Nomadic Children Education Project

ASAL schools have fallen to the bottom of the league in national statistics of academic performance since independence. This is because of neglect due to remoteness, terrorism, lack of educational resources and an acute shortage of teachers in physical schools. Gross enrolment rates (GER) stands at 99.9%, while in ASAL counties, it averages 39.2%.

CODE’s focus is to provide media rich, digital learning products to schools and home learners, delivering content and functionality for teachers and students through a range of online and offline products, apps and services. This project will synchronise these digital learning resources, local technologies and teacher support mechanisms to bring the best educational experiences to learners. This will eliminate the historical barriers and provide learners, their teachers and schools with convenient, accessible and interactive learning resources that will increase enrolment and retention rates, improve learning outcomes, and mainstream these communities back to the national economy. 

For many years, girls in Arid and Semi-Arid (ASAL) counties have always performed most poorly in the Kenya Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). Poor access to and low quality of education, lack of teachers and classroom materials are the main factors that have contributed to appalling enrollments and performance of girls in national exams. The impact of terrorism on education in this area has had the most significant impact, leading to an acute shortage of teachers and scaring girls out of  schools, leading to an enrolment of  15.1% compared to 71.2% for girls in other parts of the country.

CODE solution is to increase access through the provision of digital content to all learners, supported by a specialized team of teachers, learning support assistants and counselors. Our main focus is to provide media rich, interactive digital learning products to schools and home learners, delivering content and functionality for teachers and students through a range of online and offline delivery pathways. Respective teachers, many of whom are examiners with local examination boards, develop the teaching, learning and assessment resources. We then avail this content via apps, websites and digital libraries for download students, families and schools. This blended learning approach synchronises digital learning resources, local technologies and online/offline teacher support mechanisms to bring the best educational experiences to learners in nomadic communities. Local schoolteachers, online teachers and parents via dashboards closely monitor the learning process. Communication and discussion is facilitated via emails, text message, chat boxes and WhatsApp channels. The resources are accessible to schools, homes and community libraries. The access routes are mobile phones, tablets and laptop computers. Kenya mobile phone spread and subscription stands at 88%. This provides valuable tools to increase access to education. 

Educational indices of performance in the five counties reveal that the nomadic groups are at the bottom of the table in national statistics pertaining to enrolment rates, participation, classroom performance, gender balance, achievement and progression to the next levels of education. Limited access to education, poor quality of teaching and learning, shortage of teachers and inadequate classroom materials are the main factors that have contributed to the appalling enrollments and performance in national exams (Unicef, 2017). Educational institutions, their students and staff in ASALs have been affected both directly and indirectly by recent acts of violence, including terrorist attacks on schools. This has led to teachers from other regions of the country refusing to work in these areas because of safety fears.

The HSNP Baseline study of four arid counties found that 53% of 6-12-year-olds never attended primary school and 92% of 13-17-year-olds had never attended secondary school. The 2010 WFP school feeding study found that 21% of households in arid areas had no children enrolled in school. At the primary level, the national gross enrolment rates (GER) stands at 99.9%, while in ASAL counties, it averages 49.2%. At the secondary level, the national GER is 58.2% in stark contrast to ASALs, which averaged 14.8% (MoEST EMIS, 2014). Adult literacy rates in ASALs are considerable lower than the rest of Kenya (Nairobi had the highest at 87% while North Eastern recorded the lowest at 8%). Female literacy rates were below 10% in ASAL counties but as high as 90 percent in other parts of the country (NESP, 2014).

According to MoEST (2014), the pupil teacher ratio at primary school nationally was 42:1, while in in ASAL and hard-to-reach areas, it was as high as 70:1. UNESCO (2014) observes that of the 90 percent Dadaab Secondary school refugee teachers, only 2 percent are qualified. There is an acute shortage of full-time and part-time adult education teachers and overall human resources are not allocated to places where the needs are greatest. The textbook to pupil ratio is 1:6 in ASAL schools, while the figure is 1:3 in other parts of the country (Gakuu, 2012).

