[kictanet] Fw: RE: One subject, varying quality - We lack an accreditation system for ICT courses
Mwololo Tim
timwololo at gmail.com
Tue Jun 30 08:02:16 EAT 2009
Listers,
Our 2006 national ICT policy is silent on open source software (OSS). As we
think of a review of this policy, which according to me is due due to a
number of issues (Vision 2030, BPO, and many other developments), we should
think seriously about a section on OSS policy.
tim mwololo
On 6/29/09, Evans Ikua <ikua at lpakenya.org> wrote:
>
> There is also Camara Kenya (the local office of camara.ie) that has done
> tremendous work in the area of putting hardware in schools, both Primary and
> Secondary, installing open source software, supporting them, and training
> the teachers. This in a short period of time.
>
> Their work has mainly been in the coast region but they are also getting
> into the hinterland. They have about 150 volunteers from Ireland who have
> just come in and they will conduct trainings for about a month.
>
> They have equipped schools in the whole of Lamu island, and many schools at
> the coast.
>
> They are achieving much more by using FOSS as a computer installed with
> Linux gives much more to a student as opposed to one installed with Windows.
> Because they are not spending a penny on software licenses, they are able to
> supply like twice the number of PCs than if they were to have the schools
> buy licenses.
>
> Ikua
>
> --
> Evans Ikua
> Linux Professional Association of Kenya
> Tel: +254-20-2250381, Cell: +254-722 955 831
> Eagle House, 2nd Floor
> Kimathi Street, Opp. Corner House
> www.lpakenya.org
>
>
> Quoting Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com>:
>
> forwarded--- On Thu, 6/25/09, Emmanuel Khisa <emmanuel.khisa at kadet.co.ke>
>> wrote:
>>
>> From: Emmanuel Khisa <emmanuel.khisa at kadet.co.ke>
>> Subject: RE: [kictanet] One subject,varying quality - We lack an
>> accreditation system for ICT courses
>> To: "'Walubengo J'" <jwalu at yahoo.com>
>> Date: Thursday, June 25, 2009, 10:11 AM
>>
>> And Project Discovery Kenya has been able to train more that 200 primary
>> school teachers over the last five years in conjunction with Institute of
>> Software technologies...I also know that similar training went on in Yala
>> Division last April for Primary school teachers in the division organised
>> by
>> the Computers for Schools.
>> On the subject of lack of adequate professors, I will leave that to
>> Academicians and those keen on interrogating academics, I however would
>> like
>> the ICT training to move from over concentration with the academics and
>> more
>> to the more handson...more like incubator based learning approach...While
>> the Far East economies have good universities, they still put more premium
>> on handson skills...It is sad that even our graduate engineers let alone
>> IT
>> graduates (who by the way take a lot of flack) cannot invent or think
>> outside the box...I mean no invention ever comes out of these highly
>> restricted courses yet only a select few universities dare to venture
>> into...
>>
>> The answer in my opinion lies in building skills that are more practical
>> and
>> focussed on creating entrepreneural opportunities.
>>
>> Rgds,
>>
>> Manu
>>
>> "New opinions are always suspected and usually opposed, without any other
>> reason but because they are not already common."
>> P Before printing, think about the Environment and your responsibilities
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: kictanet-bounces+emmanuel.khisa=kadet.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke
>> [mailto:kictanet-bounces+emmanuel.khisa<kictanet-bounces%2Bemmanuel.khisa>
>> =kadet.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke] On
>> Behalf Of Walubengo J
>> Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2009 8:41 AM
>> To: emmanuel.khisa at kadet.co.ke
>> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] One subject,varying quality - We lack an
>> accreditation system for ICT courses
>>
>>
>> I agree that something is happening within the High-School teaching
>> fraternity. Last April, Multimedia University College trained 80 high
>> school
>> headteachers from Samburu and I think Transmara Districts, giving them
>> basic
>> ICT skills...am aware Strathmore University, IAT etc also do such
>> trainings
>> regularly...It may not be enough, but its definitely a good kick in the
>> right direction.
