Samsung Bequeaths Kenyan Primary Schools With E-Learning Libraries

 Editor Innovation & Science, On Demand, Tech

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VENTURES AFRICA – In line with its commitment to providing quality platforms for education of school children in Kenya, Samsung has started an initiative which will see the South Korean conglomerate provide new libraries properly equipped and furnished with ICT facilities to select schools in the East African country.
The Thika Primary School in Kiambu County, with a population of about 600 pupils and 23 teachers, was the first to benefit from this new initiative which has exposed its children to e-learning while still in primary school. The library is able to accommodate 30 pupils at once and provides books and Samsung Galaxy Tabs endowed with the right e-books to help build their language skills in English and Swahili in line with the curriculum.
“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. The handover of this facility is proof of our commitment to improving the standards of education for school-going children in Kenya, and is e
specially timely going by government efforts to work closely with private sector partners to support e-learning in primary schools,” remarked Patricia King’ori, Head of Corporate Marketing at Samsung East and Central Africa.
The library comprises of two sections. One equipped with a rich collection of over 2,500 books and the other with digital learning stations where students can interact with and learn from the 10.1 inch Samsung tablets.
The funding for the project was acquired by a volunteer programme which Samsung facilitates every October to collect books and raise money with the help of its employees, the overall idea being to encourage it staff to uplift and empower communities.
John Kiarie, the school’s Headmaster remarked saying; “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. 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.”
This initiative adds to the list of similar moves made by Samsung in the past 3 years to empower communities in line with formal education.