Tech4All

Tech4All is an early level of learning free-to-access digital literacy program conducted by Information Technology professionals from Impactnet Africa to help children and teenagers access learning services for free.

This is to help students continue to access learning, albeit virtually, and at the same time, to personally experience and learn to use technology as part of daily life. Avoiding Covid-19 and still accessing school work as usual.

The Covid-19 pandemic has upended entire education systems, with an estimated 1.5 billion primary and secondary learners’ (ages 5-18) education disrupted. Some schools have shifted to distance learning, while others shut down completely. Many have had limited operations for months. These disruptions exacerbate pre-existing education inequalities along wealth, gender, ethnicity, linguistic, and geographical lines. 

The Jubilee Government of the Republic of Kenya had made a promise of laptops for every child. Something that has not been fully fulfilled but is being implemented in phases, even with the challenges of infrastructure to host these laptops safely and in optimum operating capacity still surmounting. The problem of school learning discontinuity as a result of lack of technological resources must be solved. 

To supplement this, since such a promise is so much far from implementation, Pupils will need “well equipped static or mobile free-to-access technological hubs during the off school days, ready with assistants to help pupils’ access free virtual classrooms and learning materials, including recorded audiovisual sessions.”

The solution serves primary and high school pupils. It ensures their continued learning and therefore does not disrupt their future and bring uncertainty to it. It also empowers this age group with hands on technological skills.

Lack of access to on going school work was one of the biggest challenges the Republic of Kenya faced during the lock down. And it is guaranteed to be again should there be another surge in Covid-19 Cases as the government will be overwhelmed with the underwhelming technological resources to cater for a lot of pupils. Tech4All takes that problem away. Imagine your child not having to go long distances in order to access learning materials or virtual teaching sessions. Imagine such a hub located just in the neighborhood with a guaranteed 3 hours per day of learning, at least up to three days a week, making sure that one does not miss anything as a pupil. Imagine a teacher just shooting a video of the lesson, uploading it on a portal and then giving assignments. Then pupil just goes to this local hub, watches the video, downloads the assignment and does it. Imagine that to avoid plagiarism, the account accessed must be biometric as the pupil must be present to upload the assignment, attaching a recorded photo in the process. 

Because its a concept we have had for a while as Impactnet Africa, always wanted to implement it, have a team ready, but no finances.