While national policy is relatively strong on disability, the Government has not invested sufficiently to empower these children. They are often marginalized, institutionalized and left behind if at school (Unicef, 2017). In summary, there is is a lack of adequate skilled and specialized staff for assessment, placement and management of children with disabilities and lack of enough in-service training institutions to capacity build teachers working with these children (IISTE, 2017).

Lastly, Children and women are also affected by violence related to inter-clan conflict, radicalization, terrorism, and political tensions. Most of the young people leaving secondary school are not finding secure jobs, yet feel unable to return to the rural areas. Instead, many are ‘hustling’ in towns (Unicef, 2017). A rising number of young people who have been to school have reportedly turned to drugs and crime, or joined Al-Shabaab and other insurgent groups.

Framework for Improved Integrated Education in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands of Kenya (DLCI, 2015) and Office of the Prime Minister (GoK, 2010) and others, make the following recommendations:

• Quality issue and lack of high-level teachers could be alleviated by combining with distance learning approaches. This would be also appropriate for scattered communities where mobile teachers could hold tutorials or camps.
• The overall approach of the DL strategy is fully integrated distance learning (DL) option (a full primary DL curriculum education, full integration with conventional schools to create equivalency and a flexible child centered DL) in a conventional school-based model of delivery of formal primary education to make the system of education provision more adaptive.
• Videos and internet-based content might be integrated. The intention was that the DL programme would work with the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development to develop a program adapted to DL delivery but based on the national curriculum and leading to the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE).
• Visiting tutors or mobile teachers: whenever possible and cost-effective, living with the community; will interface the DL program with a set of students, not necessarily all in one location, highlight challenges and receive feedback and support from the program local hub (e.g. based at the DL community radio station).
• The distance learning system and accompanying materials should be available to adults and children, and integrated where useful with existing boarding and mobile schools (MoEST, 2013).
• A plan should be elaborated through NACONEK to recruit, train and reward teachers for involvement in radio-based education in the unique conditions of the arid and pastoral areas.

In order to improve access to quality education in the target region, CODE will be guided by the following objectives;

Objective 1:

Bridge the knowledge gaps by providing approved and interactive online/offline digital educational resources to under-resourced nomadic learners, second chance informal students, continuing adult learners and 844/CBC transition left-behind learners:

• Provide quality teaching, learning and assessment digital tools to students, parents, schools to help close student learning gaps and improve their performance in National Examinations,
• Providing equitable and inclusive access to digital learning resources,
• Facilitate education provision for all by availing comprehensive resources for second-chance informal students and adult learners,
• Develop teaching, learning and assessment resources for 844/CBC transition left-behind learners in Standard 5, 6, 7 and 8.

Objective 2:

Use blended learning approach to synchronise digital learning resources, local technologies and teacher support mechanisms to bring the best educational experiences to learners in nomadic communities:

• Avail apps, websites and digital libraries that are supported by and work with local mobile devices that are accessible and affordable by students, families and schools,
• Support informal and returning students with supplementary online learning resources, coaching and mentorship they need to complete their schooling program,

• Improve teachers digital competencies through training and Continuous Professional Development (CPDs),
• Equip parents who often have to “facilitate” the learning of their children at home when schools close.

Objective 3:

Mitigate the impact of Covid-19 instigated school closures and the perennial teacher shortages by providing well-resourced human and material interfaces and engagement points for teachers and students in order to keep meaningful and progressive learning alive,

• Provide accessible resources for learners to support home schooling,
•  Mitigate the impact of teacher shortages by enabling team teaching initiatives through a collaboration between online tutors and physical classroom teachers,
• Ensure children and youth remain academically engaged during Covid-19 closures and facilitate a smooth return and continuation when schools reopen,
• Address children’s questions and concerns about Covid-19, through the development of child-friendly online materials such as posters, which can be displayed on online notice boards.

