those who are closest to the challenges who deeply understand local contexts, local culture and are able to design with that in mind,” she said
She added; “Our role as EdTech East Africa is creating the platform where these individuals can come together, work together and co-create (solutions). We are having workshops across the country to understand what is actually working around the ICT and Education and Training Policy that was developed in 2021. We are taking that feedback from local community to influence how we shape the next version of the policy and then we want that to resonate and reflect the desires of the local community in Central Kenya.”
It plans to hold the next summits in Isiolo then Kisumu counties.
MUST Deputy Vice Chancellor (Administration, Finance and Planning) Prof Hilda Omae said it was important for players to understand how to effectively promote technology in learning, as a way of advancing competencies.
“One of the things that is really critical is digital literacy,” Prof Omae said.
She said it was important to create enabling environment for uptake of technology in education.
“So that we have solutions that is going to be impactful in primary schools, in our rural secondary schools and tertiary institutions countrywide, how we are going to effectively implement competency-based education,” said the don.
By John Majau.
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