Kenya orders 1.1m tablets from China

[Kadudu]

• Tweet

So what happened to the idea of "locally manufactured laptops"? I thought the Education Ministry gave out tenders to 3 local universities to assemble the gadgets locally and make jobs for thousands of youths. Now it turns out the gadgets are to be imported from China.

http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Kenya-orders-1-1m-tablets-from-China/539546-3399486-k26xlmz/index.html

[RV Pundit]

Local assembly would be  a nice to have but not important. What is important is to get those laptops to the kids.

[Gumzo]

Local assembly would be  a nice to have but not important. What is important is to get those laptops to the kids.

Am very sure you know the difference between a laptop and a tablet !!!!
There was talk about this on KTN new sources jana and it was established
that teachers have not been trained and some (under the tree) schools
don't even have a place to store the gadgets. 

[RV Pundit]

Tablets are okay - as long as they can use it to read and learn the tools of the future - the better. As for teachers - they'll learn with time- hiccups are normal. This is transformative project that will only become apparent to you in 20yrs!!!!!!!!!!!
Kenya kids studying under the tree are lucky to have tablet because those studying under real classrooms do not have tablets elsewhere.

Am very sure you know the difference between a laptop and a tablet !!!!
There was talk about this on KTN new sources jana and it was established
that teachers have not been trained and some (under the tree) schools
don't even have a place to store the gadgets. 

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

So what happened to the idea of "locally manufactured laptops"? I thought the Education Ministry gave out tenders to 3 local universities to assemble the gadgets locally and make jobs for thousands of youths. Now it turns out the gadgets are to be imported from China.

http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Kenya-orders-1-1m-tablets-from-China/539546-3399486-k26xlmz/index.html

Tablets are flashy ergo this is good. 

This is a nice picture to put on a campaign poster.  Not to mention opportunities to eat.



Who cares if the whole thing makes no sense?

[RVtitem]

There's also the aspect of training local manpower and paying them more than cheap china labour to assemble tablets. Jubilee must have recognised it as a waste of money which could instead contribute to vital campaign kitties.

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

There's also the aspect of training local manpower and paying them more than cheap china labour to assemble tablets. Jubilee must have recognised it as a waste of money which could instead contribute to vital campaign kitties.

To what end though?  They have not demonstrated the necessity or benefit of the laptop program to begin with.  The best I have actually seen is what Pundit has said here.  Something along the lines of some non-specific benefits of exposing kids to technology etc.

I just see another avenue for some crony capitalist to enrich himself with no tangible benefit.

[veritas]

The eco-system isn't right for tablets. What happens in case of theft or when accidentally cracking the screen? At least with brands it comes with insurance.

Smells like another failed attempt by the Uhuru administration in edu tech. Shame these conservative advisors are so out of touch with nation wide tech.

They should at least conduct a risk assessment to see if this or that gadget has more benefit than loss. These guys are like Santa Claus dishing away ifongs to children living in an Inuit community in Antarctica with limited access to clean water let alone have power, wifi or a computer to update their tablets.

Don't these s*heads at least know that tablets don't come with portable USB drives? Are they planning to provide all impressionable young Kenyans with a $20 gift card that entitles them to a couple edu apps? At least a laptop has more than like 2gb of memory space and has a USB drive so little Kenyans can freely share stuff.

I bet Uhuru gets these s*y epiphanies in the pub, writes a poem about it via some drunken squarish doodles on a serviette as THE solution to resolving the tech-edu crisis in Kenya.

[Empedocles]

The eco-system isn't right for tablets. What happens in case of theft or when accidentally cracking the screen? At least with brands it comes with insurance.

Smells like another failed attempt by the Uhuru administration in edu tech. Shame these conservative advisors are so out of touch with nation wide tech.

They should at least conduct a risk assessment to see if this or that gadget has more benefit than loss. These guys are like Santa Claus dishing away ifongs to children living in an Inuit community in Antarctica with limited access to clean water let alone have power, wifi or a computer to update their tablets.

