News
Launch of the First Offline Intranet Resource Center in Kenya
Originally published on 18 August, 2022.
The COVID-19 pandemic affected education systems worldwide with effects that will be experienced long after the pandemic. According to UNESCO, 91.3% of students globally were affected by the closure of schools. In Eastern Africa, Ministries of Education and National Curriculum Development Centres took measures to ensure the continuity of teaching and learning out of classroom through broadcast lessons on TV/Radio as well as availing learning via internet-based solutions. However, a great number of learners and households in informal settlements, rural and semi-rural areas faced challenges with limited to no connectivity (internet & power) and accessibility to learning devices such as computers, laptops and mobile phones.
To this end, UNESCO together with the Ministry of Education in Kenya partnered with Elimu Resource Center to establish a pilot Offline Intranet Resource Centre (OIRC) in Garissa High School and Iftin Primary School in Garissa County. Garissa County is located in the North Eastern region of Kenya. The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in the closure of schools in the county in order to contain its spread. Aside from the pandemic, Garissa has been the target of various terrorist attacks which has greatly affected the education system in the county with many non-local teachers choosing to leave the county for safety reasons. Consequently, many schools in Garissa County have suffered shortage of teachers for quite some time leading to limited exposure in the region compared to the rest of the country. For this reason and other security and development challenges, the county has inadequate connectivity to power and internet; both key resources that made it difficult to continue with learning through technology during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The OIRC, which is a first of its kind in Kenya, established a data centre of high-quality offline educational resources for both formal and informal learning that can be transmitted to surrounding communities using solar-powered mobile nano-stations and local area wireless connections. Garissa High School plays host to the main data server while Iftin primary School is the pilot data recipient through an established wireless connection. The intranet so generated, covers a 10 km radius around Garissa High School, which can be upscaled with a more robust server and sustainable solar power supply. Already, learners at both institutions have begun reaping the benefits from the immensely valuable resources availed to them through this low-cost and low-tech solution to learning that allows access to quality education materials at no extra cost
The launch ceremony held on 27 July 2022, at the Iftin Primary School grounds and was graced by parents and guardians, pupils, teachers and other notable guests including: the Chief Guest of the ceremony, Dr. Elyas Abdi, Director General of Education, Ministry of Education, representing the Principal Secretary, State Department of Early Learning and Basic Education; Saidou Sireh Jallow, Chief of Education, representing UNESCO Regional Director for Eastern Africa; Elimu Resource Centre CEO Joseph Kamotho and his team; Dr. Koriow Hussein, County Director of Education; Mr. Haret Khalif, Area Chief; Senior Principal Mohamud Mohamed Dubat, Garissa High School; Siyat Hussein, Head teacher, Iftin Primary School; government officers, officers from the Ministry of Education National ICT Innovation and Integration; Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology in Africa (CEMASTEA); and UNESCO.
The delegation was taken through a tour of both computer laboratories at Garissa High and Iftin Primary schools, where they witnessed the OIRC solution in operation and observed as pupils had a lesson using the offline materials with the support of their teachers.
The Ministry of Education through its Digital Literacy Program Devices have provided students of Iftin Primary school with tablets to ease access while at Garissa High School, 10 computers have been provided by the Ministry of Education to enhance learning.
In his remarks on behalf of the Regional Director, UNESCO Regional Office for Eastern Africa, Prof. Hubert Gijzen, Mr. Saidou Sireh Jallow pointed out the importance that the OIRC will have on access to equitable and quality education by all children:
The main idea of the OIRC is to have an offline warehouse of high-quality digital educational resources for both formal and informal learning that can be transmitted to and utilized by learners in areas where internet and electricity are a challenge.
The Chief Guest of the day, Dr. Elyas Abdi, affirmed the Kenyan Government's commitment to attaining the Kenya Vision 2030 Agenda on ICT Integration in the education system. The Ministry has invested heavily in ICT integration in primary schools through the Digital Learning Programme which has equipped over 99% of primary schools with digital devices and over 4000 secondary schools through the Computer for School Program.
To further incorporate ICT in education, Dr. Abdi highlighted some of the targeted interventions that the Kenya Government is undertaking in order to bridge the education and knowledge gap among learners in the country. Key interventions include:
- Development of the ICT in Education and Training Policy with targeted strategies on online safety, security and ethics;
- Integration of digital literacy in the competency-based curriculum;
- Upgrading of the Kenya Education Cloud to enhance dissemination of safe, secure and ethical digital learning resources;
- Capacity building programmes targeted at educators and teachers on ICT integration.
He mentioned several means through which ICT could be useful in learning especially in remote and ASAL areas, such as mobile learning by means of mobile phones, mobile caravans that allow educators to teach while on the move, as well as blended classroom learning where teachers combine traditional face-to-face and online teaching. The Director General also thanked UNESCO and all partners for their commitment to inclusive and equitable education and called upon the learners and teachers to fully utilize the resource for best results, stating:
This pilot is the first in the whole country and many will be looking to learn from you. Work hard and take advantage of this opportunity by utilizing the resources from this initiative wisely. The resources availed to you are just the same as those available to any other student in any part of the world and therefore be encouraged. Your discipline and hard work will surely pay and know that you have the support of the government, your teachers, parents and all those here today to grace this day.
Mr. Siyat Hussein congratulated and appreciated the Ministry of Education and UNESCO for identifying the school to pilot the OIRC initiative. He also registered the support from Garissa High School, as well as the County Director of Education and his officers towards the initiative to ensure a successful outcome that can be up scaled to reach more learners in hard-to-reach areas.
We can attest that this initiative comes as a relief to many vulnerable families that are not able to afford or access electricity or power and internet regularly. Learners are excited while learning and teachers can track progress of the students in real time making curriculum delivery much easier. We hope to become a benchmark for many other schools who will benefit from this pilot once we prove it successful.
Solar power would be best suited in the region given the high temperatures that characterizes the Northern part of Kenya almost all year round. To ensure sustainability in terms of knowledge transfer and maintenance of the server and other equipment, additional capacity building sessions will be organized soon for teachers at both learning institutions. The OIRC received much appreciation from parents and teachers who are also fully on board to support their children and students in attaining quality education and asked that collaboration between all stakeholders be sustained for the best outcomes.
