Marsabit ECDE coordinators, program officers begin digital curriculum training

Over 20 Marsabit Early Childhood Development Education Coordinators on Thursday began their training on the digital curriculum at the Saku Youth Empowerment Centre.

The training will equip them with digital knowledge of how to use digital gadgets.

Speaking on Thursday at a training organized by the county government and EIDU Kenya, County Chief Officer Education Qabale Adhi Bulbul said digital learning provides access to quality education, fosters growth and prepares teachers and education officials for the challenges of the digital age.

"The partnership will help young learners in the county to explore the digital learning space and all children in ECDE will have the same lesson since lesson planning in the digital device will be uniform in all schools," she said.

"Digital learning will increase enrolment and decrease absenteeism. We thank EIDU Kenya for giving ECDE pupils in the county a chance to move in the right direction."

Qabale hailed the partnership saying it's a major step in integrating technology into the learning system at the county level.

She said the digital training will provide teachers with educational content that aligns with the government's competency-based curriculum through the learning devices.

"The initiative is a commitment by Governor Mohamud Ali's administration to making quality education accessible to all. We are looking forward to witnessing the positive impact this partnership will have in the county," she said

Qabale said the administration of Governor Mohamud  Ali is focused on the improvement of ECDE education.

This, she said, is by rolling out the school feeding program, confirmation of ECDE teachers into permanent and pensionable terms and ensuring a motivated workforce.

She said the county is also committed to creating a good environment for learners through the construction of ECDE classrooms as well as the provision of teaching and learning materials to over 350 ECDE centres.

County Director of Education Issack Hassan said the digital curriculum training for ECDE coordinators and program officers will help in assessing the learning outcomes of the children in all 350 ECDE centres.

He said the digital program will also support the tracking of assessments through daily progress records for both transition purposes and policy making.

"The digital program is expected to foster equity in education as its offline capability makes it suitable for both urban and rural areas," he said.

"County officials will have the capacity to monitor their education system with relevant data on the classrooms that allow for decision-making for a more efficient, impactful and inclusive educational environment."

EIDU Kenya education officer Johcris Ayara said they aim to support both county and national governments to achieve their education goals and implement policies around digital learning.

 We are partnering with the Marsabit county government to bring digital learning to early childhood education and help improve learning outcomes. We are committed to making quality education accessible to all," he said

He said the EIDU's devices are equipped with learning content that adapts to each learner's pace.

Ayara said the partnership will run for a year. Piloting was done in 45 schools which benefitted from 70 devices and they plan to roll out second face targeting 11,730 young learners in the county.

Representative of EIDU Kenya in Marsabit Engine Oginga said EIDU is a technology-enhanced platform which integrates high-impact interventions into a single, coherent system that is easy to use by teachers, pupils and government officials.

He explained that the technology will help teachers plan and deploy their lessons, accelerate learning for children and enable monitoring of school and classroom performance.