CGI: Accelerating 21st Century Education in Kenya

Last year at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), Cisco, Intel, Microsoft, the Government of Kenya and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced a collaborative project focused on improving education in up to 60 primary and secondary schools in Kenya. This was an incredible announcement for a number of reasons, including the fact that students and teachers in that region would now finally have access to relevant and engaging education technology and content. The last year has shown progress towards this commitment on a number of fronts, and we are nearing the beginning of implementation.

On a personal level, I’ve been excited about this project because of my life-long connection to Kenya. I lived there for six years growing up and experienced the country’s challenges with education firsthand. It’s a country with a deep and rich culture, full of amazing people who have a thirst for learning. But the resource limitations in the country are vast; many schools have more basic needs than technology – clean water, sanitation, basic supplies and well-trained teachers.

Despite this, an increasing number of schools are ready to start integrating technology into their curricula and pedagogy, and in those schools we see the opportunity of this commitment. The technology and skills training that come with this commitment gives teachers the training they need to appropriately use technology in the classroom and provides hope for kids who want to learn but didn’t previously have the best means to do so.

Read on at Microsoft's Unlimited Potential blog.

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