Kisumu County has hosted a two-day technology symposium courtesy of the Kenya Tech Challenge, a flagship program encouraging learners to apply engineering design processes to real-world issues.
More than 2,000 students from Grades 4 to 12 across Kisumu County are set to benefit from this high tech training, which will equip them with relevant skills.
The learners gathered at Golden Elites Junior School for a two-day technology symposium courtesy of the Kenya Tech Challenge, a flagship programme that focused on a humanitarian theme inspired by real issues affecting communities.
For instance, learners were tasked to work on a scenario where Turkana County which experience a severe drought with people struggling to find food and water; with emergency supplies like medicine, sacks of maize flour, and bottles of clean water being dropped by planes and drones in open fields which don’t reach to people in remote parts of the county.
In this year’s challenge therefore, teams designed and built a device that can survive a drop and deliver supplies without using batteries to ensure that the supplies reach to the targeted people.
It drew participants from both public and private schools across Kisumu’s eight sub-counties.
The Director of Kenya Tech Challenge Shital Patel said the programme is preparing learners on the use of recyclable materials and simple engineering principles, revealing that teachers from selected schools had already undergone training in ‘Design Thinking Codes’ to guide students in creating devices and maintaining engineering journals.
“We want to take away the fear of failure in students and encourage them to collaborate, think critically, and develop solutions,” Patel said.
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The program, currently piloted in Kisumu and Nakuru counties, has already trained over 20,000 teachers, equipping them with skills to integrate technology into learning.
Speaking at the event, Engineer Charles Ochome, Chairman of the Kenya Private Schools Association and Director of Golden Elites School, emphasized the symposium’s alignment with Kenya’s Curriculum-Based Education (CBE).
‘This workshop brings together more than 2,500 students to develop skills in science and technology as the world advances in AI,” Eng Ochome said.
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He highlighted that the initiative would help students design drones to streamline the transportation of medical supplies.
Rosemary Birenge, Kisumu County Director of Education, stressed the importance of the Tech Challenge in supporting Kenya’s shift to Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
“This initiative complements CBC by enhancing technological and AI literacy among learners,” Birenge said.
By Fredrick Odiero
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