The Impact the Girl Effect Funds Have Made to High School Girls and Head Teachers in Mutune

The Impact the Girl Effect Funds Have Made to High school girls and Head teachers in Mutune, Kitui

Kitui high school students andheadteachers’workshopsheld on 18th to 19th January 2012 Report

1. Introduction

The Girl Effect funds supported the ICT based workshops for teachers and students held in Mutune, Kitui at St. Columba’s Vocational Center.Kitui is 86.2 % rural which is higher than the country’s average, 67.7%1.The students in the area face many challenges both social and economic. For example, Kitui has 46 schools2 and in Mutune area, only 4 have computer labs. The students have very limited access to computers. In addition to this, most of them do not complete their studies as they are married off at an early age to elderly men.

The Girl effect funds greatly contributed to solving these challenges. Workshops were held for high school girls to train them on ICT, leadership and life skills; and also for head teachers to educate them on the importance of investing in ICT in their schools. These workshops aimedat changing the perceptions of girls on ICT and boosting their self esteem. The workshops drew out their perceptions on ICT, the challenges they faced and the solutions or the way forward.

These workshops were conducted from 18th to 19th January 2012 and were implemented by @iLabAfrica staff members.Students and headteachers from surrounding schools partcipated and St. Columba’s Vocational Centerwas used as the focal training point.116 students from 8 schools participated in the workshops on 18th January, they were accompanied by 9 teachers. On 19th January, the head teachers workshop was held and 9 headteachers from the surrounding schools participated.

a) What were the workshop goals and objectives?

1. Workshop objectives for High school students

a)To identify the girls level of computer skills

b)To elicit the girls’ perceptions and attitude towards ICT in order to challenge and change their way of thinking.

c)To equip the girls with basic computer skills that would make them computer literate.

d)To educate girls on the importance of learning ICT and how they can use ICT to better their lives.

e)To challenge the girls to change their attitude towards ICT through interactive sessions with @iLabAfrica Master students who are ladies.

f)To increase the girls’ level of interest in learning computer studies.

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1. Workshop objectives for Teachers

a)To find out the level of computer literacy among the headteachers

b)To equip the headteachers with basic but essential computer skills like sending e-mails

c)To educate teachers and head teachers on the importance of teaching ICT in schools

d)To inform the teachers on how to improve the student learning experience through in co-operating online material in their classes.

e)To educate the teachers on how to save on costs through accessing e-learning materials

f)To find solutions to the challenges that teachers and head teachers face in regards to ICT

b) How long was the workshop?

The students and head teachers’ workshops were held consecutively for 2 days at St. Columba’s Vocational Centre in Mutune, Kitui on Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th January, 2012.

Please see Appendix A for a detailed agenda.

c) Briefly describe the format. (for example, discussion groups, lectures, panels, etc.)

Day 1

1. Interactive sessions

Interactive sessions were held which began by a presentation. @iLabAfrica staff members co-ordinated this event which was attended by 116 students and 9 teachers all from 9 schools. The students were taught on the history, emergence and adoption of ICT in Kenya. They were also informed about the statistics of the boys to girl ratio who studied ICT. It was interesting to note that, in the past, there were more girls than boys studying ICT. The girls were challenged to take up ICT as they could be anything they wanted to be.

The students were then shown a video clip of prisonersperforming as a dance group. This was to show them that their surroundings (rural areas) where there are scarce resources such as computers should not determine their attitude and their future plans are. All they need to do is be focused and positive towards life.

The challenges of ICT adoption in rural areas and especially girls were also discussed. Some students noted that they thought science subjects were difficult and therefore they did not want to further their studies in ICT.Their teachers also acknowledged that boys tend to do well in sciences than the girls.After a short discussion on why this might be so, the teachers agreed that they had a role to play. They promised to encourage the girls to think big and believe in themselves. After all, what a man can do, a woman can do better.

The students were then split into groups. One group was involved in the lab session as they could not all fit in the computer lab. Another group was involved in an open discussion of ICT. The students who participated in the latter were engaged in conversation with @iLabAfrica staff members. They got a chance to ask questions in regards to ICT. They also interacted with the smartphones and laptops which the @iLabAfrica team had. They got to see how far technology has evolved and how much it is able to achieve.Please find more photos at:

Figure 1.1showsMs. Grace Kihumba giving a talk on the importance of ICT.

(Please note that most the girls cut their hair).

