The development of the Citizen Digital Skills Program, one of the main pillars in Kenya’s National Digital Master Plan (2022-2032), is on track following the identification of five key ICT subjects.
In a meeting workshop held in Nairobi, stakeholders discussed five ICT curricula namely, Foundation, Basic, Intermediate, Advanced Digital Skills and Public Sector workforce Digital Skills.
The meeting, convened by the ICT Authority in collaboration with the British Council, UKAid, education institutions and development partners, brought together over 200 experts who sought to discuss the curricula and consolidate the feedback ahead of the official launch.
The final approved curricula will be used to train 20 million Kenyans by 2030 to bridge the country’s digital divide and boost the country’s digital economy.
Speaking at the workshop, Stanley Kamanguya, CEO, ICT Authority called for more partnerships and noted that the curriculum will help in preparing a labour force which is ready for the digital economy.
“We have called our colleagues in the academia, private sector and development partners together so that we can come up with a comprehensive curriculum that addresses the basic needs of digital skills. We have looked at the entire value chain of the education sector so that we have a digital skills curriculum for students in primary school all the way up to the colleges and universities.”
He added; “We cannot work on a digital economy but the labour force has no skills for the industry. We are working on two things: first, how we develop the curriculum for various people we want to train and the second is to agree on how we will implement the program between the educational institutions, government institutions and the other institutions using the available resources.”
On his part, Charles Juma, Digital Access Programme Manager and Adviser, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), UK Aid noted that they are committed to supporting the curriculum development for unified, standard programs that will make the program a success.
“We have frozen our initiatives on digital skills training to pave the way for the development of this curriculum. We anticipate that this development shall create a unique and professionally certified curriculum which shall be used by everyone,” he said.
Gladys Gatiba, Project Manager, Skills for Inclusive Digital Participation (SIDP) Project at the British Council noted that the workshop was timely and important to drive the conversation on digital skills which forms part of their focus areas in the partnership with the Kenya government.
“This workshop is timely and we shall be seeking to collaborate and drive the agenda of developing the digital skills curriculum which is important in the country’s digital economy agenda. As the British Council, we are committed to work together with all partners to make this happen,” she said.
The workshop was attended by other stakeholders from the Public and Private sector organizations, including the Academia, Non-government organizations (NGOs), ICT Certification bodies and the Donor communities.
The curriculum is focused on addressing digital skills gaps, employment and business opportunities and is intended to enhance Kenya Citizens competencies in effectively participating in the Digital Economy.
