2014 e learning innovations conference

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PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION
WELCOME REMARKS BY PROF. MARGARET KOBIA, PhD, CBS,
CHAIRPERSON, PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, DURING THE
OPENING OF THE 2014 e-LEARNING CONFERENCE ON
TRANSFORMING EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT AND ECONOMIES HELD
ON TUESDAY, 29TH JULY 2014, AT SAFARI PARK HOTEL, NAIROBI.
Dr. Fred Matiang’i, CS, Information, Communications and
Technology,
The Conference Chair Dr. Penina Lam,
The Conference Co-Chair Dr. Lydia Kaume,
Members of the Organizing Committee,
Distinguished Guests,
Conference Presenters,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This year’s Conference on e-learning towards transforming
education systems, the employment market and economies
comes at a most opportune moment in the developmental history
of this country. First, it fits within the greater development
philosophy of the Jubilee Government on “Digital Governance”.
Indeed, ours is the only Digital Government on the African

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Continent. Second, e-learning systems and investments on the
enabling infrastructure feed into Kenya’s Vision 2030 agenda on
leveraging Science, Technology and Innovations (STI) in fostering
economic growth and social development to middle income
status by the year 2030.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A stock take on Kenya’s education and training sector shows that,
for the most part, teaching, learning and training processes remain
largely driven by traditional approaches. Even where innovative
approaches such as continuing education, distance education
and open learning exist, institutions are yet to fully integrate e-
learning to maximise its cost and efficiency benefits. Despite these
uptake constraints, considerable efforts by both private and public
sector players have gone into content and infrastructure
development for e-learning platforms.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the just ended 11th forum of the Commonwealth African Heads
of Public Service, which I had the privilege of attending, Heads of
Public Service made the strongest case for e-Government for
inclusive and sustainable development. Indeed, the nexus
between e-learning and e-government spaces is both mutually
reinforcing and complementary. In my view, it is the convergence
between these two spaces where Kenya’s planned investments in
the use of laptops and digital content in primary schools comes in
handy. The project promises to mobilize an e-ready pool of

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primary school leavers thus, effectively strengthening the demand
side for both e-learning and e-government.
In addition, increased investments in the use of technology in
education, research and innovations similar to those found in the
business innovation and incubation centres at Kenyatta and
Strathmore Universities, and the new digital school at Kenyatta
University are small but significant steps that will be instrumental in
elevating Kenya’s economy to the knowledge-driven pedestal.
On the economic side, there is compelling evidence that strong
supply and demand sides that support both e-learning and e-
readiness have major economic growth and social development
benefits. By placing new information, knowledge, skills and
competencies within the reach of our youthful population, e-
learning seeks to equip this segment of the employment market
with the missing half that our education system has struggled to
impart on graduates. Specifically, such new skills and
competencies will easily lighten the unemployment burden by
helping fresh graduates identify new start-up business
opportunities. In addition, targeted e-learning platforms will help
eliminate marginalization among the hard to reach segments.
Content targeting such groups can help improve overall
economic productivity through focus on agriculture, health and
entrepreneurship.
It transforming education, e-learning promises to revolutionize the
way learning content for new knowledge and skills is delivered.

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Overall, e-learning promises an education and training system with
content delivery and learning efficiencies of unprecedented
proportions. In such systems, institutions are able to cost-effectively
deliver content while learners are able to undertake training at
own convenience with least disturbances to their daily economic
and work place routines.
As Government and public sector, we remain most committed to
investments on all forms of innovations, improvements and reforms
whose combined contribution will be efficiency improvements in
Kenya’s public service. By cost-effectively imparting new skills and
competencies to public officers, while keeping disruptive staff
movements at their lowest levels, e-learning becomes the silver
bullet of our generation towards public sector efficiency goals.
In terms of human capital development, a high penetration rate
of e-learning in employing organisations will, among other things;
provide consistent, world-class training; reduce delivery cycle time;
increase learner conveniences; reduce learner information
overload (learners can work at their own pace); improve tracking
(e-learning tools can automatically keep records of who has
undergone training, what test scores were obtained, among
others). For the Public Service to meet the needs of a dynamic
citizenry and remain an employer of choice, given the speed of
current change, we need to respond to these trends now so as to
stay ahead of the wave of change and new trends.

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Ladies and Gentlemen,
As I conclude, and having clearly identified the transformational
and the legacy economic benefits of present e-learning
investments, in my view, it would be equally helpful to establish the
challenges we face in this area. This, I believe, will be a critical
approach to establishing where we are and what needs to be
done to improve both publicly and privately supplied e-learning
systems in away that optimizes both the e-learning market and its
anticipated social and economic benefits.
On the supply side, both public and private sector efforts to
provide content and systems for e-learning remain parallel and
uncoordinated, with mixed results. On the demand side, e-learning
still faces “last mile” constraints where the potential learners lack
either basic end-user infrastructure or the functional literacy to
access and use content. Owing to such challenges, it is not
uncommon to see very great e-learning platform concepts
become unsuccessful.
Finally, Ladies and Gentlemen, efforts to optimise the economic
benefits of e-learning will have to concentrate on providing
solutions for content, infrastructure and the “last mile” constraints
that separate the supply side from the demand side.
Ladies and Gentlemen; with those remarks, I wish to welcome you
all to Nairobi and trust that this conference affords all participants
an opportunity to chart a new course for leveraging e-learning in
transforming education, employment markets and our economies.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, may I now introduce to you our Chief
Guest:
CITATION
Dr. Fred Matiang’i is the Republic of Kenya’s ICT Cabinet
Secretary. Prior to his appointment as Cabinet Secretary, Dr.
Matiang’i was a Senior Programme Advisor, contracted by the
World Bank, to support the Kenya School of Government’s
programme development and inter-agency liaison on capacity
building for devolved Structures. He was the Chief of Party and
Country Director of the USAID and DFID-funded Kenya
Parliamentary Strengthening Project, implemented by the Center
for International Development, State University of New York
(SUNY/CID), Albany, New York. Dr Matiang’i has also served as the
Chairperson of the Governing Council of the KCA University. For
about fifteen years now, Dr Matiang’i has served in senior research
and programme implementation positions in various civil society
organisations in Kenya, and conducted research and training for
the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World
Bank Institute, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association
(CPA), the East African Legislative Assembly and a number of
parliaments in Africa. As an academic, Dr. Matiang’i holds a
Master of Arts Degree in English and a PhD in Communication and
Comparative Literature from the University of Nairobi.
Welcome CS.