Transforming Kenyan Education Using Technology
Industry leaders in the field of technology-enhanced learning met in Nairobi on the 24th of February for the pre-sankalp session of Nairobi’s Edtech Meetup. This session brought together the Nairobi Edtech Meetup community, alumni from the Harvard Club of Kenya and visitors in town for the Sankalp Africa Summit. The group of 70+ attendees participated in networking and a spirited discussion around the use of disruptive technology in education. This is in line with Kenya’s Vision 2030 project detailing how technology can be used to scale effective education innovations.
A panel consisting of Eneza Education Co-Founder, Kago Kagichiri, President of BRCK Education, Nivi Mukherjee, and Charles Kado of KEPSHA led the debate and discussed the impact of mobile phones, internet connectivity and their view of tablets on the learning process. The session was moderated by Katie Bach, Principal, at Open Capital Advisors.
The panel focused on how technology enhances learning, and how technology-enabled products and services can extend access to underserved populations of Kenya. Mr. Kagichiri made this point by reminding the audience of the already high exposure rate children have with mobile technology in all areas of the country. However, the room was noticebly concerned that the children would just use the tablets and phones to play games instead of learn. “Just to be clear, our machines are not built for that, nor do we encourage that. That was a concern raised by teachers we approached to use Eneza services, but once we showed them the model they understood our program would be a bigger gain than a loss. Children are more engaged with technological support because technology excites them.”
Ms. Mukherjee reiterated that adding technology to learning is meant to not only enhance learning, but to act as support for teachers. She said that learning is often disrupted by teachers’ strikes and fatigue caused by being overworked. Teachers are outnumbered by their students, which hinders the amount of effective one on one time they can give to students if they are struggling. The supports provided by technology, and especially by the data it is able to collect on individual learners, allows teachers to make the most of their time and best support and engage students when they need it most.
The Kenyan education system has been, on many occasions, criticized in the media for being outdated and ineffective. Charles Kado from the Kenya Primary Schools Headteachers Association (KEPSHA) even said that,“we drill students to pass exams, which is a mistake because we are churning out exam takers, not thinkers”. He highlighted that even though 8–4–4 is a system with its flaws, the current education atmosphere is more focused on pushing children into a thought process which eliminates their ability to think, experiment and discover. For the future of education to be bright again new innovations must be embraced by our educators as a model to our young people.
The Nairobi Edtech Meetup is a monthly meeting of the industry’s leading entrepreneurs, investors, practitioners, researchers, business leaders and others who seek to learn, share and scale education technology initiatives in Nairobi and beyond. At just two years old, this once humble group of local practitioners has grown to a network of over 650 industry thought leaders.
The initiative is a brainchild of Spire Education‘s Chief Operating Officer, Jenn Cotter, and Eneza Education‘s VP of Business Development, Missy Mwenda, in a bid to share contacts and grow a network of like-minded individuals in the learning industry practitioners.
