Teachers Can Now Get Laptops At Sh1,000 A Month

Mwalimu National Sacco CEO Robert Shibutse (second left) with officials of the sacco at the launch of Mwalimu Digital Initiative.

A teacher-oriented Sacco has launched a program aimed at providing a low-cost path for teachers to own a laptop. Mwalimu National Sacco, billed as the largest Sacco in Africa, has launched a program dubbed Mwalimu Digital Initiative that will see teachers get a laptop and pay for it on installment plan of Sh1,000 a month.

That means that you can spread the cost of a high-end laptop that costs Sh36,000 over 36 months if you stick to a monthly payment schedule of Sh1,000. But you will still have the option to accelerate your repayment by pay more than Sh1,000 a month.

Sacco members 

The deal to offer teachers laptop on credit at a lower cost appears to be tailored specifically for members of Mwalimu National Sacco. During the launch of the Mwalimu Digital Initiative, officials of the Sacco said that they hope that over 70,000 teachers will benefit from the program. If you consider that there are nearly 300,000 teachers in public and private schools across the country, you get the impression that Mwalimu National Sacco is targeting its very own – registered members with the credit laptop arrangement. 

For the sacco, the laptop deal could be another avenue to recruit more members. Teachers who are not members of Mwalimu National Sacco already might be interested in joining them to benefit from the low-cost laptop offer. 

Mwalimu National Sacco CEO Robert Shibutse speaking at the launch of Mwalimu Digital Initiative.

ICT pressure on teachers

The Government of Kenya’s ongoing rollout of tablets for primary school pupils has increased the pressure on teachers to catch up by improving their ICT literacy. Mwalimu National Sacco CEO, Robert Shibutse, said the laptop they are giving to teachers come preloaded with relevant digital literacy content approved by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD).

Partnership with Intel

Mwalimu National Sacco partnered with the East African unit of Intel Corporation ($INTC) to roll out the credit laptop initiative for teachers. The boss of Intel East Africa, Danie Steyn, said at the launch of Mwalimu Digital Initiative that the objective of the program is to empower more teachers with digital skills and expand their connectivity to online resources. 

Intel East Africa chief Danie Steyn speaking at the launch of Mwalimu Digital Initiative.

Intel is the world’s leading vendor of calculating engines used in computers called chips. Its chips can be found in a wide range of computing devices.

Laptop for Kenyan pupils

When the government said it would issue all pupils entering primary schools with laptops or tablets, questions were raised about the preparedness of teachers in delivering digital literacy to their learners. A large numbers of Kenyan teachers are said lack ICT skills and issuing them with laptops at the time the government is rolling out tablets for pupils appear to be a perfect timing by Mwalimu National Sacco as it will help in bridging the digital and technological gap among Kenyan tutors.

The government allocated Sh13.4 million in the 2016/17 budget to drive digital literacy in Kenya.