By More than 1100 Kenyan teachers has completed their digital skills training in August ahead of this year’s Africa Code Week (ACW), which will take place across the continent in October.
During the second half of August, teachers attended ACW Train-the-Trainer workshops in Mombasa, Kisumu, Kilifi and Nairobi and gained valuable knowledge and teaching tools to fast-track digital skills development among the country’s youth. The TTT workshops were organised with the support of local NGOs Pwani Teknowogalz and RCD Africa.
The Kenya Train-the-Trainer sessions were supported by Kenyan female role model and ICT innovator Marian Muthui, a graduate student and researcher at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Muthui, who is also the co-founder of Mekatilili, a learning initiative for Kenyan youth, volunteered her time to support the Train-the-Trainer sessions in Mombasa and Kilifi.
“Our youth will be the architects that enable Africa’s bright future,” said Muthui. “We need to create new ways to foster creative thinking, technical skills and entrepreneurship among Africa’s youth to ensure we can solve tomorrow’s global challenges. I look forward to this year’s Africa Code Week and to volunteering my time to equip a new generation of Kenyan innovators with critical digital skills.”
Kenya has greatly expanded its education system to equip more young people with the vital skills they need to accomplish the goals set out in the Kenyan government’s Vision 2030, a long-term development blueprint for the country that was launched in 2008. According to UNESCO data, primary school enrolment increased from 50% in 2009 to 77% in 2016, and the literacy rate among those aged 15 years and older increased from 72% in 2003 to 79% in 2014.
The country has also emerged as a regional leader in the adoption of digital skills. In 2016, the Kenyan government launched the DigiSchool Digital Literacy Programme, a nation-wide initiative borne out of the government’s vision to ensure every child in Kenya is prepared for the digital world. DigiSchool further aims to modernise the teaching environment and transform learning in Kenya by means of a 21st century education system.
According to Claire Gillissen-Duval, Director of EMEA Corporate Social Responsibility and Africa Code Week Global Lead at SAP, the Kenyan government’s commitment to providing quality education to all its citizens also aligns with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in particular Goal #4 which strives for equitable and quality education for all the world’s youth. “Africa Code Week supports both the Kenyan government’s vision for an ICT- and innovation-led future as well as SAP’s global commitment to the achievement of the SDGs. By enhancing Kenyan teachers’ capacity for digital skills transfer, we actively contribute to the acceleration of Kenya’s digital transformation into the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”
With more than 50,000 teachers trained and 4.1 million youth engaged across 37 countries since its inception in 2015, Africa Code Week has already made a lasting contribution to building local teaching capacity on digital education, all over the continent. With more and more public, private and non-profit partners on board, the initiative is on a sustainable mission to impact many more schools, teachers and students in the years to come.
Barbra Nasimiyu, Nairobi
