๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ฎ๐ง๐ข๐ฏ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐ฌ๐ญ๐ฎ๐๐๐ง๐ญ๐ฌ ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐ฆ ๐๐ก๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐๐๐-๐๐ข๐ ๐ข๐ญ๐๐ฅ ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง๐ฌ ๐ฌ๐๐ก๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ฌ๐ก๐ข๐ฉ
Seventy female university students from Nakuru are benefiting from a Sh10 million World Bank scholarship programme that is geared towards equipping them with technical skills to promote digital innovations.
The World Bank scholarship programme is being funded through the Ministry of Trade and Investmentโs Kenya Industry and Entrepreneurship ProjectโStrengthening Kenyan Innovation Ecosystem (KIEP-SKIES), which aims to build the capacity of young incubators and Technology boot camp providers as well as subsidising tuition costs for female students to ensure rapid technological advancement in Africa.
Rift Valley Institute of Business Studies (RVIBS) Head of ICT, Mr. Patrick Mwai, says the scholarship program targets students pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects who are being empowered to innovate and enjoy a hands-on approach to teaching and learning.
Mwai said the programme has established a special classroom space at the Rift Valley Institute of Business Studies (RVIBS), which is fitted with equipment that enables the students drawn from both public and private universities to carry out activities such as coding, 3D printing, laser cutting, soldering, electronics, robot building, or robotics.
He said the 70 female students are being equipped with other skills, including digital marketing, cyber security, and web design, among others.
The ICT head further explained that the special classroom was using robots and computers to teach STEM lessons where they integrate the lessons with Information Communication Technology (ICT).
The learners, he added, are also being enabled to carry out creative coding, physical computing, and incubation of viable STEM ideas, in addition to the students being enabled to share resources and knowledge, work on projects, and network.
โThis is a space targeted for female students with a maker mindset where they can come together and create something out of nothing and explore their own interests,โ stated the Head of ICT.
Tutors at the special classroom say the teaching module has not only made learning easy but also full of fun where the robots are assembled using tiny pieces of plastic consisting of either studs or holes and other standardised components to fit into each other to form one functional unit.
Mwai said the use of robots makes young learners work in logical and effective ways that foster scientific reasoning and critical thinking, which may not be guaranteed in theoretical learning.
He indicated that the learners also engage in โrobotic challengeโ which entails assembling and programming, which requires a lot of creativity and learning.
As Kenya rushes to establish its own version of the Silicon Valley and industrial parks, Mwai said there was a need to develop the right manpower to drive the vision, including the youthful innovators.
