Delivering affordable digital learning in Kenya

Safaricom is working with the educational technology (edtech) start-up Zeraki to offer online remedial learning to secondary school students in Kenya, for a daily subscription of KES 20 shillings (approximately €0.17).

Zeraki’s digital learning platform provides students with topic-by-topic assessments and metrics that help spot areas for improvement and track progress across subjects. Content on the platform has been developed by curriculum leaders in Kenya with the support of secondary school teachers.

Zeraki’s digital learning platform

The platform can be accessed through the MySafaricom app, with daily subscriptions payable via monthly mobile phone bills or M-Pesa accounts.

More than 30 percent of schools across Kenya now have access to the Zeraki platform.

Peter Ndegwa, Safaricom Chief Executive Officer said: “Through this partnership, we hope to make digital education both accessible and affordable.”

(Left to right) Benjamin Makai, Senior Manager, Safaricom’s Technology for Development; Erick Oude, Chief Operations Officer, Zeraki; and Kennedy Kahura, Safaricom Product Manager explore Zeraki at the event to announce the partnership.

Millions of children across Africa and Europe cannot access online learning, either due to a lack of digital educational resources, or simply because they do not have the connectivity or devices needed to use them. School closures throughout the pandemic made this problem worse, disrupting education for 94% of the world’s student population – or up to 99% in low- and middle-income countries.[i]

Vodafone is working to help students overcome these barriers by expanding our connectivity services, improving access to digital devices, and investing in online learning programmes to ensure they can reach as many students as possible.

How technology is changing education - learn more

For example, our Connected Education programme provides more than 3,700 schools in Europe as well as in Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and South Africa with the connectivity, devices and content they need to offer students digital learning, whether they’re in the classroom or studying remotely. More than 1.5 million students and teachers are using Connected Education each month.

Vodafone Foundation leads a variety of programmes that aim to drive access to education, such as Instant Schools, which offers learners access to free content in local languages from their smartphones. In partnership with UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, Vodafone Foundation also provides Instant Network Schools, which support young refugees, host communities and their teachers.

[i] United Nations, Policy Brief: Education in Covid-19 and beyond (August 2020). Available: https://www.un.org/development/desa/dspd/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2020/08/sg_policy_brief_covid-19_and_education_august_2020.pdf