Using Ict To Improve Access To Educational Resources By Marginalized Communities: A Kenyan Experience
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Date
2020Author
Lewis, David Nthiga
Type
ThesisLanguage
enMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Educational provision is a critical ingredient necessary for the development of any nation.
Many of the secondary school graduates in Kenya are not guaranteed placement within the
available university slots in the country. The vocational and technical colleges in Kenya
could support such students The technical colleges are not enough to absorb all the students
ready to join technical colleges do not offer enough (Chege & Kariuki, 2016).
Students living among the marginalized communities in Kenya continue to experience
limited access to current and relevant educational resources (TVETA Strategic Plan, 2018).
Limited access to educational resources denies the youth the necessary hands-on skills
required to secure employment in the ever-changing labor market (Miriti et al., 2014).
This study aims to develop an enhanced educational resources access model for the
marginalized communities. The study objectives were to determine factors limiting access to
educational resources, identify suitable educational resources access solutions and develop an
ICT enhanced educational resources access framework for the marginalized communities.
The study was carried out in selected technical and vocational colleges in marginalized zone
in Kenya employing descriptive survey for the research design. The study collected data from
college managers, ICT lecturers, and ICT support staff. Data analysis process generated
frequencies, percentages, and means.
The study finding showed that financial-related factors greatly affected educational access
followed closely by physical factors. The study finding indicated that suitable educational
resources access solutions included appropriate and relevant content, improved access
opportunities and quality reviews.
The study findings supported multi-mode delivery channels, innovativeness and flexibility as
suitable access solutions. The developed models significantly reduced the physical,
technological, financial and human access challenges when access to educational resources
challenges was moderated with PRIMER Enablers.
The research presents the necessary apparatus required to improve access to educational
resources within the marginalized zones in Kenya. The research highlights the need to
improve the state of technical colleges within the rural areas in Kenya which would enable
more students to enroll in technical colleges. Through the use of ICT in education technical
colleges can offer a stimulating learning experience to the students which could improve the
negative perception these colleges have experienced over the years.
The study was undertaken in Tharaka Nithi county one of the 14 marginalized counties in
Kenya, hence needs for further research focusing on many more marginalized or rural zones.
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The study duration of two months could not allow the detection of all technical, cultural, and
social factors in education. The study could not employ an online questionnaire due to low
internet connection in some areas of Tharaka Nithi County.
The study concluded that finance-related factors heavily affected educational access in the
marginalized communities. Other challenges affecting educational access for the
marginalized communities were technology-related factors. ICT modeling and policy
solutions were identified as the most suitable solutions to enhance educational resource
access. In the development of the ICT educational model, the PRIMER enablers could make
it possible to address the physical, technological, financial and human resource challenges. In
verifying the model, the study concluded that ICT infrastructure including virtualization, thin
clients, web servers and content management accounted for the effects of the PRIMER
enablers leading to enhanced access to educational resources by the marginalized
communities.
The government needs to provide financial capital required to mitigate the funding challenges
facing the technical colleges. The government should support initiatives geared toward
setting up physical infrastructure. The training of technical college teachers should be a
priority. The county office should promote ICT related policies in schools. The private sector
involvement through the development of ICT based solutions that would promote educational
access in the marginalized areas is important.
Keywords
ICT, Educational Resources, Marginalized Communities.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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