Mombasa school gets global recognition for embracing digital technology

A school in Mombasa has received international recognition for making Kenya the first country in Africa to use digital technology in teaching a government youth development programme.

Oshwal Academy was praised for embracing an online record book that has eased the delivery of training programmes offered by the President’s Award Kenya, an informal training tool that builds youth character and improves their employability in the job market.

The President’s Award Kenya Executive Director Nellie Munala said Oshwal School was able to get all the students doing the programme to sign on the digital platform since the organisation moved into it, three years ago.

“We are celebrating Oshwal Academy. They have incorporated the award programme using the digital platform.

“Previously, the training programme was done manually,” said Ms Munala during the award ceremony at Bamburi Beach Hotel on Friday.

She added that the school’s initiative has also gone in line with the organization’s plan to move the training programme online.

The programme, which is a member of the Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Association, was launched in Kenya in 1966 by President Jomo Kenyatta.

It was one of the practices started to speed up socio-economic growth at the time Kenya was in its early stages of development after independence.

Young people from the age of 14 to 24 in schools, colleges and universities as well as special groups, young people in correctional centres and prisons, are taken through voluntary activities that boost their personal growth and employment skills.

They are taught skills in communication, leadership, public speaking, teamwork, crisis management, timekeeping, problem solving, endurance, civic responsibility, and community service through fieldwork during after school hours.

“The international award programme incorporates 140 countries and Kenya is the first country in Africa that has been able to get all its participants at a level where they can do the programme digitally” she added.

THREE CATEGORIES

There are three categories in which youth can opt to train, each according to the age of the participants and time taken for the training.

Training for bronze certification takes six months and is for 14 year olds, silver takes 12 months and is for 16 year olds and gold award begins at 18 years and takes 18 months to train.

The President is the only one mandated to issue the gold award once a trainee has reached that level.

Meer Shah and Sadia Muslim who got the bronze qualification during the ceremony said that they gained skills in team work, problem solving and perseverance through the programme.

“We had to work in groups to perform various tasks such as preparing our meals and navigating our way through unfamiliar places.

“There were nights when we missed the comfort of our own beds as we slept on wet grounds and climbed slippery mountains,” said Meer.

Sadia added that during fieldwork, they interacted with people from diverse backgrounds and cultures which built their social relations.

A total of 26 participants from the school were also awarded with Bronze level certificates.

Ms Munala noted that currently, 80,000 young people from 40 counties across the country are enrolled in the programme.

However, she decried the low number of schools participating in the training in the Coast region as there are only 18 schools in the region whose students are taking the training.

“This programme will be most beneficial especially to youth from the Coast besides keeping them off the influence of radicalisation, drug abuse and other ills affecting this region,” she said.

President’s Award Kenya Trustee Dan Kagagi appealed to education stakeholders from the Coast to rally more schools to participate in the training.