Objective 4:

Offer Guidance and Counselling services to support learning community’s well-being, reduce anxieties and address long-term physical, psychological, social and emotional needs in this challenging environment,

·       Checking-in with students, prioritizing Mental Health and Well-being during Coronavirus (COVID-19) school closures

• Reaching out to teachers who are working in a stressful transition, dealing with the sudden switch to virtual education, and facing a bevy of other concerns,
• Being there for parents, making sure they understand that they need to take care of themselves, physically and mentally as they take more active role in their children learning,
• Offer remote counselling and psychological support for refugee and immigrant children, their parents or guardians, over the phone or on line;

Objective 5:

To provide Specialized Personnel, Specialized Resources and Instructional Support services for assessing, monitoring and modifying the tools needed to support the provision of Quality Education to learners with Special Needs (SEN) in nomadic schools.

• To provide assessment resources and screening tools to teachers to identify and support learners with special needs,
• To modify learning tools to mitigate the barriers that identified learners may have,
• To support classroom teachers in creation and use of modified tools and differentiated resources for learners with special needs,
• To support parents who are the ‘other teacher’ for children with special needs.

The challenge in this region is a poor academic performance due to limited access to quality educational tools, resources and services. The solution is the provision of accessible quality educational resources that are not limited by remoteness, long distances to school, insecurity or terrorism. The resources are compatible with local technologies and are facilitated by asynchronous collaboration of online and physical classroom teachers to bring out the best possible achievements in all learners in inclusive classrooms and schools. This will provide the resources, mitigate the problem of teacher shortages, increase enrolments, retention and school completion rates for nomadic children.

This is a one- year project aimed at improving both access and quality of the Teaching, Learning and Assessment processes in 20 pilot primary, secondary schools and community libraries in the 10 under- resourced Northern Frontier Counties of Kenya (Wajir, Turkana, Mandera, Isiolo, Marsabit, Lamu, Tana River, Garissa, Samburu & West Pokot) through Digital Learning Program supported by online and physical classroom teachers. This is an initiative between a government agency, Online Tutors and Centre for Online and Digital Education. Each school has an average of 500 students. The pilot targets to serve over 10,000 learners in physical school, home schooling, mobile schools and community libraries. 

The presence of Al Shabaab terror groups have forced teachers to flee and created a fortress. A large number of youth who have been through the education system are now disconnected from national economic structures as they do not have the right skills to find employment, leaving them vulnerable to crime and extremist influence.

Teachers won’t accept postings here. Education materials are in scarce supply. The only option left is an innovative approach like ours- delivering quality education from a distance in collaboration with the few classroom teachers. This innovative Blended learning combines face-to-face methods with computer-mediated activities to form an integrated instructional approach. Classroom teachers, online teachers and learning support assistants support the interface via MS Teams, Zoom, emails, SMSs, WhatsApp and voice conversations. This learning is accessible via mobile phones, tablets, PDA’s and laptop computers. The rapid expansion of mobile Internet services is already contributing to the region’s economic and social development such as financial inclusion (mobile banking), health (mobile health) and farmers’ productivity. This innovation taps into what communities have mainstreamed-the mobile devices and services that are driving social economic transformations across the country. The initial project in 2020 had three schools with nearly 2000 learners and 220 teachers. This new initiative brings in 20 more schools, 12000 students and 1000 teachers. A larger impact will be felt once the project is eventually rolled over to 300 schools in the five counties of this project. 

Current:

Since the start of this project in May 2020, two schools have been utilising these programs. They are Wajir boys (812 students) and Isiolo girls (476 girls). In addition, 65 teachers in these two schools have been served. Outside this specific project, 350 independent users (second chance students and adult learners have been enrolled.

One year:

Since April, 2021, we have enrolled and additional 20 schools. These are five boys and five girls secondary schools that were identified by the National council for Nomadic Education (NACONEK) and the county educational directors in the five counties of Garissa, Isiolo, Marsabit, Tana River and Wajir. On average, each school has 500 students and 30 teachers. This presents 5000 new students and 300 teachers, in addition to over 1000 second chance students and adult learners served by community libraries and mobile schools that serve migrating families.