Don't these s*heads at least know that tablets don't come with portable USB drives? Are they planning to provide all impressionable young Kenyans with a $20 gift card that entitles them to a couple edu apps? At least a laptop has more than like 2gb of memory space and has a USB drive so little Kenyans can freely share stuff.

I bet Uhuru gets these s*y epiphanies in the pub, writes a poem about it via some drunken squarish doodles on a serviette as THE solution to resolving the tech-edu crisis in Kenya.

Opium for the masses.

Has worked before.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[MOON Ki]

Daily Nation, 2016:

Many public primary and secondary schools in Kenya lack basic learning facilities such as classrooms even as education experts debate whether or not the current system and curriculum should be changed.

A needs assessment report released last week reveals some schools do not have essential facilities such as toilets or even balls for children to play with.

http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Most-public-schools-lack-toilets-/1056-3146152-axey0tz/index.html

Physiological needs affect learning as well, and may be part of the reason behind poor performance in public schools as compared to private ones, says Karuga.

http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/DN2/Sorry-state-of-infrastructure-in-Kenyas-primary-schools/957860-2249632-ryunha/index.html

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

The eco-system isn't right for tablets. What happens in case of theft or when accidentally cracking the screen? At least with brands it comes with insurance.

Smells like another failed attempt by the Uhuru administration in edu tech. Shame these conservative advisors are so out of touch with nation wide tech.

They should at least conduct a risk assessment to see if this or that gadget has more benefit than loss. These guys are like Santa Claus dishing away ifongs to children living in an Inuit community in Antarctica with limited access to clean water let alone have power, wifi or a computer to update their tablets.

Don't these s*heads at least know that tablets don't come with portable USB drives? Are they planning to provide all impressionable young Kenyans with a $20 gift card that entitles them to a couple edu apps? At least a laptop has more than like 2gb of memory space and has a USB drive so little Kenyans can freely share stuff.

I bet Uhuru gets these s*y epiphanies in the pub, writes a poem about it via some drunken squarish doodles on a serviette as THE solution to resolving the tech-edu crisis in Kenya.

It would be a failed attempt at education if one assumes that's the whole point of this project.  In the country devoid of any oversight that kamwana has succeeded in creating, it is looking increasingly like another successful heist.

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

Daily Nation, 2016:

Many public primary and secondary schools in Kenya lack basic learning facilities such as classrooms even as education experts debate whether or not the current system and curriculum should be changed.

A needs assessment report released last week reveals some schools do not have essential facilities such as toilets or even balls for children to play with.

http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Most-public-schools-lack-toilets-/1056-3146152-axey0tz/index.html

Physiological needs affect learning as well, and may be part of the reason behind poor performance in public schools as compared to private ones, says Karuga.

http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/DN2/Sorry-state-of-infrastructure-in-Kenyas-primary-schools/957860-2249632-ryunha/index.html

Who are these people allowing facts to intrude on a narrative?  How dare they?

[veritas]

It would be a failed attempt at education if one assumes that's the whole point of this project.  In the country devoid of any oversight that kamwana has succeeded in creating, it is looking increasingly like another successful heist.

True. Maybe those tablets have surveillance like recording devices and nanny cams for nefarious objectives. I don't want to even go there. I'm gonna have to get me hands on one of those tablets to dissect.

[veritas]

Daily Nation, 2016:

Many public primary and secondary schools in Kenya lack basic learning facilities such as classrooms even as education experts debate whether or not the current system and curriculum should be changed.

A needs assessment report released last week reveals some schools do not have essential facilities such as toilets or even balls for children to play with.

http://www.nation.co.ke/news/Most-public-schools-lack-toilets-/1056-3146152-axey0tz/index.html

Physiological needs affect learning as well, and may be part of the reason behind poor performance in public schools as compared to private ones, says Karuga.

http://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/DN2/Sorry-state-of-infrastructure-in-Kenyas-primary-schools/957860-2249632-ryunha/index.html

The setting above is heaven. Teaching under the canopies, fresh air etc. most of tomorrow generation urbia Nairobi is like below at the school in rich part of Kibera I volunteered at... my walk to school:



inside the classroom



school yard



school toilet

[gout]

common sense tells me the kids in those despicable schooling conditions (and the larger community) are the ones likely to benefit even more from tablets and such learning aid technologies or just any technology just like the poor, unbanked have benefited more from MPEsa

[Empedocles]

It's simple, really.

