Public Primary School heads in Baringo County have been directed to surrender all the Digital Literacy Program (DLP) devices to their respective Junior Secondary Schools Teachers.
The directive was issued by Baringo County Director for Education Dr. Kosgei Kipruto during the closing ceremony of a three-day Center for Mathematics, Science, and Technology Education in Africa (CEMASTEA) virtual lab retooling at Solian Girls High School in Koibatek Sub County.
Dr. Kosgei said the gadgets issued under the DLP program, commonly known as the laptop programme, in 2013 should be utilized by the junior secondary school teachers to access the new virtual lab program by CEMASTEA for lesson delivery.
Dr. Kosgei noted with concern the unavailability of the school’s laptops, projectors, tablets, and internet routers, which are crucial in digital learning.
He stated that most of the teachers and learners across the county have not interacted with the gadgets because their head teachers have placed them under lock and key, and they are simply gathering dust in the stores, yet they are mandatory in competence-based education.
“I will be doing a circular to all the heads of institutions in the county in response to releasing laptops that were issued alongside projectors and routers to all schools,” said the director.
He added that all schools were issued tablets and the majority of them are functional, and he does not see the reason why neither the learners nor the teachers cannot access them.
“If there are some gadgets that have issues, the school should be able to report to our offices because the government under the Ministry of Education has posted ICT interns in all the sub-counties to help in addressing technology challenges,” the county director said.
He, at the same time challenged teachers to go an extra mile in purchasing their own personal laptops to supplement their work.
Some of the junior secondary teachers who attended the training said they face challenges in accessing the ICT equipment in the primary school where they are domiciled.
Ruth Kochei, a teacher at Ngubereti in Mogotio Sub County, underscored the need for the digital gadgets, which she said will greatly boost the understandability of learners and in turn improve their general performance.
She challenged the heads of institutions to prioritize the gadgets, which she said are crucial in this day and age.
A junior school teacher at Kabel in Marigat Sub County, Cheburet, Kiptoo echoed Kochei’s sentiments and encouraged public schools to budget for more devices through their school boards of management.
He called on the trained teachers to cascade down the knowledge gained on virtual labs to other teachers for them to also benefit.
Dr. Mary Sichangi, coordinator for partnership and linkages at CEMASTEA, said the institution had managed to train 240 teachers across the county on virtual laboratories in a bid to promote learners who are pursuing the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics career pathways.
Dr. Sichangi acknowledged some of the challenges the junior secondary schools were facing, such as inadequate laboratory facilities, but remained hopeful that the gaps can be bridged through other innovative solutions like the virtual labs.
She stated that the main objective of her organization is to improve learner participation and their attitude towards STEM subjects.
Dr. Sichangi said they will be getting feedback from teachers and other stakeholders about the digital platform owned by CEMASTEA in a bid to improve it to become even better.
By Benson Kelio and Christopher Kiprop
