Lodwar – 18th October, 2024 (Public Communications and Media Relations)
Learners from ten schools in Lodwar have been equipped with digital skills, including coding, through a Digital Literacy Project.
The one-year pilot, which began this July, has already reached 7,065 learners from Grades Four to Eight. The project, funded by the Raspberry Pi Foundation (RPF), is being implemented by the Frontier Counties Development Council (FCDC). Turkana, one of the member counties, was selected alongside other seven counties for the pilot.
A student at St. Monica’s Lodwar Girls Comprehensive School, Mercy Muthoni, shared that her favourite lesson was working with Excel sheets. She said the activity engages her mind and reminds her of her other favourite subject, mathematics.
The Grade Eight student expressed her thoughts with a visiting team from FCDC, led by its CEO Dr Idle Farah, and RPF Managing Director, Rachel Bennett. The team had selected three of the ten schools to assess the project’s impact from the learners’ and teachers’ perspectives.
“The project is significant for the pupils as it aligns with the Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) and demonstrates continuity, with digital literacy being introduced in Early Childhood Development Education under the EIDU project,” said Joseph Nyang’a, Deputy County Secretary, during the team’s courtesy call to his office.
He also assured the team, which included County Chief Officer for Education and Social Protection, Paul Ekeno Lodunga, of the county’s support for the project and requested its expansion to other sub-counties.
According to Bennett, the foundation aims to advance computing skills in education and wishes to reach every child.
At St. Michael Kawalase Comprehensive School’s Special Needs Unit, some students have been included in the project. Jonah Abaya, a teacher at the unit, mentioned that the project has been particularly helpful for students in developing motor skills.
During a courtesy call to County Education Director (National Ministry of Education) Stanley Lubanga, CCO Lodunga emphasized the need to strengthen collaboration between county and national governments to plan for the project’s sustainability.
Head Teacher of St. Monica’s, Sister Veronica, highlighted a gap in the digital literacy curriculum, noting that after EIDU, the curriculum skips from Grade Three to Grade Four, leaving Grades One to Three without digital education.
Despite challenges such as inadequate electricity, overcrowded classrooms, and a shortage of devices, Moses Ejore, a Grade Eight student from St. Michael said that Excel was his favourite lesson. “I want to be an entrepreneur in the future, and Excel will help me with bookkeeping for my business,” he shared.
Also present during the assessment were FCDC’s Abdullahi Maalim and County ICT Officer Washington Malala.