ICT Authority CEO Robert Mugo is taken through one of the stages in the assembling of tablets at the Local Assembly Plant in Eldoret. [Photo: hivisasa.com]
Operations at the Local Assembly Plant for tablets in Eldoret town have begun and soon the tablets will be distributed to Primary schools across the country.
According to ICT Authority Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Robert Mugo, the tablets being assembled at the Moi University owned factory will be distributed to over 4,000 primary schools under the Digital Literacy Programme (DLP).
He said about 850,000 imported tablets had earlier been distributed to 15,275 primary schools across the country.
Speaking to the press after inspecting the factory housed at the Rift Valley Textile Company Limited (Rivatex) on Wednesday, Mugo said the plant is now assembling 1,000 tablets daily.
"This is a major milestone in the Digital Literacy Programme as the plant is now ready for production and soon our children will be using local assembled devices," noted Mugo.
The facility which was set up at the cost of over Sh450 million has already created over 600 job opportunities with the possibility of creating a further 1,000 jobs once it is fully operational.
The ICT Authority CEO further asked teachers in schools that have received the devices not to hide them from the pupils.
"Some of the teachers are locking the devices in fear that they are meant to replace them yet they have been trained on how to use them. The government has been clear that the devices are just like any other teaching material and cannot replace teachers, Mugo noted.