The County Government of Nakuru is integrating Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Early Childhood Development Education Centres (ECDE) in order to improve learning outcomes.
County Executive Committee Member (CECM) Education, ICT, and e-government Ms Zipporah Wambui said that though the county’s vast geography and diverse demographics hindered traditional educational outreach, the proliferation of internet connectivity, mobile phones and laptops offers a means to reach even the most remote communities.
Ms Wambui further said that Governor Susan Kihika’s administration was investing in digital infrastructure and leveraging on mobile platforms towards ensuring that educational content could be disseminated widely, ensuring that every child in the devolved unit had access to quality learning resources.
Speaking during a meeting with officials from Education Impact (EIDU), a digital platform that provides educational content to public schools, the CECM indicated that ICT plays a pivotal role in addressing systematic challenges such as infrastructure limitations and teacher shortages.
The County Government, Ms Wambui disclosed, had entered into collaboration with EIDU to build the capacity of ECDE teachers in using digital methodology to deliver Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) lessons, adding that the initiative was set to enhance the quality of education for early learners in Nakuru County.
She explained that the program was focusing on improving learners’ knowledge and skills in literacy and numeracy, preparing them cognitively, physically, socially, and emotionally to succeed in primary school.
She was happy that ECDE teachers in all public ECDE centers in the county had been trained in mathematics and language activities skills, which she said had a positive impact on the ECDE learners at all levels.
“The program has contributed immensely to digital learning for ECDE learners and teachers across the county,” she added.
While appreciating the County government’s commitment to digital literacy for young learners through integrating ICT in ECDE, Ms. Wambui said the County was building the capacity of ECDE teachers to keep them aligned with current trends and with the Kenya Kwanza government agenda on digital transformation.
The official stated that ICT had immense potential to improve the quality of education, which is one of the pillars of sustainable development.
Ms. Wambui said the world is in an era of digital revolution in which ICT has an impact on everything, including education, the economy, innovation, science, technology, health, sustainability, governance, and lifestyles.
The CECM observed that with modern approaches to education requiring teachers to adopt information communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance efficiency, schools could no longer ignore technology in the implementation of the curriculum.
“In today’s digital world, the success of an education system depends on the collective ability to close the gap between technology’s presence and its effective integration into the curriculum. The use of computers in curriculum delivery, in particular, promises better methods of content delivery and expanding the teaching and learning resource base,” she added.
The CECM pointed out that e-learning, enabled by the use of digital tools and content, offers innovative and flexible means to support and enable quality learning and teaching.
E-learning includes the delivery of content via all electronic media, including the Internet, intranets, extranets, satellite broadcasts, video, interactive TV, and CD-ROM. It usually involves interactivity between the learner and their teacher or peers.
Across the globe, ICTs are becoming core platforms in learning, and the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) is already shifting from the paper-based curriculum to a digital one.
ICT is an umbrella term that includes any communication device or application, encompassing radio, television, cellular phones, computer and network hardware and software, satellite systems, as well as the various services and applications associated with them such as video conferencing and distance learning.
By Esther Mwangi and Patience Moraa
