DIGITAL

President Mwai Kibaki Tuesday launched the country's digital education TV and radio channel at the Kenya Institute of Education in Nairobi.

Speaking at the launch, the President said that the educational channel will enable the Government to provide expanded high quality transmission through the schools broadcasting programmes.

Said the President: "This development underscores the Government's commitment to ensuring that the use of ICT in education is accessible to all Kenyans. This will enable learners to access audio, video and multimedia content throughout the country."

President Kibaki pointed out that all these initiatives are being undertaken as part of the overall strategy to integrate Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in education and provide quality primary and secondary education to Kenyans.

The President also officially opened the 1st E-learning Regional Conference where he disclosed the Ministry of Education is in the process of establishing a National ICT Innovation and Integration Center which is geared towards enhancing the country's ICT uptake.

The President pointed out that the Government's priority has been to lay a foundation for economic and technological growth, which entails moving rapidly from an agriculture-based economy to an industrial and service-driven economy.

Key driver of economy

He said the Government has developed a national ICT policy which recognizes the major role ICT plays in poverty eradication through effective use of technologies.

"The policy aims at stimulating investment in the ICT sector while at the same time encouraging the spirit of innovation through research and development," President Kibaki said.

The Head of State expressed satisfaction that education is taking a lead in ensuring ICT becomes an enabler for efficient and effective service delivery.

He noted that the use of ICT in education and training will overcome the challenges of time and location leading to flexible and lifelong learning.

In this regard, President Kibaki said his Government has played its part in terms of creating an enabling environment for the ICT sector to thrive as a key driver of the economy.

Reaffirming the Government's commitment to the achievement of Education for All goals and the aspirations of Vision 2030, the President said the integration of ICT in education will go a long way in making this a reality by enhancing quality, equity and access to educational and training opportunities.

"The initiatives in technology-based education and training will increase access to learning opportunities for our people," the Head of State emphasized.

ICT platform

The President, however, observed that for ICT in education to succeed, all related sectors must collaborate and work towards providing the required infrastructure and manpower necessary for its development.

In Kenya, President Kibaki said the Ministry of Energy has given priority to the provision of electricity to all learning institutions through the rural electrification program.

On its part, the President said, the Ministry of Information and Communications is leading the Government initiative of laying fibre optic cables around the country for improved data and information sharing while the Ministry of Education is driving the initiative to increase access to quality education.

Said the President: "The Government has embraced the idea of alternative teaching through use of technology. We appreciate that technology has the potential to catalyze greater enthusiasm for learning amongst students via interactive electronic-books and content."

In this connection, the Head of State said one of the initiatives the Government has undertaken in collaboration with the Government of Belgium is the implementation of an interactive ICT platform that will enhance teaching.

He said 240 education institutions throughout the country have been identified for this programme which will provide computer based online teaching in schools.

President Kibaki, therefore, expressed confidence that the E-learning initiatives the Government is undertaking will place the country in a strong position with high potential to provide a regional platform that will empower educational institutions to adopt and utilize technology in knowledge acquisition and sharing.

Saying the meeting should come up with strategies for improving curriculum development and delivery in all countries represented at the conference, the President noted that technology also offers the best opportunity to fulfill the Kigali Call for Action and ensure provision of uninterrupted basic education for a minimum of ten years.

KIE alleviation

Education Minister Prof. Sam Ongeri said E-learning would accord education managers opportunities for a paradigm shift in implementation strategy through provision of internet connectivity in schools to support teaching and collaborate learning.

The Minister stressed that E-learning would provide teachers with the necessary skills to integrate and mainstream ICT into the entire teaching process.

Saying that education played a crucial role in achievement of the millennium development goals, Prof.Ongeri expressed the need for education managers in the East African region to move as a block in adopting ICT to develop skilled human resource power to handle the challenges of the fast growing global Information Communication technology

The Minister petitioned the government to consider alleviation of KIE to enable the institute to effectively deliver on its mandate, assuring teachers that E-learning was only meant to supplement and not to replace them.

24/7 audio and visual TV channel programmes

KIE Director Mrs. Lydia Nzomo in her remarks said the institute has finalized arrangements to run a 24/7 audio and visual TV channel programmes aimed at enriching and supplementing classroom teaching and covering languages, sciences, Arts, Agriculture and applied sciences.

The Director said provision of distant and open learning through TV Channel would ensure uniform knowledge access and better learning environment for learners in Kenya .

With regard to quality e-learning education, the Director said the Institute had developed a capacity building curriculum for both private and public sectors to support social, economic and political pillars of the country's Vision 2030 development blueprint.

Among the curriculums KIE has developed, include, on training of sea fearers, personnel in corrective institutions and protection of animals with emphasis on life skills to enable citizens live harmoniously with themselves and others.

Among the participants were Uganda Minister for Education and Sports Gevaldine Bitamazive Namirembe and a representative of the Rwanda Minister for Primary and Secondary education Charles Gahima.

The two day conference brings together education practitioners, policy makers, Industry leaders and development experts as well as ICT research and development partners from Kenya and other East African region

The forum will provide education managers the opportunity to engage in discourse, share ideas and experiences on ICT and e-learning to supplement tradition methods of curriculum delivery.

In attendance were Engineer James Rege, the Chairman of Parliamentary committee on Energy and Information and Head of Public Service and Secretary to Cabinet Amb. Francis Muthaura among others