Next 5 years:

There are 1011 primary and 128 secondary schools in the five counties that have been assigned to us by the NGO Coordination Board. In the next five year, CODE/NACONEK will roll out the project to 200 primary and 50 secondary schools. This will increase the registry to 100,000 primary and 25,000 secondary schools and a proportionate increase in second chance students and adult learners. We expect to collaborate and provide pedagogical classroom tools to over 6000 teachers.

Goal 1 Indicators

Output indicators typically involve measurement of pupil learning outcomes based on subject knowledge, competencies and pupil attainments in formative and summative assessments and their performance in national examinations. This sources of verification is school progress and attainment records and national examination league tables.

Goal 2 Indicators

The impact of this goal is measured through analysis of the annual national Gross Enrolment rates (GER), which are published and shared with all county educational offices and schools. Further indicators are school enrolment records and adult education data and Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC). In addition, CODE, schools, NACONEK maintain registration and usage records that are kept on the software dashboards.

Goal 3 Indicators

Increased enrolment of learners with SEN, assessment and placement plans in schools, curriculum modification records. Measures include dashboard records, surveys, classroom observations and school inclusion and student welfare records.

Goal 4 Indicators

Improved classroom skills and reduced pressure on teachers. This will be indicated by student performance in tests, assessments and examinations. Surveys, learner satisfaction, school data and national examination reports.

To cut admistrative costs, CODE has been relying on part-time staff and volunteers who have been supporting it initiatives

Part-time staff

• Rogram coordinator - 1
• Program technical administrator – 1
• Animator – 1

Volunteers

Online tutors – 14

Curriculum designers-4

SEN coordinators -2

Guidance and counselling personnel -2

We are a team of practicing teachers who intitailly teamed up as Online Tutors group in 2017 before re-applying and registering as Centre for Online and Digital Education to serve the educational needs of Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). The core team is backed up by a volunteer team of experienced and qualified educators who have been carefully selected from all parts of the country. Most of these educators have teaching experiences exceeding 20 years, and bring in rich classroom experiences as some of them have been working in ASAL schools before they were forced out by terrorists who attacked their schools. A number of these teachers are also examiners with the Kenya National Examinations Counci (KNEC) and are responsible for the development of content for various subjects and levels in primary and secondary school curriculum. They are therefore capable of delivering a unique product, competently innovated and with the capacity to add maximum value to learning institutions. The team lead is a teacher of Physics, Chemistry with a teaching experience of 25 years. The teachers work independently and answer to a select team of senior staff. This same pool also doubles as the online tutors who work with physical classroom teachers to support learners in remote learning arrangements. The systems he has taught include KCSE, EDEXCEL, IGCSE, GCE, and IB. To conceptualize their ideas, the team engaged the services of web designers, software developers, artists, graphic designers to support the digitization and distribution process. 

Diversity: CODE strives to be a safe community for all students, teachers, specialized personnel curriculum developers and ICT staff regardless of race and skin color, origin and ancestry, religion, disabilities, gender (including gender identity and expression), and sexual orientation. We understand that creating a diverse and accepting community also means working to educate ourselves and one another, address bias, and apply critical analysis to our curriculum and materials. Members of our community have learnt to use inclusive language, challenge discrimination and stereotypes, and advocate for positive change.

Inclusion:We examine and revise our curriculum materials and teaching practices as necessary to ensure that we are effective in reaching every student. We train our classroom counterparts to recognize and to understand the range of needs and learning styles among our students, and to hone their skills in building and sustaining an inclusive classroom.

Equity:We design and implement programs and practices that provide equal access and enable all students to thrive academically, athletically, socially, and emotionally.

CODE wishes to apply to solve to help support a noble initiative. This membership will enable us to deliver our goal of quality education for nomadic boys and girls. Our hope is to be selected to collaborate with a team that values every child. We hope to access the resources we need and to be part of a network of impacted leaders from across different industries and sectors to learn from and share our own experiences with them. Being an ICT based non-governmental organization, we believe that a collaboration of this nature will facilitate our access to relevant in-kind resources in this field that will transform education in African by providing alternatives to traditional methods, which have failed to provide inclusive, and accessible education to all, regardless of geographical location, religion or tribe.

