[kictanet] Day 3 of 10: How to Develop Skilled Human Capital

Sat Jun 25 09:46:22 EAT 2016

Coming late into this one. Human Capital : my 2 cents. 

1: Technology changes at an astounding rate, this means playing as we have in matters education, by the time a curriculum is developed, materials prepared, teachers taught and schools prepared, the technology to be taught is obsolete. (I learnt PASCAL in Engineering school when CNC was obsolete)

2: Most computer concepts can be taught at Kindergarten. I am supporting a school with kids as young as Kg2 starting to learn about computers, playing with tux** games and having a feel of the environment around computers. With the proliferation of mobile phones and tablets as gaming devices, maybe we need to rethink how to introduce structure to the learning process, and not to rigidly set the content. 

3: I feel like we seem to be emphasizing on a certain subset of IT when learning / teaching kids, maybe we need to develop a platform agnostic approach. A few years ago introduction to computers had the basic parts of a computer that honestly, are hard to use today in an era of monitor / cpu fused into one. With touch devices, Input / output devices are one. 

4: The challenge is two faceted. There needs to be an upgrade program both on the teaching front, and on the learning front. It may take a continuous learning process akin to the CPD in medical industry, meaning certifications for computer teachers might have to be on a quarterly (or annual) basis. Because what was taught last year cant be what would be taught next year. 

I would love for us to draw lessons from France Vs Englad re: the Industrial revolution. One was top down, the other was opened up environment for exploration and experimentation, we all know what happened. 

Regards, 

Apologies if my thoughts are jumbled up.

From: kictanet <kictanet-bounces+arebacollins=gmail.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke> on behalf of Josiah Mugambi via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Reply-To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Date: Friday, 24 June 2016 2:00 pm
To: Collins Areba <arebacollins at gmail.com>
Cc: Josiah Mugambi <josiah.mugambi at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 3 of 10: How to Develop Skilled Human Capital

1) let's start very early. Not just teaching how to use technology but how to develop new technology. High school at the very minimum. The approach matters too: passing ICT exams doesn't necessarily mean top tier software. Design thinking, critical thinking, right work ethic all matter. 

2) Internships, apprenticeships. Formal learning only goes so far. Folks need experience. Many people I know doing pretty well in ICT started out as internships, grew and learnt new things, took on more responsibilities over time. 

On Jun 24, 2016 13:04, "Walubengo J via kictanet" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

True Barrack.

Just what I have alluded to in response to @Wangari contribution.  The so called TIVET institutions seem to have missed the ICT train in the national discourse.

walu.

From: Barrack Otieno <otieno.barrack at gmail.com>
To: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>; John Walubengo <jwalu at yahoo.com> 
Sent: Friday, June 24, 2016 12:54 PM
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 3 of 10: How to Develop Skilled Human Capital

Hi Walu,

I think we need to strengthen village polytechnics, we also need to invest in them with the right personell and equipment in this case computer labs to empower citizens at village level. Currently education facilities are centred around towns and major cities.

Regards

On Jun 24, 2016 12:27 PM, "Walubengo J via kictanet" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

True that.

We need to more innovation /incubation hubs. Better still if spread across the country rather than concentrated on Nairobi Ngong road.

Additionally, we need more interactions with Universities to raise these innovation spaces to the next level - in terms of radical or patent level innovations.  From where I stand as a mwalimu, I still do not feel the University contributions in this spaces as yet.

I wonder what can be done...

walu.

From: Ahmed Mohamed Maawy <ultimateprogramer at gmail.com>
To: Walubengo J <jwalu at yahoo.com>; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> 
Sent: Friday, June 24, 2016 8:30 AM
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Day 3 of 10: How to Develop Skilled Human Capital

This is a personally passionate topic to me especially with SwahiliBox in Mombasa.

Basically there should be endorsement and support to setups like SwahiliBox - which are hubs and innovation spaces - finding ways to make it easier to not only train, but also certify and expose individuals. Policies should make it easier for such organizations to equip themselves, to get access to government incentives and support. Especially in an Internet enabled global marketplace.

These hubs are also strategic opportunity building venues, they create opportunity spaces for individuals whom they skill and who get exposure to the programs they offer. Recently, for instance, a program SwahiliBox did known as the CodeChallange has skilled more than 10 individuals on real life app development scenarios. The next stage is developing opportunity spaces for the individuals and of course through that also for the hub.

This is only just the tip of the ice-berg. Because in the current setup a lot of individuals get exposure through hubs and hubs that are setup in learning institutions.

On Fri, Jun 24, 2016 at 8:18 AM, Walubengo J via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:

Listers,

Plse feel free to contribute on previous threads as long as you pick the corresponding title.  Also remember, for those wishing to directly edit the Draft ICT policy, visit Jadili platform, register and post.

So onto todays theme:

How to Develop Skilled Human Capital 

*ICT integration in primary, secondary, tertiary levels,

*Specialized Skills (Software /Engineering)

*Research & Development Capacity

*eLiteracy for citizens/public 

The Background:

The Digital Literacy Program aka the Laptop project is ongoing and we probably have  to wait another 18-20yrs years to  see its impact (when today’s std 1s hit the market).  But meanwhile, we need skilled human capital to help move us from a net consumer of electronic goods and services into a net producer of the same.

Our R&D output in general is quite low (Global Innovation Index 2015) despite the fact that we are leader at a regional level.  What should the Policy capture  to ensure Kenya churns out a constant supply of  highly skilled manpower necessary to drive the digital society.

Send in your ideas, comments, strategies, etc. 

1Day as usual for the topic.

walu.

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