We're asking our retarded politicians to either fix schools or order tablets with huge markups for their pockets so they can buy this:



It's a no-brainer.

[Kim Jong-Un's Pajama Pants]

common sense tells me the kids in those despicable schooling conditions (and the larger community) are the ones likely to benefit even more from tablets and such learning aid technologies or just any technology just like the poor, unbanked have benefited more from MPEsa

How?  It should be easy since it's common sense.

[MOON Ki]

common sense tells me the kids in those despicable schooling conditions (and the larger community) are the ones likely to benefit even more from tablets and such learning aid technologies or just any technology just like the poor, unbanked have benefited more from MPEsa

There are already several randomized, controlled trials of schools with and without One Laptop per Child. Generally, what most of these studies show is that schools with laptops did not see their children gain anything in terms of academic achievement, in terms of grades, in terms of test scores, in terms of attendance, or in terms of supposed engagement with the classroom.

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/536701/putting-technology-in-its-place/

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/aug/30/kentaro-toyama-geek-heresy-interview-technology

Here is a recent and quite readable article from Toyama, written in the context of "Exploring ICT and Learning in Development Countries":

There Are No Technology Shortcuts to Good Education
http://edutechdebate.org/ict-in-schools/there-are-no-technology-shortcuts-to-good-education/

There are no technology shortcuts to good education. For primary and secondary schools that are underperforming or limited in resources, efforts to improve education should focus almost exclusively on better teachers and stronger administrations. Information technology, if used at all, should be targeted for certain, specific uses or limited to well-funded schools whose fundamentals are not in question.
 

It is worth a careful read.

When Toyama talks about better teachers and stronger administrations of schools being important, Kenya looks like an excellent candidate:

most primary school teachers lack mastery of the subjects they teach.

http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Opinion/Address-teacher-absenteeism-in-schools/440808-2701524-xr8os0z/index.html

Another issue that has not been adequately addressed is teacher absenteeism and lack of competence.

Reports, including a recent one by the World Bank, have said Kenya has some of the highest incidents of teacher absenteeism which, compounded by poor pedagogy, undermine the quality of teaching.

http://www.nation.co.ke/oped/Editorial/It-is-time-to-address-what-ails-our-public-schools/440804-3015478-io1hmv/index.html

stunted growth due to the health deficiency and figures are estimated to have reached the 2.1 million mark.

http://kenyanewsagency.go.ke/en/malnutrition-derailing-kenyas-mdgs-targets/

Stunted growth:

is irreversible and associated with impaired cognitive ability and reduced school and work performance.

http://data.unicef.org/topic/nutrition/malnutrition/

Feeding such kids would have a more significant positive effect than later giving them tablets to go with under-developed brains.

[veritas]

Amen!  Good evidence. 

[veritas]

common sense tells me the kids in those despicable schooling conditions (and the larger community) are the ones likely to benefit even more from tablets and such learning aid technologies or just any technology just like the poor, unbanked have benefited more from MPEsa

You want common sense?

What makes you think poor kids will even receive a tablet? Whenever they dish out freebies like those crappy laptops not even well to do Kenyan parents would purchase for their kids, it's for a portion of schools for political mileage. Poor kids don't qualify for a tablet or laptop or anything else since those schools aren't considered legit.

When I was at Kibera school, the teachers were telling me how they relied on textbook donations since the govt ignored their existence.

You are an example of why street kids continue to beg even with a support system because they'd rather beg and sniff glue over hope for a future.

The money to buy those tablets could equally fund sorely needed free secondary education. I believe that was an ODM edu objective the coalition for the common Kenyan.