COVID-19: Sh17.4b earmarked to boost e-Learning

EDUCATION|GRANT|E-LEARNING

About $4.7m US dollars, worth over sh17.4b has been earmarked to boost e-learning and community health.

The grant will benefit 2,137 senior six students under the Master Card Programme Scholars at Brac and part of the money will cater for community health.

The manager Enrichment Giveback and Alumni Network (MEGAN), Caroline Okeny, revealed, saying their project activities are mainly school based to learners who have been affected by the pandemic.

Speaking to journalists, Okeny noted that the approach adopted by the schools to provide reading materials online has affected the students, since they cannot afford some of the materials needed to access the information online.

She revealed that they received a component of education and health grant from Master Card Foundation and they plan to purchase Tablets were, they will upload online and offline education contents which will be later be given to their scholars.

"We have patterned with the National Development Curriculum Centre to develop the content basing on the syllabus and the project is expected to run for nine months and it is targeting scholars in 86 partner schools," Okeny said.

She explained that this will enable scholars do research, access the reading online, and will be able to attend the zoom classes organised by respective schools.

"We are looking at the nature of students who are vulnerable, economically disadvantaged, cannot afford smart phones, data to access the information on website, zoom, face book and WhatsApp," Okeny said.

She added, "We have since received the money to respond to the COVID-19 crisis."

Okeny also expressed concern that some of their female scholars were getting pregnant during the pandemic while the males had engaged in other ventures like Boda Boda riding, farming adding that their worry is that the boys might get used at the little money and see education of no use.