>>
>> As for the University Level IT faculty staff. Unfortunately the
>> statistics
>> are likely to be true. You can count the number of IT Professors in this
>> country on your three fingers ;-)
>>
>> walu.
>>
>>
>>
>> --- On Wed, 6/24/09, Barnabas K. Sang <bksang at education.go.ke> wrote:
>>
>> From: Barnabas K. Sang <bksang at education.go.ke>
>>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] One subject, varying quality - We lack an
>>>
>> accreditation system for ICT courses
>>
>>> To: jwalu at yahoo.com
>>> Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>>> Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2009, 11:32 PM
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Betty,
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Thanks for your response on the article
>>> mentioned below. Will go
>>> through it and perhaps respond on key issues raised, which
>>> ICT in Education has
>>> already done or planned. I hope it will minimize fears all
>>> of us have or may be
>>> persuaded to think all is totally misplaced and lost.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ?ICT Integration? is currently Ministry
>>> of Education focus, and
>>> steps already put in place are expected to make Kenya
>>> improve both teaching and
>>> learning environment, with better education ?products?
>>> across all levels.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Kind regards
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> B. K. Sang
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> From:
>>> kictanet-bounces+bksang=education.go.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke
>>> [mailto:kictanet-bounces+bksang <kictanet-bounces%2Bbksang>=
>>> education.go.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke]
>>> On
>>> Behalf Of Betty Ogange
>>>
>>> Sent: Wednesday, June 24, 2009 4:31 PM
>>>
>>> To: Barnabas K. Sang
>>>
>>> Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
>>>
>>> Subject: Re: [kictanet] One subject, varying quality
>>> - We lack an
>>> accreditation system for ICT courses
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hallo David,
>>> Last week there was furore in this forum
>>> about media
>>> misrepresentation of the Kenyan situation. The article
>>> that you make
>>> reference to in today?s Standard (24.06.09) may be
>>> accurate in the areas that
>>> you have highlighted. However, I wish to take issue with
>>> a few points raised
>>> in the article.
>>>
>> http://www.eastandard.net/education/InsidePage.php?id=1144017693&cid=316
>>
>>>
>>> ?Unlike other academic fields, very
>>> little has been done
>>> to train most teachers in ICT skills. Currently, no
>>> primary teacher training
>>> college offers comprehensive pre-service training in
>>> information technology.?
>>>
>>> Anyone with a modest interest in education in
>>> Kenya would not
>>> miss something as obvious as a subject in the national
>>> curriculum when reporting
>>> in a national daily. Prior to the year 2004, a few
>>> colleges had ICT skills
>>> courses for pre-service teachers based on in-house
>>> curricula that were
>>> independently developed by each college. The Primary
>>> Teacher Education (PTE)
>>> ICT curriculum developed by the Kenya Institute of
>>> Education has been in
>>> force since the year 2004 and ICT is taught as a
>>> compulsory subject in all
>>> primary teacher training colleges. It is examined
>>> internally at the end of
>>> the first year and all students must pass in the subject,
>>> among other
>>> subjects, in order to proceed to second year. There are
>>> several
>>> implementation hitches in this programme arising from the
>>> fact that ICT is
>>> being taught as a discrete subject in the curriculum and
>>> has yet to be
>>> mainstreamed in the other subjects in the PTE curriculum.
>>> The debate around
>>> ICT- pedagogy integration in education and how to
>>> operationalise it right
>>> from curriculum development to classroom level
>>> implementation continues in
>>> the education circles.
>>>
>>> ?In-service training is often
>>> provided by trainers who
>>> are just barely literate in
>>> computers?
