Safaricom links up with learning start-up to offer Sh20 daily lessons

Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa. PHOTO | POOL

Safaricom  has partnered with educational technology start-up Zeraki to offer remedial online learning to secondary school students at Sh20 a day per user.

The Zeraki Learning platform seeks to provide topic-by-topic assessment and offers metrics to help students diagnose their weaknesses and track their progress in over 15 subjects.

It is expected that the platform will help close the digital divide and boost understanding of concepts for learners.

“Through this partnership, we hope to make digital education both accessible and affordable,” said Safaricom chief executive Peter Ndegwa.

The content on the platform has been developed by curriculum developers with the support of secondary school teachers.

Safaricom has added a touchpoint within MySafaricom App which will enable parents and guardians to subscribe to the service at Sh20 daily.

Users of the platform have the option of skipping some days and continuing seamlessly later on.The amount is deducted from the customers’ airtime/postpaid bill or M-Pesa account.

“We have partnered with at least 30 percent of schools across the country to offer the platform to learners,” said Zeraki chief operations officer Erick Oude.

Zeraki was established seven years ago and operates an analytics arm that compiles student data and does bulk messaging to parents.

At the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, learners were compelled to stay home as schools remained shut to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

A digital divide became apparent when students in private schools continued learning remotely while their public school counterparts missed out on education.

In 2020, the Kenya Private School Association (Kepsa) launched virtual school learners in private schools who can now access education materials from a single platform.

The platform sought to ensure teaching and learning in private schools continue and enable teachers to earn a living amid the covid-19 pandemic.

Prior to its launch, schools were using numerous virtual platforms to engage more than 2.4 million learners, some of which are expensive and unreliable.

ligadwah@ke.nationmedia.com