Figure 1.2shows the students attentively listening to the presentationmade by Ms. Grace Kihumba from @iLabAfrica Strathmore University.

1. Lab session

During this session, the girls were oriented on computers. Of the 36 students who attended, only 4 had ever interacted with a computer. For many, this was their first encounter. The session began by showing them the basic parts of a computer, and each of their functions.

They were then taught on how to use the mouse. In order to achieve this, they were shown how to change the desktop background. They had to know when to left click, right click and scroll. Most of the students managed to do this in a short time, while some struggled to understand.

The students were then shown how to open Microsoft Office Word and use the keyboard to type a letter. Most of them managed to write at least 1 paragraph. They were taught on how to format a document and align text to the right like in the letter.Finally, the students were taught how to save their work in ‘My Documents’ on the windows operating system.

Figure 1.3 shows the students in a practical lab session

Figure 1.4 shows a group photo of students after the practical lab session.

Please see Appendix B for the lab exercise.

1. Interviews

After the lab sessions there were interviews held and this involved asking the students how their experience was.Please see Appendix C for the interview guide. They said that they were now more aware about the importance of using computers in their day to day lives. They added that before the sessions they thought that computer is a very hard subject but with the lab sessions the @iLabAfrica team had changed their perceptions towards the subject. Some of the challenges they said that they faced included lack of resources such as computers. They also expressed their desire to have more training sessions and practise in order to perfect their skills.

Some students were also asked their attitude toward entrepreneurship and ICT. Most of the students who hoped to start-up businesses in the futuresaid that they would need computers. Some of the students also stated that computer skills widen the probability of getting a decent job. All in all, most wanted to perfect their skills in computing.

DAY 2

1. Interactive session

The objectives of this session were as follows:

1. To investigate the number of head teachers who are computer literate.
2. To find out the number of schools with computer labs and how many computers they have from the head teachers.
3. To discuss on the importance of using ICT.
4. To train the head teachers on using computers and introduce them to basic computer skills.

The head teachers’ workshop was more interactive; Dr.EverlynMakhanu who led the workshop explained to them how technology would save on costs the importance of adopting ICT in their schools. She also explained the importance of the internet in education and how it would save on both time and money as well as enable the teachers to teach effectively. The teachers in turn asked questions on which ICT terms they had heard of but had difficulty in understanding.

The head teachers were shown a video clip that talked about computers .This was to demonstrate to them how they can use video clips to teach their students instead of only using books which are not as interactive.

During the session the head teachers discussed on why most of them had not taken up on ICT and 98% of them said that it was due to ignorance and some did not have the time. One of them however mentioned the fact that they had never had a chance to meet someone who would tell them on the benefits of using ICT. With the workshop that they just had however their attitude had changed and said they would do their best to embrace on ICT.

The head teachers were then told on how they could use you tube, the internet to carry out their research and how they could use email accounts to communicate with the outside world instead of using mail boxes which is now out-dated. They were also told on the importance of having a website for their schools where they would post their school events, fee structures and even post job or school vacancies. This would be cheaper for them instead of using newspaper adverts and word of mouth which is not usually effective.

Please find more photos at

Figure 2.1 shows Dr. Evelyn Makhanu conducting a lab session for the head teachers.

Figure 2.2 shows Mr.OnesmusMunyoki learning how to use the Google to search for e learning material

1. Interviews

After the lab sessions there were interviews held and this involved asking the head teachers how their experience was. They confessed that some were just ignorant and that with interest, one could learn easily. Previously, some had e-mail accounts which were managed by their assistants. This posed a security threat as the latter knew their passwords and could easily impersonate them. Most of them were happy that they could send and receive e-mail and search for online content. In particular, Mr. Anderson Musuli was overjoyed to see his Gmail profile picture uploaded on his profile.

In conclusion, the head teachers were thankful and desired more training sessions and learnt the following:

• The head teachers learnt how to power a computer on and off.
• The head teachers promised that they would each take an imitative to learn more about computers
• The head teachers said that they would definitely educate students and teachers in their schools so that they would change their attitude towards the subject.
• All the head teachers opened an email account.
• The head teachers were now more aware of using the internet and how they would use Google to search on more things.

d) What worked?

Day one

• The student’s workshop received a good response in terms of a turn up of 116 girls.
• The students responded positively during the lab sessions and said they would have liked to learn even more.
• During the interview with some of the students they said that the @iLabAfrica Team had changed their attitude towards computers and they would like to learn more about the subject.

