Kitui CEC for Trade, SMEs and Innovation, Rose Mutuku, addressing the media at the Devolution Conference 2025 in Homabay/Musembi Nzengu.In a small ECDE classroom in Kitui County, the future of learning is already taking shape.
Armed with tablets and
laptops, teachers are piloting an Artificial Intelligence-powered application
designed to help children master literacy and numeracy skills long before they
reach upper primary.
The county government, in partnership with youthful innovators at Nyansapo AI, is testing the Hekima learning app — a tool that promises to transform how early learners are assessed.
Unlike traditional methods, the app allows teachers to track each
child’s progress in real time, ensuring no learner is left behind.
Trade, SMEs and Innovation executive Rose Mutuku says the innovation could be a game-changer.
“If
this concept works, we’ll not only roll it out widely but also support the
innovators to market it beyond Kitui — even beyond Kenya,” she said, pointing
to the county’s broader ambition of turning local ideas into commercial
products.
At the recently concluded Devolution Conference in Homa Bay, Kitui’s booth buzzed with curiosity.
Alongside AI-driven irrigation tools, visitors were drawn to the Hekima app, showcased by 25-year-old education consultant Esther Tabitha.
Passionate and persuasive,
Tabitha explained how the app bridges gaps that still haunt Kenya’s classrooms.
“We still have learners in Grade 6 who cannot recognise letters or do simple additions,” she said. “With this tool, teachers can assess daily and learners move at the same pace. It ensures understanding for everyone, every time.”
Already, the app has been piloted in 23 schools in Kitui East’s Voo/Kyamatu ward, showing promising results. That early success has emboldened the innovators to dream bigger. “We’ve seen what it can do, and with the county’s support, we’re ready to expand,” Tabitha said.
For Kitui, the project is more than an experiment in technology. It is a glimpse of how counties can nurture homegrown solutions to tackle age-old challenges in education.
And for young innovators like Tabitha, it is proof that AI does not just belong in Silicon Valley — it can take root in rural classrooms as well.
