Government appoints 260 officials to oversee free laptops project

The Government has appointed officials to oversee the nationwide implementation of the Sh24 billion laptops for schools' programme.

A circular by Education Permanent Secretary Belio Kipsang' to all the County Directors of Education says the 260 officers will spearhead and support the roll-out of the Digital literacy Programme (DLP) - popularly known as laptops programme – across the counties.

Dr Kipsang said the Information and Communication Technology Authority (ICTA) has employed 60 assistant ICT officers who will be based at the county information offices.

"They will supervise the ICT quality inspectors at the sub-county offices," said Kipsang' in a circular dated October 6, which was also copied to all sub-county directors of education and head teachers.

He said an additional 200 Presidential Digital Programme interns will be deployed in sub-counties as ICT quality inspectors.

"Their role will be to undertake an e-readiness assessment in the schools within the sub-county and train teachers on basic ICT skills and the DLP class solution," said the PS. The interns will also conduct inspection and acceptance of equipment as delivered and installed by the respective contractors.

The development came as all the Cabinet secretaries led various teams in the nationwide roll-out of the schools ICT programme.