Kenya: Thika Primary School Gets E-Learning Library

Photo: Julius Mwelu/Urban Gateway
School children hold up one of the Samsung tablets used at the library.[/caption] The school, which was selected with the assistance of the Municipality of Thika Education office, has a population of over 600 pupils and 23 teachers and will be the first to benefit from the project that will see more children exposed to e-learning while still in primary school. The newly renovated library will be able to accommodate up to 30 pupils at once, and has been equipped with books and Samsung Galaxy Tabs equipped with curriculum-compliant e-books which will help build their language skills both in English and Kiswahili. Speaking when he presented the facility to the school, Samsung East and Central Africa Head of Corporate Marketing Patricia King’ori said the project was in line with Samsung’s commitment to improving the lives of the communities it operates in, having identified quality education as one of the pillars of sustainable development. “We are pleased to have secured an opportunity to work with Thika Primary School and education officials in Kiambu County to contribute towards improving the quality of education and access to learning materials for young students,” said Ms King’ori.

“The handover of this facility is proof of our commitment to improving the standards of education for school-going children in Kenya, and is especially timely going by government efforts to work closely with private sector partners to support e-learning in primary schools.” Working in partnership with the school, Samsung divided the library into two sections: one with over 2,500 books and the other with digital learning stations where students can sit and read from the 10.1 inch Samsung Android tablets. “We are grateful to Samsung for this library, which will play a significant role in exposing our students to learning technology, while at the same time allowing our teachers to use this technology to enhance e-learning, which we have found greatly improves learners’ retention by incorporating visual learning aids,” said John Kiarie, the school’s Headmaster. “Our previous library was located in the Deputy Head Teacher’s office and in addition to being poorly equipped was inaccessible to pupils, so we’re optimistic that this will encourage more of them to use the facility.” To complete the project Samsung enlisted the help of its employees to collect books and raise money to furnish the library as part of a volunteer programme carried out every October – which Samsung marks as Employee Volunteer Month – to encourage staff to uplift and empower communities. Since 2011 Samsung has introduced a number of projects designed to create opportunities for communities to benefit from its education programmes, ranging from the Samsung Electronics Engineering Academy in 2012 – now in its third year – and the Solar Powered Internet School launched in Arap Moi Primary School in Kajiado County this year. *Source allafrica]]>