Nokia partnered the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) to provide pupils from disadvantaged areas with equal access to digital literacy in Kenya. This partnership is a typical example of using technology in furthering inclusive education for children. Healthy and disabled students, including girls; will be able to use the “Accessible Digital Textbook” to learn digital skills. The partnership was announced at the 2019 Nairobi Innovation Week.
UNICEF has been working with the government of Kenya to empower disadvantaged children with access to quality education. They are present in 190 countries and focus on transforming the lives of the most vulnerable and excluded children in society.
This latest development in Kenya hinges on the government’s provision of 1 million tablets in primary schools under the Digital Literacy Project. The partnership aims to improve the use of quality digital content and to bring together teachers, mobile network operators, content providers and students to provide solutions to the challenges of digital literacy.
See also: Call for Application: Nokia Open Innovation Challenge, NOIC 2019
Nokia is a mobile, software and hardware device producer whose combined network portfolio supports 6.1 billion subscriptions around the globe. They are committed to using their technologies to meet the global sustainable development goals.
”Access Digital Textbook” comes with special features for physically challenged children. It was produced by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development’s (KICD) expert disability stakeholders who produced audio for the visually impaired, Kenya Sign Language video for hearing impaired, and simplified text for children with intellectual disabilities.
According to Dr. Julius Jwan, CEO of KICD, this is the first accessible digital textbook for children in Grade 1 which provides digital content for the disabled. Some of the Access Digital Textbooks have been piloted in schools during the first quarter of 2019, the rest will be launched by the government of Kenya. The government will provide more digital learning materials to schools in Nairobi, Garissa, and Turkana by connecting them to the internet via Nokia’s latest technology.