Photo Courtesy: http://www.wesleyacademy.org/
Laptops, laptops, laptops!! It’s a brand new year again and for the children joining class one, this is going to be the best year in their school lives maybe. I can imagine how much they are anticipating this great action by the present government. We will surely be seeing public schools being flooded with new admissions into the school, after all, who doesn’t want a laptop?
It isn’t a surprise why any child would like the idea to join school in this year; you can’t blame them! Some never even had a touch of a pen and a book and maybe, they saw how their parents struggled to buy for their older siblings, the school stationeries. I bet even the older teenagers in the rural areas who have always rejected school and opted for agriculture and being shepherds, would want to join school this time. Maybe Kenya is really heading to the technological era of learning whereby students will be taught ‘B is for Bluetooth’ and ‘L is for Laptops’ instead of the ball and ladder we grew up hearing. Who knows? That could be vision 2020 for Kenyans!
The irony of this entire story is that while the government is planning on the laptop project, there are students in Turkana who don’t even have a place to call a school. They have their lessons under the trees, with no shelter to protect them from severe sun rays, with no desks to sit on and not even books to write on. For people like these, what effect do the laptops have on them? Is there any effect expected when they are promised such things when they don’t even have electricity? This sad story isn’t only in Turkana but in many other places in Kenya.
Apart from that is the fact that some of the teachers don’t even know how to operate the laptops let alone the children. They will learn, some of us will say. It is true; time is enough for everyone to learn new things but what of the consistent problem of teachers not being paid their salaries? Some people may agree with me that this is a more important issue to be dealt with rather than the laptop project. Many are still debating whether this is the right project to be done during this time in Kenya whereby problems are overwhelming.
For the class one children and their parents of course, this is hurrah for them. It is definitely a new year, with new resolutions and new goodies! I definitely wish to join you in your joy or maybe, it isn’t all that a bad idea that I should start class one again too. Now that I don’t have any sibling going to class one, this could be a brilliant idea to get myself a laptop! Apart from all that; to the beautiful children of Kenya, I say, congratulations for the coming laptops!
