Implementation of Digital Literacy Program in Public Primary Schools: a Case Study of Makueni County, Kenya

Abstract

The Government of Kenya, through The Kenya Vision 2030, has made deliberate efforts to transform the country into a middle-income, newly industrializing country providing a high quality of life in a secure and clean environment to all its citizens by 2030. This has been done through reforms and development across ten (10) main sectors, among them Science, Technology and Innovation. Governments keen to reap from the benefits of technology need an effective and efficient way to manage digital literacy programs in public primary schools. There is therefore a need to determine the key factors that lead to slow or lack of implementation of digital literacy programs, despite the existence of proper policies, frameworks and guidelines for the process. This study sought to investigate the slow implementation of the Digital Literacy Program (DLP) in public primary schools in Makueni County, Kenya. The study focused on three (3) tenets of the program: Infrastructure/Facilities; Choice of Digital Devices and Business Continuity Plans (BCP). Purposive sampling, targeting only respondents involved in, with knowledge of or affected by the Digital Literacy Program in the target area was used. The respondents included teachers, pupils, headteachers, Ministry of Education and ICT officials as well as County Government officials. Secondary data was collected from relevant literature, government policy documents and publications. Primary data was obtained through focused interviews and structured questionnaires. The study found that basic infrastructure and facilities, having the irreducible minimum of building standards, is an essential tool for effective learning. The choice of digital learning devices is equally important in digital learning. Business continuity plans play an important role in the implementation of digital literacy. Lack of training of relevant stakeholders, inadequate learning devices, power failures, resourcing issues (both human and financial), inadequate popularization of the DLP, mismatch of the existing Competency Based Curriculum and the DLP as well as lack of internet access were found to be of the key challenges hindering the implementation of the program. The insights gained from this research could be used by the national government to establish better strategies that would catapult Kenya towards being a digitally literate country, achieve Vision 2030, the Government Big Four Agenda as well as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals(SDG’s). To actualize digital literacy, the government should adopt strategies that ensure infrastructural facilities and digital devices chosen do have the bare minimum of requirements needed to function and operate. A business continuity framework, encompassing business policies, risk issues and improvement plans should be established to ensure the digital literacy program goes on uninterrupted. Key Words: Digital Literacy Program, Digital Devices, Infrastructural Facilities, Business Continuity Management