Now that am convinced I am not being considered for the post of ICT PS I might as well comment.
 
In my opinion, the laptop per child, if implemented in isolation will be a very irresponsible use of public funds. Why not one microscope per child? Don't we need doctors? One spanner per child (for engineers). Ridiculous but hope you get the point.
 
I believe the priorities of anyone who wishes Kenya prosperity should be:
 
a) Food security
b) Health Security
c) Physical security
 
A healthy well fed nation with peace of mind will spar growth since people will get out of the hand-to-mouth cycle. I live off technology, yes, but to place the future of the country on technology is bad planning. We should instead invest everything we can to make Kenya an agriculture hub. Yes, I know, it's not as sexy but that will be the day Kenya will rule the region.
 
Technology should be driven by need. How many people did IT and are working in other fields?
 
If we are to buy the laptops (yes, they are not FREE) let us not kid ourselves it is going to sudden surge in ICT.
 
 


On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 2:56 PM, Martin Chiteri <martin.chiteri@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi guys, 

Sorry to differ again with the general opinion here. I am still not convinced that we need to give kids "a hundred dollar laptops" in order to make them learn better. My view is that children nowadays are informally trained to use computers at a very early age, thanks to the many play stations / XBoxes and smart phones + tablet computers available through their parents. I am also certain many of them get to use laptops at the same time for the same reasons. We really need to teach children just a little more to make them be fully comfortable with the use of other "advanced" computing equipment. 

If the said "digital" dream is to be achieved by 2030, we should have already seen the fruits of this early exposure, and I believe we already are doing that but to smaller extents. Another thing we should really appreciate is that it took fifty years for the U.s of America to get the famous silicon valley to the point it is at now. Maybe they had no choice, even with their might, to get there now since fifty years is all they had between now and then ...... Nevertheless, let not building our "silicon savannah" be the primary objective but the creation of a population that is capable of clearly reasoning and fixing their own inadequacies, be it with the economy, society or technology. 

As @Phares among a few others indicated, we really need to tackle the problem from another region. I really do not think the "One laptop per child" initiative came about as a result of serious discussions between the stakeholders in the education field and other parties. If this were the case, I suspect the actual issue with our education system could have been clearly pointed out in another direction. By simply working with the basics like well equipped libraries and labs, class rooms, good roads to schools, water and electricity, well trained and compensated teachers among others, good social amenities in schools, we will surely get there. 

Martin.


On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 1:33 PM, Peter Karunyu <pkarunyu@gmail.com> wrote:
@Francis

On Mon, May 6, 2013 at 1:09 PM, Francis Njenga <korefn@gmail.com> wrote:
As I read more comments, I believe we all(at least most of the contributers) agree that
the education system needs to be "revolutionized"/"modernized"/'Re-engineered'. The question begs:
"How do we do this?"

IMHO, it is incredibly difficult (not impossible) to change our education system since there are so many vested interests. And even if we did manage to change it, it would take several years for the effect to be felt tangibly.

Some of these vested interests are:

Ministry of Education
KNUT
TSC
Teachers
Parents
Book publishers
Our international donors/partners/financiers
Students
Our <put here a bad word of your choice> members of parliament and senate

Each one of these would form a point of resistance in the implementation of the change in our education system.

The statements of @Phares make a lot sense, but I think we are lacking in one area; applying scientific methodologies to separate fact from chaff, as Bitange Ndemo once implied.

These questions linger in my mind:

1. What change in the economy have the fiber optic cables introduced since they were lit? Can it be measured?
2. What contribution has the Thika superhighway contributed to the economy? Can it be measured?
3. If a quarter of thika road was implemented in the heart of Kericho (assuming this is where lots of tea comes from), would the impact of this be bigger or lesser than thika road?
4. Is a bigger JKIA more profitable for the economy than more milk processing plants in <that place where they were pouring milk>?

My point is, how can we measure what each basic arm of the economy contributes to the whole?

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