The Mt Kenya Times 
East African Community Principal Secretary Dr Caroline Karugu interacting with learners at Nyaribo Primary School in Nyeri County where she graced the handing over of a Digital Learning Programme.
By James Wanjiku
Nyeri has emerged as a key beneficiary of the Government’s drive to transform classrooms into digital learning hubs, with schools receiving 178 interactive smart boards and 178 laptops for ICT-trained teachers.
The equipment, being distributed under the Kenya Digital Economy Acceleration Project (KDEAP), is expected to change how teachers deliver lessons and how learners access and share knowledge.
East African Community, ASAL and Regional Development Principal Secretary Dr Caroline Karugu said the digital learning programme was aimed at preparing a new generation for an economy increasingly driven by technology.
Speaking on Monday at Nyaribo Primary School during the handover ceremony, Karugu said President William Ruto’s digital agenda could only succeed if learners were equipped with the skills required to participate in the digital economy.
“Digital learning is part of President William Ruto’s vision and agenda under the Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) that envisions to create a digital highway,” she said.
“For you to create a digital highway, you must have a generation that is digitally empowered.”
The 178 interactive smart boards allocated to Nyeri schools will provide learners with a more interactive classroom environment, while the laptops will support teachers who have undergone ICT training.
Karugu said the technology would break traditional classroom barriers by allowing learners to interact with information and knowledge from different parts of the world.
She challenged pupils to use the new technology not merely to consume information but to develop and share their own knowledge.
“We are tasking our children not only to be consumers of knowledge but also to be creators of this knowledge and be able to share it globally,” she said.
The PS said a learner at Nyaribo Primary School would now have the opportunity to exchange knowledge with learners beyond Kenya, describing the initiative as transformational.
However, she warned that the expansion of digital access also exposed children to potential online threats.
Karugu said learners must be taught how to safely navigate the internet as they increasingly use digital platforms for education and communication.
“I sensitized the learners that the entire digital space is not 100 percent safe. We have some predators who have infiltrated that space,” she said.
She said the Government would work with teachers to sensitise learners on safe and responsible internet use while ensuring digital platforms remain beneficial to their education.
The initiative is part of a nationwide programme by the ICT Authority to equip public primary schools with interactive smart boards and enhance technology-based learning.
The rollout marks another step in the Government’s efforts to expand digital literacy and create classrooms where learners can access, interact with and produce knowledge using modern technology.
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