State To Leverage On ICT To Improve Education In The Country

The Government plans to take full advantage of emerging Information, Communication Technologies (ICT) to strengthen students’ access and quality of education, Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Education Ezekiel Machogu has said. Mr Machogu noted that ICT created opportunities that the government wants to use in the delivery of education services to the citizens. The CS stated that e-learning had the capacity to improve effective learning at all levels of education apart from enabling the government to use information about education to maximise investments it makes in education. ‘The government should build the capacity of teachers and learners to make use of the ICT in the implementation of the curriculum,’ he added. Machogu made the remarks when he met the President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Hewlett-Packard (HP) Company, Enrique Lores who had paid him a courtesy call at his office today. He welcomed the partnership between HP and the government to optimize the education solutions it has. In his response, Mr Lores said his company had the capabilities to provide technology solutions to education. Also present during the occasion was the State Department for Basic Education Principal Secretary Belio Kipsang who disclosed that the government had leveraged ICT to develop a system it now uses to disburse capitation to schools under the Free Primary and Free Day Secondary education programme. Dr Kipsang pointed out that technology would also help to address learners’ access to teachers in the northern parts of Kenya where teacher shortages have undermined learning. ‘The Ministry could use virtual learning where a teacher could remotely provide instruction to many schools,’ the PS said. He reiterated that the government wants to leverage on technology to adopt e-assessment, where an assessment is created, written, delivered, and marked with technology to ease the assessment of learners at basic education levels.

Source: Kenya News Agency