The area in which we need advice, mentorship, and partners to support our work in technology (e.g. software or hardware, web development/design, data analysis, etc.). The needs analysis points to a yawning gap in the provision of inclusive education in its traditional form. Considering the numerous barriers to school enrolment and effective schooling and the complex variety of target groups and communities, with their singular circumstances and educational needs, the challenge of providing universal access to quality and functional basic education is very daunting for Sub-Saharan Africa. It requires enormous resources no doubt; but most importantly, it demands innovation and sustained relationship building with like-minded partners.COVID-19 school closures have widened already existing educational, socio-economic and gender inequalities. Along with poor access to distance learning resources, the continent's children have been hard hit. Digital technology could level the playing field, but huge public-private sector investment is needed. The size of the student population in aris and Semi-Arid Lands requires collaborative efforts to reach and provide the much-needed educational resources to keep their hopes alive. CODE also hopes this partnership and collaboration will provide shared data gathering and analysis tools to guide the intervention.

The future of education is deeply linked with the development of new artificial intelligence technologies and computing. CODE would wish to partner with MIT faculty that specializes in ICTs and infrastructural designs for schools. We are keen to collaborate in this field since our project is ICT based and still at the development level. We are exploring Artificial Intelligence as a way to facilitate learning, especially for learners with special needs and those without teachers in physical classrooms.

We guess that MIT faculty has made strides in the field of AI and we would like to partner with them in any way they may choose.

When the program grows and is replicated in the many schools in ASALs, it will be difficult for the few online teachers to support classroom teachers, students and informal learning over such a wide area. This partnership will help us and our unskilled classroom teachers to detect students with learning disabilities and address them at an early stage. It will also help us to monitor student progress in real-time, providing more personalised learning and improve student-teacher interactions. This transformative tool will help us to change the face of education and curriculum in Africa, a place characterized by insecurity, insufficient classroom resources, lack of SEN personnel.

We would wish to be considered for The ASA Prize for Equitable Education. Though we are not in US, our goals are tied. Though we do not run project-based curriculum in Kenya, CODE and Online Tutors team are experimenting and piloting blended learning to support learners who have lived with education exclusions since independence in 1963. This intervention is aimed to bring accessible, inspiring, engaging, fulfilling and inclusive learning experiences and tools to marginalized children, using asynchrony of local and emerging technologies, supported by caring teachers and other specialized personnel. This teacher collaboration facilitates sharing of best practices and is a vital arrangement for professional development.

Many school children across Africa received no education after several governments shut down schools as part of the strategy to quell the spread of the Covid-19 virus. Parents, especially in remote and rural areas, looked on as nothing could be done about their children’s education. No instruction, feedback or interaction with their teachers took place. Even in cases where this happened, fewer topics and less content was transmitted through distance learning modules either facilitated by the television or radio.

As pioneers of technology and education, we wish to partner with ASA prize to establish mentorship lines and replicate some of their successful learning experiments in nomadic Kenya, a place where we are their only hope back to education. 

Centre for Online and Digital Education is a Non-Governmental Organization focused on closing gaps in education for hardest to reach students in marginalized nomadic communities of Northern Kenya. The organization supports students, teachers and schools in the five under-resourced northern frontier counties of Kenya (Wajir, Isiolo, Marsabit, Lamu, Tana River and Garissa) through a blended Learning Programme. The causes of this educational marginalization have been attributed to poverty, long distances to school, scarcity of learning resources, outdated cultural practices, effects of Covid-19, cattle rustling, insecurity and terrorism.

Dadaab Refugee camp is located in the semi-arid town of Garissa county and is one of the largest refugee camps in the world. UNESCO (2014) observes that of the 90 percent of Dadaab Secondary school refugee teachers, only 2 percent are qualified. There is an acute shortage of full-time and part-time adult education teachers and overall human resources are not allocated to places where the needs are greatest. The textbook to pupil ratio is 1:6 in ASAL schools, while the figure is 1:3 in other parts of the country (Gakuu, 2012).  

