Are laptops for primary school children a priority?

I remember the old President Moi’s era when primary school learners enjoyed free milk, the commonly talked about ‘Maziwa ya Nyayo’.  It was one experience that all those who went through appreciated and indeed is still talked about even today.

Today, there are questions and analyses of whether the government’s initiative to bring in laptops to primary school is a good idea or not. My questions are;

1.       Will free laptops improve learning in primary schools?

2.       Are the laptops really a priority in this time?

3.       Are the laptops accommodative?

It is without doubt a very good move towards achieving the goal of embracing technology in the education sector, but we have to first face the problems that we face as a nation first before we get to other complicated inclusions.

Education experts argue that the best initiative by the government could be to introduce even free textbooks for every child and provide good learning environment before the laptops arrive. Moreover, with the challenges facing the education sector in the country, it could be better if those problems are dealt with first. For instance, many public schools have no good classes, inadequate teaching staff, and lack of enough books among other challenges.

The other question is whether these laptops will improve learning in schools. This to some extent may be so but what about the reality of the fact that even teachers are not computer literate and hence may have some difficulties implementing this program? This kind of initiative will also encourage individual and not group learning which is encouraged in the early levels of education.

The cost of implementing this plan is also a factor of discussion. Many people argue that it would be fair to distribute this money in other projects before the laptops come in.

The truth be, implementing this project twill be a reason to bring confusion in the education system and it would d be fair to first listen to other pressing needs in the education sector before this luxury come in.