Connectivity Comes to Kenya's DigiSchools

Access to ICTs and Internet connectivity for education is a priority

Digital Literacy is 1 of 7 core competencies for learners in basic education under the Kenyan Competency-Based Curriculum. The government has provided almost all public primary schools with electricity, a projector, laptops for teachers, tablets for students, and a Content Server and Access Point that hosts digitized curriculum.

Having achieved this, the next priority is to connect the schools to the Internet so they can access the online Kenya Education Cloud with updated and interactive content, as well as access online administrative systems.

Collaboration for connectivity that delivers

As part of UNESCO's Global Coalition for Education, Huawei collaborated with UNESCO, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of ICT and its ICT Authority to launch the DigiSchool project – connect 13 rural schools – 9 primary and 4 secondary in phase 1 –  in Kenya. The partners combined strengths and resources to assess schools, identify appropriate technology solutions, support teachers, and develop a sustainable solution that leverages the government's 9,000-km fiber network.

While schools close to the fiber network are directly connected to fiber, more remote schools have been connected using wireless technologies. In these cases, small towers have been constructed at the nearest fiber connection point and also at the schools, with Huawei's leading point-to-point microwave solutions bringing the Internet from one to the other. All schools currently enjoy Wi-Fi speeds of 100 Mbps or more.

Benefiting administrators, teachers, and students

School administrators use the Internet to access government online systems to register students, manage examinations, and to host teacher HR systems. Teachers download the latest curriculum materials from the Kenya Education Cloud, including images, videos, tutorials and teaching guidelines, and have full access to other approved online content. Students not only receive higher quality lessons, but they are also learning how to use the Internet for research and stay safe online.

As a teacher I am so happy because now, when these learners are accessing the Internet it means that when they are exiting school they will be as competent as those learners who are in urban areas. I am looking forward to producing learners who are competent enough to get jobs or create jobs. Lydia Muchemi
ICT Teacher, Maragima Primary School, Nyeri

The teachers are not only accessing teaching resources and guidelines, but also incorporating interactive learning methods in their teaching. Eunice Ng'ang'a
Head Teacher, Maragima Primary School

The future of work depends largely on digital skills. The pandemic has created a new normal in learning and this has been shaped largely by technology. I would like to thank our partners Huawei and UNESCO for the amount of effort and resource they put towards ensuring that the program not only launches but may continue and have the sustainability that is necessary. Joe Muchero
ICT Minister, Kenya