CODE , in collaboration with the National  Council for Nomadic Education (NACONEK) to provide access to education for all learners in ASALs, including those in the refugee camps.  The education opportunity will provide these communities with opportunities for school progression, which ultimately will equip them with skills need for self-reliance and facilitate their integration in the mainstream economic structure of their societies. 

Centre for Online and Digital Education (CODE) wishes to apply for the GM Prize. We are a non-profit organization that develops and supplies digital education materials for marginalized nomadic children in Kenya. The counties we serve include Garissa, Isiolo, Marsabit, Tana River and Wajir. Educational indices of performance in the five counties reveal that the nomadic groups are at the bottom of the table in national statistics pertaining to enrolment rates, participation, classroom performance, gender balance, achievement, and progression to the next levels of education. Limited access to education, poor quality of teaching and learning, shortage of teachers and inadequate classroom materials, insecurity and sporadic terrorist activities are the main factors that have contributed to the appalling enrollments and performance in national exams (Unicef, 2017). Garissa is home to the largest refugee camp in the world, Dadaab. UNESCO (2014) observes that of the 90 percent of Dadaab Secondary school refugee teachers, only 2 percent are qualified, yet secondary education requires highly qualified teachers.

Through a blended education plan, our aim is to offer transformative educational opportunities to boys and girls with limited chances in life. Our main emphasis has been to support science (STEM) education.  Blended learning combines face-to-face methods with computer-mediated activities to form an integrated instructional approach. Classroom teachers, online teachers and learning support assistants support the interface via emails, SMSs, WhatsApp and voice conversations. With this funding, we will provide quality blended STEM subjects learning opportunities to these refugees and other marginalized children in ASALs schools.

Centre for Online and Digital Education (CODE), a nonprofit organization, wishes to be considered for the Innovation for Women Prize. Since May 2020 when Covid-19 spread disrupted the education system, we have been providing access to education to 500 girls in Isiolo county in Kenya’s Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). In 2021, we increased this number to 6000, by incorporating ten more of the most disadvantaged girl's schools from the five counties of ASALs. We focus on involving all girls in education, including those with disabilities, those living in migrating pastoral communities, and those in informal (home) schooling arrangements.

Through a blended education plan, our aim is to offer transformative educational opportunities to boys and girls with limited chances in life. Blended learning combines face-to-face methods with computer-mediated activities to form an integrated instructional approach. Classroom teachers, online teachers and learning support assistants support the interface via emails, SMSs, WhatsApp and voice conversations. Digital Learning Platforms (DLPs), the Digital Libraries and the offline-based learning apps are the virtual interfaces that power this initiative.

The success of this project will be realized if we can provide offline learning infrastructure as an alternative to the online option. If we win the award, we will invest it in the purchase of solar-powered tablets, which can hold more data and can be used on a rotational basis. With 20 such tablets, each school and community library can power learning for 100 girls. This will change the face of education in ASALs.

Centre for Online and Digital Education (CODE) is a nonprofit making organization that is spearheading change in education outcomes for nomadic children in Kenya using digital technology. CODE’s main products are web-based and offline platforms where we provide high-quality educational content (animated videos, infographics, texts, quizzes, podcasts and assessment generators).

Currently, we are working with 10,000 learners in 23 selected schools in five counties in the remote areas of Garissa, Isiolo, Marsabit, Tana River and Wajir. This area is prone to insecurity, terrorism and religious intolerance. As a result, teachers have fled, leaving the children in the hands of the few “religiously correct” local teachers. A combination of this and the Covid-19 school disruptions means that no instruction, feedback or interaction with their teachers takes place.

With such a large number of children, technology alone won’t make the much-desired impact. Our hope is to partner with like-minded entities like yours to explore the possibility of embedding Artificial Intelligence to drive change in this region. This will help teachers to detect students with learning disabilities and address them at an early stage. It will also help us provide personalized learning to each student. With this support, teachers will monitor and analyze students' progress in real-time using AI tools, and support this great diversity. We would therefore use the AI for Humanity Prize to invest earnestly in AI technology in all our online teaching infrastructure to provide education to the most marginalised children.