KRDA equips over 200 learners in slums with digital, AI skills

Kenya Rugby Development Academy (KRDA) dubbed DIGI-AI Bus have equipped more than 200 children in Nairobi’s informal settlements with artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics training alongside rugby lessons.

The training achieved through a mobile digital learning programme developed by the academy, which is stationed at several public primary schools in Nairobi and Kiambu.

According to KRDA manager Charles Njoroge, the programme targets schools without computer infrastructure, teaching learners digital, AI and robotics skills. It also seeks to bridge the digital divide by providing access to computers and the internet.

“We have reached at least 200 children in Nairobi. Apart from rugby, we have given them AI, robotics and coding skills,” Njoroge said.

He further revealed that KRDA has partnered with Code Yetu to provide training in coding and an education section offering AI bespoke curriculum tailored to an individual child.

Code Yetu founder, Asha Makana, said the lessons are integrated into the CBE syllabus, where coding is woven into pupils’ day-to-day studies.

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“We ensure the children, regardless of their background, have access to computer science education. We have partnered with KRDA to ensure the programme is structured with the competency-based Education,” Makana added.

The DIGI-AI Bus is a mobile classroom that is solar powered with rooftop panels linked to batteries. Every bus has a silent generator as a back-up, allowing it to operate in areas with unreliable electricity.

They have computers, internet connectivity and AI-driven learning software for children to get customised lessons.

“We want to start with seven buses before scaling the number to 50, which is more than the 47 counties,” KRDA co-founder and CEO James McGreevy said.

It is hoped that beneficiaries will share the lessons with peers.

The development comes on the back of a recent report by Usawa Agenda showing that only one in five primary schools in Kenya has operational computer laboratories.

By Juma Ndigo