JOHANNESBURG - Safaricom Kenya has extended free access to digital education content for primary and secondary school pupils to September 8, following the extended closure of learning institutions in the country.
Earlier this month, the Kenyan education ministry announced that all schools in the country would remain closed until January 2021 because of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
According to Safaricom Kenya, the content, which was approved by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD), has been free to access since April 2020.
Since then, more than 10 million education bundles have been redeemed to access e-learning platforms, while over 1.8 million learners have accessed the SMS-based Shupavu291 platform by Eneza Education.
"Safaricom's intervention of providing data bundles to access e-content from the Kenya Education Cloud has provided an opportunity for more learners to access lessons from home. Parents and guardians should take advantage of this initiative and encourage their children to benefit from this offer,” KICD chief executive Joel Mabonga said.
Safaricom said e-learning material on the Kenya Education Cloud by KICD and Mwalimoo by Eneza Education would be accessible at no cost via the free daily 100MB education bundle available on *544#. The bundle was also usable on the Viusasa and Longhorn e-learning platforms, which charged a subscription fee.
Learners could also access revision content and ask a teacher questions via SMS through Eneza Education’s Shupavu291, which is accessible by dialing *291# or by sending the word LEARN to 20851.
“Waiving the daily fees on Shupavu291 has seen the number of learners accessing our platform every day grow by over 400 percent. It is also pleasing to note that around 64 percent of the learners are female, with over 46 percent of learners using their mothers’ phones," Eneza Education chief executive officer Wambura Kimunyu said.
"These statistics are pleasing, especially at such a time when there's often fear that household chores and other domestic economic activities might interfere with learning for girls,” he said.
“We are driven by a purpose of transforming lives, and education is one of the greatest agents of transformation. Our role is to promote inclusive digital learning by leveraging our extensive coverage and working with like-minded partners to empower parents and learners across the country,” Safricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said.