Day two

• The workshop received a good response in terms of a turn up of 9 head teachers.
• The head teachers were taught on the effects of using IT and during the interview they said that they would definitely start using the skills acquired.
• After the sessions the head teachers requested to have more learning sessions in the future and that the one they just had should even have been longer.

g)What didn’t work?

Day one

• The @iLabAfrica team arrived late on the 1st day as Kitui is quite far from Nairobi. To solve this, the team will be travelling a day before the workshops begin.
• The interactive sessions which involved the students did not successfully elicit their responses. They were from different schools and perhaps the unfamiliarity of the new surrounding made them shy away from answering questions. In the future, after a presentation, the students should be divided into small groups for them to openly discuss their ideas.

2. Participants:

a) How many participants attended your workshop?

116 girls attended the workshop accompanied by 9 of their teachers on the first day and during the head teachers workshop which was held on the second day 8 head teachers were present from the different schools around Kitui.

b) Demographics of students present at the workshop

1. Percentage breakdown of student ages

The ages of the girls who attended the workshop were between the ages of 15(Form one) and 17(Form two).Please referAppendix D.

1. Percentage breakdown of students taking computer studies

30 out of 116 students were studying the subject.

c) Demographics of head teachers present at the workshop:

1. Breakdown of subjects currently taught by head teachers

The head teachers in the workshops taught different subjects such as History, Kiswahili, Physics, Mathematics, CRE and English.

It was noted however that none taught Computer studies in their schools.

1. Percentage breakdown of head teachers with computers in their offices

Only one female head teacher had a computer (personal laptop).

1. Percentage breakdown of computer knowledge.

Activity / Male / Female / total
Starting a computer / 1 / 0 / 9
Saving a document / 0 / 2 / 9
Opening a word document / 1 / 2 / 9
Browsing / 0 / 1 / 9
Sending an email / 0 / 1 / 9

Table 1: Comparison between the breakdown of computer knowledge among Male and Female head teachers.

Table 2: The cumulative breakdown of computer knowledge among Male and Female head teachers.

Chart showing a comparison between the number of Male and Female head teachers who attended the Lab session.

3. Funding:

a) How did you spend the funds? (for example, $X on venue, $Y on materials, etc.)

@iLabAfrica is grateful to Girl effect for the financial support in organizing this workshop. The expenditure is as per the worksheet in Appendix E under workshop budget.

b) Were there any unanticipated expenses to keep in mind for the future?

No

4. Next steps:

a) What are some of the ways the head teachers can encourage teachers in their schools to take up computers?

1. Motivate the teachers on the importance of IT in their lives by telling them what they can do once they have the technology e.g. they can access the Teachers service commission website and check on the latest news or updates.
2. The teachers could also be trained on computer basics by students pursuing their master’s degree in computer from Strathmore University at a fee.
3. Equip the schools with the right resources to enhance teaching of computer studies.
4. Encourage teachers to learn online after they have been taught on computer basics so that they can keep up with technology that change every day.
5. Motivate students to take up the course especially the girl child who thinks that computer studies is something technical that can only be done by the boy child.
6. Improve resources in schools so that they can be easily accessible by the students.
7. The students can be mentored by young ladies who are pursuing a career in IT so that they can also be motivated to take up on IT.
8. Organise more training sessions for the girls so that they can learn more and this way they will embrace the technology as during more and more sessions they will understand the reasons why they are being sensitized on the importance of IT.

b) How do you envision this workshop will help students become more interested in Computer Science?

The head teachers all agreed that one of the reasons that they do not take up ICT is because they do not have the facilities and more so they think that it is something quite difficult to take up but if they are motivated it will help a lot. They also agreed the girls having young lady mentors who have pursued ICT courses will motivate the girls in schools and they will be encouraged on the importance of ICT in their lives.

c) Suggestions for the future. What could we have done better?

1. There is need to visit more schools in the area and also other areas in the country so that more girls can benefit from the workshops. This will mean that more funding will be required to support the venture.

1. More resources need to be availed to schools so that the students and also teachers can be able to access them with ease and be able to learn more.

1. More workshops for teachers and also the school principals need to be held so that they are more aware of the importance of IT in their lives and also to the lives of their students. This way the students will be encouraged to take up the course.

1. The sessions/workshops could be done for longer durations so that the students can benefit more from the projects.

1 / High school girls and head teachers workshop at St. Columba’s Vocational Training Centerheld inKitui, Kenya

Appendix A: Agenda for the student’s workshop