WINKER

Microsoft, Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) and Teachers Service Commission (TSC) are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) today (Monday, May 31st) to provide teachers with laptops. The MoU among the three organizations is geared towards encouraging teachers across the country acquire laptops at a reduced cost, and then pay on a monthly basis. Speaking during an interview in Lusaka Zambia, Education Programme Manager for East and Southern Africa at Microsoft Mr. Mark Matunga, said the laptops will be offered by Safaricom and deducted from the teachers’ salary at TSC will vary between 400-600 dollars, spread over a period of 24 months. He said KIE in collaboration with the other two organizations, will facilitate teachers’ training on the educational content to be included in the laptops for curriculum development. “Microsoft will organize training of trainers to visit schools and train the teachers, said Matunga. He added that this will be in an effort to promote tec...

Employment and labour issues are at the core of any country’s economy. They affect operations in any sector and are at the centre of people’s well being, to provide social and economic advancements in their lives. Decent work sums up the aspirations of people in their working lives. The Zambian government in collaboration with the International Labour organization (ILO), Zambian Federation of Employers, Zambia Congress of Trade Unions, among other stakeholders came together to review the country’s Decent Work programme (Z-DWCP) for 2007-2011 to address various issues as recommended in the global jobs pact. In mid 2008, the world was gripped by an economic crisis that brought dynamics on the global labour market, which resulted in massive loss of employment. Following the developments, the ILO convened a special three day global jobs summit in June 2009, attended by several heads of states. A global jobs pact was designed and adopted to address increased unemployment and to offer polici...

http://www.cio.co.ke/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=920:kenyans-to-arrive-for-elearning-africa-in-style&catid=41:main-stories&Itemid=86 User Rating: / 0 PoorBest Written by Lilian Museka Saturday, 22 May 2010 12:48 tweetmeme_url = 'http://www.cio.co.ke/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=920:kenyans-to-arrive-for-elearning-africa-in-style&catid=41:main-stories&Itemid=86'; tweetmeme_source = 'CIOEastAfrica'; tweetmeme_service = 'bit.ly'; tweetmeme_hashtags = '#cioeastafrica'; shareme_window = 'new'; shareme_bgcolor = '#ffffff'; tweetme_title = 'Kenyans to arrive for eLearning Africa in style'; var fbShare = {url: "http://www.cio.co.ke/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=920:kenyans-to-arrive-for-elearning-africa-in-style&catid=41:main-stories&Itemid=86"} 0 This morning, a big blue truck left Nairobi, Kenya and heading to the South- with 20 ...

In the early morning of Saturday May 22nd, a big blue truck will leave Nairobi, Kenya and head to South- with 20 members on board from the Rift’s eLearning Consortium. Their final destination will be Lusaka, Zambia, about 1200 miles from home, to attend the 5th eLearning conference to be held between 26th – 28th. The Consortium, consisting of public and private schools, teachers, individuals, ICT service providers and non Governmental Organizations, have pooled resources together, sponsored by Microsoft and International Conferences Workshops and Exhibitions (ICWE) -Africa, rented a truck to attend the conference that will be taking place at Mulungushi International Conference Centre. “This is a trip of a life time. It is hoped to bring members making the journey together and give them an opportunity to see and appreciate Africa’s diversity and challenges the continent faces in various landscapes and settings throughout their journey,” says Mr. Mathew Kituu, an ICT Advisor and one of t...

“The late Mutinta (her real name hidden), was living with an adopted family after they rescued her from prostitution, from which she had been earning some money to support her poor parents. At 18, she was in Grade 7 following efforts by the family to take her back to school (At this age most girls her age are have already completed secondary school) She had gone to visit her mother during December holidays and unfortunately got pregnant. When she came back to her adopted family, she never told anyone what had happened and again asked for a weekend to go visit her mother. She procured back street abortion and developed complications which she was not willing to disclose to anyone, not even her adopted parents and just pretended to have some pain in her feet. By the time the doctor recommended for an X-ray, her condition had deteriorated and four days later, she died. She did this regardless of the legal implications of the act (Abortion in Zambia is legalised and anyone performing illeg...

Last year's eLearning part of delegation in Senegal : – From left to right: Stephen Dukker, Chairman and CEO of NComputing Moustapha Sourang, Minister of Higher Education Abdoulaye Wade, The President of Senegal Abdou Salam Sall, Rector, Université Cheikh Anta Diop, Tim Unwin, UNESCO Chair in ICT4D, Royal Holloway, University of London, UK. http://www.cio.co.ke/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=849:lusaka-gears-up-for-elearning-africa&catid=41:main-stories&Itemid=86

THE fifth eLearning Africa, an International conference for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Development, Education and Training will be held in Lusaka later this month. The two day largest Pan African conference that seeks to bring ministers and education officials from nine African countries is slated for May 26th – 28th. Zambia’s president Mr. Rupiah Banda will officially open the event that will be under the patronage of the country’s Education Minister, Ms. Dora Siliya. The conference titled, “Leading for Change in ICTs in education”, is expected to draw over 1,500 participants around the world, and Ministers and senior policy advisers from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Equatorial Guinea and Zambia, who will be seeking to foster capacity development in African education system. Expected discussions include eWaste management, eInclusion, eHealth and Green IT. Others include the debate on the millions of mobile phones in priv...

“ Sexual and Gender Based Violence (GBV) has now become the number two scourge in the country after HIV/AIDs” These are the words used by Zambian president Rupiah Banda while launching the National Communications Strategy against Gender Based Violence late last year. The president reiterated the government’s efforts to declare zero tolerance on GBV and perpetrators terming it gross human rights’ violations. During this year’s World Press Freedom Day media stakeholders’ conference in Zambia, the non Governmental organization Co-ordinating Council (NGOCC) chairperson Mrs. Ngwase Mwale said GBV was one issue affecting women, and called for the media to assist women organization in advocating for the enactment of the GBV draft bill. Currently, Zambia has no law that criminalizes gender based violence, with a draft in place waiting to be tabled. Mrs. Mwale said advocacy issues were very sensitive and there was need for the media to assist in raising them. “Women face a lot of sensitive iss...

Each year on May 3, the United Nations General Assembly has set aside as the World Press Freedom Day. This year’s theme was Access to information: The right to Know. The media fraternity and all its supporters celebrate the fundamental rights as articulated in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It is a day that journalists celebrate their right to access information, defend themselves against attacks and remember those that have lost their live while trying to disseminate information to the public. However journalists worldwide are still having difficulties in accessing information from both private and public sectors. During the World Press Freedom Day media stakeholders’ conference in Zambia, Professor Franz Kruger, the Ombudsman for the South African newspapers, Mail and the Guardian said modern societies cannot function unless there is free flow of information. Therefore, there can never be democracy if there is no free media. Supporting media self regulation,...