New deal to provide teachers with e-syllabuses

Teachers in public schools can now buy laptops loaded with the current syllabus and training material following a public/private partnership initiative which aims at integrating e-learning in the education system.

The partnership is between Safaricom, Equity bank, Microsoft, Intel, Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB) and Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) and the Teachers Service Commission targeting about 240,000 teachers.

The bank will provide loans for the laptops bundled with internet usage through Safaricom centres after which the devices will be loaded with KIE syllabuses for both primary and secondary education provided by Microsoft.

“Cost has been a major challenge in fully adopting use of ICT. With the fibre optic cable the inaccessible cost of internet has been addressed and this partnerships will address the cost of accessing the devices necessary for promoting use of ICT in education,” said Mr Michael Joseph, the Safaricom chief executive officer.

According to Dr James Mwangi, Equity Bank CEO, the institution has set aside Sh13 billion to be advanced to teachers for the purpose.