Teachers will soon abandon chalk for projectors

Teachers will soon drop the chalk for projectors in a bid to make learning digital by 2019.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary General Wilson Sossion has revealed that Knut’s research department is working on modalities to ensure that all teachers, including those in Early Childhood Education Schools, are technology compliant and have a degree.

Mr Sossion cited Japan as a model country that has embraced technology in education, which has boosted the economy. He urged universities to join hands with the union to build a digital library, which will simplify and enhance learning.

The secretary general said chalk will soon be a thing of the past because it is ineffective compared to technology aided learning, which is cost effective.

“Countries like Japan and China have embraced technology in teaching and learning that’s why they have grown to economic giants,” he said.

Subsidised education

“Technology aided learning would cost less than what the government planned to spend on laptops,” Sossion said at Masinde Muliro University during the signing of a memorandum on learning between the union and the university.

The secretary general said Knut was strong and that is why it was attracting partners from all sectors like banks and universities, and urged teachers to take advantage of the subsidised education opportunities offered in institutions of higher learning to improve their quality of service.

“We cannot have quality education without quality training. Unlike before, teachers no longer run kiosks and butcheries to get an extra coin; we take loans from our banking partners and go to universities at attractive rates, that’s the way to go,” he said.

The university has an MoU with the union where Knut members and their dependents get a 15 per cent waiver on tuition fees.