One of the key promises of the Jubilee government was to issue laptops to Standard one students in Kenya. The project was however, shrouded by uncertainty culminating in a presidential directive leading to the creation of an inter-ministerial committee chaired by ICT ministry CS to champion the project now referred to as digital literacy programme (DLP). During the annual budget read in June 2015, the Government set aside Kshs. 17.58 billion for deployment of ICT learning devices to schools, development of digital content, building the capacity of teachers and rolling out computer laboratory for class 4 to class 8 in all schools throughout the country which set the project in motion.
In September, the government unveiled the Digital Literacy program brand known as Digi School. Digi School carries various components of the project including provision of devices for both the learners and the teachers as well as capacity development for the various players involved, content development as well as establishment of local assembly for digital devices and related accessories. Reports carried by sections of the media report that the Kenya ICT Authority is set to open tenders for the laptop project on Friday 8th January 2016.
The government plans to supply 294,981 laptops, 23,951 teacher digital devices will be supplied to schools by July this year. The next batch of devices will be delivered in September and November of this year. A total of 10 firms have been shortlisted for the tender. The government earlier asked interested public institutions with the capacity to create local assembly lines to apply for participation into the project. The companies will receive tax incentives for engaging in the projects. Already Moi, Kenyatta and Jomo Kenyatta Universities have expressed interest and subsequently working on creating assembly lines. University of Nairobi will act as the digital learning hub thus empowering digital research. Strathmore University through iLab Africa will provide technical knowledge on cloud computing for the project.