>>>
>>> In my knowledge, this has happened especially
>>> in instances when
>>> some hardware providers ?dangle? teacher training as
>>> an additional offer to
>>> the institution. TTCs used to hire ICT technicians to
>>> teach the course, but
>>> in the last 2 years, the Teacher Service Commission has
>>> posted trained
>>> lecturers of ICT to a number of TTCs. There have also
>>> been some highly
>>> professional training offered to college lecturers by
>>> Microsoft (in
>>> conjunction with the Institute of Advanced Technology -
>>> IAT) and the Kenya
>>> Technical Teachers College. Computers for Schools Kenya
>>> and the Nepad
>>> e-schools teacher training programmes have also reached
>>> teachers in selected
>>> secondary schools. Lack of co-ordination (as with the
>>> rest of the ICT
>>> initiatives in Kenya ), lack of clear training targets
>>> and time-lines have
>>> compromised continuity and impact of some of these
>>> training programmes.
>>>
>>> ?The
>>> entire ICT education is in tatters?
>>> An interesting analogy there. But I see a
>>> sector that is struggling
>>> with what some scholars in educational reform have called
>>> an ?implementation
>>> dip? ? that for a number of reasons things normally
>>> tend to get worse before
>>> they can get better. There are lots of difficulties in
>>> implementing large
>>> scale ICT initiatives in the education sector world over.
>>> In our country,
>>> there have been positive efforts by the Ministry of
>>> Education, the KIE and a
>>> number of stakeholders in education, and these do count.
>>> On the other hand,
>>> there has been the tendency (by education leaders)
>>> towards elaborate policy
>>> documents, ?ICT networks? and trust funds whose
>>> mandates remain
>>> indeterminate. All these need to be researched and
>>> accurately presented.
>>>
>>> Accurate reporting by the media and objective
>>> analysis of both
>>> the positives and difficulties are important in helping
>>> the public target
>>> their attention and effort. Besides the inaccuracies, the
>>> use of expressions
>>> such as ?in tatters? ?the situation is bad?,
>>> ?alarmed professionals?
>>> ?obsolete hardware? to describe ICT in education in
>>> Kenya sounds to me fairly
>>> sensational.
>>>
>>> Betty
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --- On Wed, 6/24/09, David Otwoma
>>> <otwomad at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> From: David Otwoma <otwomad at gmail.com>
>>>
>>> Subject: [kictanet] One subject, varying quality - We
>>> lack an accreditation
>>> system for ICT courses
>>>
>>> To: ogange at yahoo.com
>>>
>>> Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions"
>>> <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
>>>
>>> Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2009, 9:32 AM
>>>
>>>
>>> .....universities
>>> offer many degrees but their quality and market demand
>>> differ......
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Although
>>> nearly all universities offer degrees, only the
>>> University of Nairobi, Jomo
>>> Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and
>>> Strathmore have
>>> Master?s programmes and only UON and Jkuat teach at
>>> doctoral level.
>>>
>>>
>>> There
>>> is a diminishing number of staff with PhDs in ICT
>>> departments. According to
>>> Prof Rodrigues, UoN has the highest number of full-time
>>> lecturers with PhDs
>>> in ICT that stands at eight of 18, while Jkuat has three
>>> of six, which is the
>>> same number for Strathmore.
>>>
>>>
>>> Kenyatta
>>> University has nine full-time but none of them have a PhD
>>> or an equivalent
>>> qualification, while none of the Kabarak?s eight
>>> lecturers have a PhD. Two of
>>> six of United States International University has
>>> doctoral degrees.
>>>
>>>
>>> Many
>>> lecturers have no experience as ICT professionals as
>>> engineers, software
>>> developers or in the emerging area of computer and
>>> network security.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> See
>>>
>> http://www.eastandard.net/education/InsidePage.php?id=1144017693&cid=316&
>>
>>
>>> for full story
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> David Otwoma,
>>>
>>> Chief Science Secretary,
>>>
>>> National Council for Science and Technology,
>>>
>>> Utalii House 9th Floor,
>>>
>>> Mobile tel: +254 722 141771,
>>>
>>> Office tel: +254 (0)20 2346915,
>>>
>>> P. O. Box 5687 - 00100, Nairobi, Kenya
>>>
>>> email: otwomad at gmail.com & otwoma at ncst.go.ke
>>>
>>> www.ncst.go.ke
>>>
>>>
>>>
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