In a radical move that has the potential of redefining our education sector here in Kenya, the Ministry of Education is seeking for technological partnerships that will drive the sector towards improved delivery of the envisioned curriculum. Principal secretary for basic education Belio Kipsang highlighted the ministry’s plans to work with tech firms. Kipsang also mentioned that the partnership would help address human resource challenges in all schools within the country.
Closing the HR Gap with Technology
During a meeting with the president of Seiko Epson, Yasunori Ogawa, Belio emphasized the ministry’s focus on leveraging technology to close the human resource gap currently existing in the education sector as one of the measures aimed towards addressing the shortage of teachers. Some of the advantages indicated for such partnerships were that technology would enable teaching thousands of students in several schools using only a few teachers under the innovative classroom model.
“This is an opportunity for partnerships where we can make use of technology in resource sharing,” reiterated Belio, saying that such partnerships could at least help address the challenges.
Seiko Epson’s Technological Contributions
Yasunori Ogawa representing Seiko Epson, expressed hope for the proposed collaboration. He said the company was able to link energy-efficient ICT gadgets to promote educational technology that was applicable to the developing countries in the African region.
“We are in Africa and can invest in Africa. We believe in a philosophy of waste elimination and increasing precision,” said Ogawa, stressing Epson’s mission to actively participate in Africa’s educational growth.
Epson’s Technological Knowledge Epson
Epson’s head office is located in Singapore, the company has ganered a great reputation for creating a high degree of innovative technology offering business solutions as well as consumers. The company’s product portfolio includes inkjet printers, digital printing systems, 3LCD projectors, smart glasses, sensing systems, and industrial robots. This technology can be used to pioneer and significantly improve the level of education and general operations of Kenyan schools.