Free Laptops Vs Computer Lab Learning Centers

 

Photography by JOe© 2013 JOe. All rights reserved

Every student’s either rural based or urban based desires to have that enabling environment to achieve their desired goals. They all wish to lead and be the best in their class. The reality is, this may never happen for many rural based students due to many underlying factors like, poor policies, unqualified teachers, and lack of academic materials among others. In Kenya, the Kenya National Examination Council does not consider the background environment under which students are exposed! They just provide a standard examination to all Kenyan students either from public or private schools, rural based or urban based. These students are required to equally compete and obtained the highest score which will grant them a chance to join the best high schools or universities.  The Kenyan Government has done what any other government in the developing countries would actually do. But that does not mean we got it all together. NO. We don’t. In the month of July 2013, students in Kenyan public and secondary schools missed 23 days of school due to teachers strike for better pay. As of 07/08/2013 the teachers are not yet paid their July 2013 salary which is causing a lot of tension on the school calendar! 

The future looks bright, but the tunnel is too long to clearly see the light. During the ended Kenya’s presidential campaigns, the current government promised to provide laptops to all class one students in the public school. Many thought this was the one campaign promise that was going to get kicked into the long grass as soon as the government ascended to power.  The big question is; is this just another bad idea for the government? Or is the government converting a bad and unbaked idea into government policy? 

 “I am a big supporter of digital content and computer aided learning and that is why I used to teach children how to use computers. My only problem is that I don’t think this project can be implemented the same way across the country. Special considerations have to be made for rural areas. It is easier to maintain those machines in labs for the rural areas but it does not make sense to issue them to class one pupils who use a class with only one wall. Conditions under which students learn are just as important as the methods and tools used for teaching‘. Says Joe Makeni a professional photographer in Kenya.  http://joe.frontlite.co.ke/2013/06/free-laptops-or-basic-education/

 

 “A project this immense will need well structured delivery phases. Most importantly, sustainability of the project, maintenance of the equipment and infrastructure is a must address issue before the project can be rolled down.” Tabitha Musya {A member – Young Jewels Foundation} Says.

 “The laptop project is a noble idea the main problem with it is that the government currently has bigger problems that need to be prioritized before giving laptops to class one students like paying civil servants, improving electricity penetration country wide etc etc. The government should have created two computer labs in every school in the country. One for the lower primary and another for the upper primary and then give high school student’s laptops.”  Ernest Kahome {A member – Young Jewels Foundation} says.

I believe the government has a lot to do before they can implement this project. The project is already getting too much criticism from Kenyans. Projects like the ICT Rural hubs and Learning centers http://onepercentclub.com/projects/ictruralhubs among others are the kind of models the government should be thinking about. It is more cost effective and reasonable to set up computer labs for primary school students and provide laptops top to university student who may need them more. We need to rationally think through the policy presented by our government. How will a rural based student have near equal opportunities to the students in high cost private schools who already have access to more than just a laptop? Let create that reasonable environment for our students. How can I make use of a laptop if my teacher has never seen one leave alone use one? Many questions remain unanswered but we (the citizens) have to provide the solution. We are setting up an ICT Learning center in a rural set up. We hope the government can listen, watch and learn from ordinary Kenyans.  

Prepared By Dinah Muthuka