An announcement was made by The World Bank that $2 Million (Sh160M) grant will be given to the Government to speed up integration of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into education system. The Ministry of Information and Communication's national agency will manage the grant and the ICT Board will support students in universities and colleges acquire laptops at a subsidised rate. Under the programme, students will be eligible for between 15% and 33% price rebate on the purchase of laptops from select retailers. With laptops, students will be able to access the Internet, which is available on campus and off-campus from service providers.
ICT Board Chief Executive Officer Paul Kukubo, explained that there will be use of local telecommunication companies such as Airtel Kemya, Telkom Kenya, Essar and Safaricom to avail the machines to students. He added that around 15,000 laptops will be available for rebate purchase under this scheme, five percent of which would be reserved for physically challenged students. The ongoing programme, through the Kenya ICT Board and the Kenya Education network (KENET) provides subsidised Internet access across all universities and colleges in the country. The programme allows a student to first of all shop for a computer, then key in his or her details in a Wezesha portal to be verified by college administration and the ICT Board.
