USA Africa Dialogue Series - E-readers kindle enthusiasm for learning among children in Kenya

Guardian: PovertyMatters Blog

E-readers kindle enthusiasm for learning among children in Kenya
Digital readers supplied by the Kilgoris project are encouraging kids
who might otherwise lack basic textbooks to love reading

Half of schools in sub-Saharan Africa have few or no textbooks,
according to Sacmeq, a body that monitors educational quality in
southern and eastern Africa. The cost of buying and transporting books
means they often have to be shared between students in a classroom,
hindering learning and slowing development. Yet e-readers have the
potential to change this.

Intimigom nursery and primary school in the rural Maasai province of
Kilgoris, south-west Kenya, is attempting to overcome textbook
shortages by using donated e-readers. The e-readers come loaded with
hundreds of Kenyan textbooks in English and Kiswahili, as well as
stories for primary school children. When electricity shortages occur,
they can be charged using small solar power packs and generators.

"I had never seen a Kindle before; I really like using it as it helps
me with reading and writing," says Intimigom student Obuto Kukutia,
aged 12.

"We have a seen a lot of positive changes since we started using
Kindles. The children are very excited to learn and are often reading
through their break. It helps them with their spelling and [English]
language skills. Compared to other schools I have taught at, the
children here appear to be ahead. The parents' reaction to the Kindles
has also been very positive; they wonder how such a small device can
hold several books," says the headteacher, Shadrack Lemiso.

The school has 150 e-readers for the 200 students. It is supported by
the Kilgoris project, a not-for-profit organisation that – partnered
with Worldreader – provides e-books to schools in sub-Saharan Africa.
Worldreader works with publishers including Penguin, Random House, and
Amazon, as well as African authors and publishers, to ensure local and
international books are available and affordable, if not donated for
free. It has distributed more than 220,000 digital books to children
and teachers across four projects in sub-Saharan Africa.

"We saw the technology as the most effective and efficient way to give
our students all the known benefits of access to books. Instead of
building a library, the technology lets us put a library in a child's
hand. And we can keep that library up-to-date electronically. E-books
don't get tattered or torn, like their paper cousins," says Caren
McCormack, president and co-founder of the Kilgoris project. "At the
launch ceremony at Intimigom, I joked that the Kindles were much like
a herd of cows, a source of long-term security and prosperity for a
family. And who could better protect a precious herd than a group of
Maasai?"

Sporadic internet connectivity in the area means only a small number
of books can be downloaded at a time; for downloads to all the
devices, the e-readers are taken to Nairobi, where high-speed internet
is more readily available.

The Kilgoris project helps seven schools in the province, serving more
than 600 students. Each has an active local board and leadership team
consisting of parents, elders and teachers. "We rely on these boards
for constant feedback, decision-making, direction and support," says
McCormack. "We firmly believe that to do the most good and have the
most impact, we need to align ourselves to the community's needs
through communication with local families."

By expanding the schools it works with and adding pre-school and
secondary levels, Kilgoris aims to help 1,000 students by 2017.


© 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.

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