One of the key things Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s outgoing president will be remembered for is his approval of the Coding Curriculum for the country as he leaves office in August 2022.
Kenya is a country to be reckoned with in the region in terms of technological innovation and has long been dubbed as Africa’s ‘Silicon Savannah.’
The ICT sector has seen heavy investment by the Government of Kenya and has been acknowledged as a crucial contributor to the country’s GDP. Coding can be simply defined as the development of computer programs, website, mobile applications. etcetera using a language that computers can understand.
Last month Uhuru Kenyatta while at State House in Nairobi, announced the introduction of coding as a subject to the primary and secondary school curricula.
“I applaud the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development for leading our nation to this landmark achievement, by implementing coding as a critical skill within our new Competency Based Curriculum,” President Kenyatta said at the event.
Similarly, the President, commissioned the National Cybersecurity Strategy 2022 which plays a key role in providing strategic interventions to counter national cybersecurity challenges in Kenya. Also, Kenya’s National Digital Master Plan with a tenure till 2032 was inaugurated. The President expressed contentment over the considerable strides his administration had made in the digitization and applying ICT across any aspects of public life.
Kenya continues to hold its forte as one of the dominant players for digital innovation in Africa and coding as a subject shows the nation’s ambition to redefine education. This is a move that will pay digital dividends in the near future. This year alone, Visa, Microsoft and Google opened their first development centers in Nairobi, the country’s capital due to the country’s conducive innovation environment.
More than 1.2 million laptops for learners in schools have been distributed and an additional 22,000 schools have been connected to electricity, with a plan to extend power to all schools.
The Syllabus will be offered by Kodris Africa, a digital publishing company specializing in training learners with 21st-century skills after gaining approval from the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development.
The curriculum features a simple easy-to-use interface that any schoolteacher can use to teach covering both the primary and secondary school groups. This makes Kenya the first East African country to officially approve coding as an examinable subject in public schools.
