Kenya Institute of Education: Coming of age

During the recently held inaugural Regional Education Conference on eLearning (RECE 2010) from 28-30 March 2010, the role that the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) plays in the education sector came to light.

In many ways, KIE has transformed in such tremendous ways that most of us would not begin to understand the modernization and degree of metamorphosis in place.

For starters, KIE has truly embraced ICT and is fast changing the education landscape in the region. This is towards the realization of the Vision 2030, and during the Conference there were ample demonstrations of these new developments in the well equipped and manned labs, with digitalization of  primary and secondary school curriculum. The quality of the DVDs that are quite interactive, and rich in multimedia that are locally produced are simply put, quite innovative. They have covered subjects such as the languages (English and Swahili), sciences and arts that if put to good use, would help transform the way we teach and learn in the education system. The media are very good support tools, not meant to replace the teacher, but rather support the traditional classroom teaching and learning. The only challenges that I foresaw, were inadequate ICT facilities and lack  of power in the rural schools. But conversations with other researchers and CSO indicates that contrary to the norm, rural-based schools appear to have put good investment in ICT infrastructure.   KIE is now selling the DVDs to schools and teachers at Ksh. 3,000 (USD 40) that are being planned to be updateable online in the not so near future, but with revisions to content planned on annual basis. This is bound to be cheaper and faster compared to traditional book print, which as we know from lessons in developing countries, can be costly for such economies.

Of notable interest is the fact that KIE has acquired the terrestrial digital transmission technology, and is actually testing and transmitting its signal within a 100 kilometer, providing the only education content to a potential 1/3 of Kenya’s population. This was only possible with the national fiber optic project,  and is modeled along DSTV’s Mindset and BBC’s Knowledge pure educational channels. From what was said by the KIE, it is the only institution in the region that has this kind of technology in place, with NTV and KTN in the process of purchasing similar studio equipment. Worth noting, is that KIE is now in position to use the fiber optic to transit rich multimedia on the Internet as here lies idle capacity for such.

KIE are also trying to be innovative in generating additional income channels, considering the dwindling budget allocation to them. I was very impressed that KIE has a fully equipped mobile  out broadcasting van, which Multichoice among other media houses occasionally outsource!

This is to me is a fine good example of taxpayers funds being used effectively.