Shifting from the 8-4-4 to Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC) education system is not without serious challenges.
Digital literacy is at the core of CBC but a lot of discrepancies are threatening its good intentions.
Kenya has fashioned itself as a tech-hub in Africa but is yet to live up to its expectations, even though not badly off.
Caleb Korir: Protect Kenyans in the Gulf Caleb Korir: Africa has to pursue COP26 deal or perishThe reliance on small and often few tech hubs doting the country is no panacea for digital illiteracy.
Of late, President William Ruto has been encouraging young people to take up online jobs to press the computer to get money. That is good, but the infrastructure to fuel digital jobs is in a shambles.
Digital literacyAdmittedly, early exposure of computers to children sets them on a good path in the ever-changing world of computing and digital literacy.
Its common for high school leavers to take up a four-week course in computer packages, something many parents champion.
But knowledge acquisition at cybercafs and other small computer colleges is never enough to prepare them to take up online jobs.
In Nairobi, less than 40 per cent of schools have fully equipped digital labs not to mention other parts of the country, where even teachers have little to no computer literacy.
As we gear up for an artificial intelligence-driven world, we must invest in computer literacy. Kenya has a 59 per cent of internet penetration but only 29 per cent of the population has basic computer skills.
The government must address the discrepancies in schools. Many have no computer labs yet we aspire to build a future driven by technology.
Robust education systemsHow can we achieve that?
Its high time we broke free from the bubble wrap that is blindfolding us.
Lets not be blinded by few individuals with cutting-edge computer literacy to feel we have reached the pinnacle. We must learn from technologically advanced countries like India and China.
Their economies have grown exponentially thanks to automation fuelled by digital literacy and robust education systems.
Lets first learn to press it right.
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