Safaricom has extended free access to digital education content for primary and secondary school students to September following the extended closure of learning institutions.
The content, which is approved by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), has been free to access from April. Since then, more than ten million education bundles have been redeemed to access e-learning platforms, while over 1.8 million learners have accessed the SMS-based Shupavu291 platform by Eneza Education.
“Safaricom’s intervention of providing data bundles to access e-content from the Kenya Education Cloud has provided an opportunity for more learners to access lessons from home. Parents and guardians should take advantage of this initiative and encourage their children to benefit from this offer,” said Dr. Joel Mabonga, the acting chief executive officer, Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).
With learning institutions set to remain closed until the end of this year, e-learning material on the Kenya Education Cloud by KICD and Mwalimoo by Eneza Education will be accessible at no cost via the free daily one hundred megabytes education bundle. The bundle is also usable on the Viusasa and Longhorn e-learning platforms, which charge a subscription fee.
Learners can also access revision content and ask a teacher questions via short message service (SMS) through Eneza Education’s Shupavu291.
“Waiving the daily fees on Shupavu291 has seen the number of learners accessing our platform every day grow by over 400%. It is also pleasing to note that around 64% of the learners are female, with over 46% of learners using their mothers’ phones. These statistics are pleasing, especially at such a time when there is fear that household chores and other domestic economic activities might interfere with learning for girls,” said Wambura Kimunyu, Eneza Education chief executive officer.
“We are driven by a purpose of transforming lives, and education is one of the greatest agents of transformation. Our role is to promote inclusive digital learning by leveraging our extensive coverage and working with like-minded partners to empower parents and learners across the country,” said Peter Ndegwa, chief executive officer, Safaricom.
