Restoring hope to out-of-school youth in slum areas through digital literacy programs | Ed Tech Mondays

Like many other children, Ms. Mary Kazungu had dreams of enrolling in a higher education institute right after her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE).

Unfortunately, due to financial constraints and a lack of school fees, these could not happen despite the Kenyan constitution making education a constitutional right for everyone.

Mary, 19, the daughter of a single mother, represents many other children who dream of joining tertiary institutes but end up at home, with some forced into early marriage due to poverty.

In the heart of Kenya, the government has been working tirelessly to ensure that every student transitions from one education level to the next. The goal of this noble course is to see learners move forward with their academic journey. However, despite these efforts, there are still challenges that keep these young people at home when they should be in school.

Economic hardship and cultural expectations prevent these young people from continuing with their education.

The Presidential Working Party on Education Reforms report reveals that Kenya has made strides in achieving access to education, increasing the number of enrollments in the last two decades; however, access and equity still pose obstacles to the performance of learners. Children in rural and underserved areas frequently face obstacles to accessing quality education, causing a significant gap in educational attainment between rich and poor students in Kenya. The report states Kenya has made great strides in the provision of quality education, making it a top performer in the Eastern and Southern Africa region. According to a UNESCO report (2018), 10 percent of children from the poorest households in Kenya complete Secondary school, compared to 70 percent of children from the richest households

This year’s third edition of the April EdTech Mondays Kenya program, hosted by Lilly Bekele-Piper, Ed.M., was centered on how an organization is giving hope to out-of-school youth through the Digital Literacy Program. EdTech Mondays is a monthly show on NTV Kenya, produced by EdTech East Africa and supported by the Mastercard Foundation. The show features different players in the Kenyan EdTech ecosystem.

As the government, in partnership with other stakeholders, strives to enforce EdTech in Kenya, organizations are working hard towards changing the tune and finding alternatives to out-of-school youth vocational training and skills development programs to empower them for a brighter future.

NairoBits Trust, an EdTech organization, is one of the institutions working towards restoring the dignity of education to out-of-school youth aged 18 to 24 from underserved communities across Kenya through a digital literacy program.

Changing the tune through the Digital Literacy Program

In a recent UNESCO report focusing on Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4), which aims to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education while promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all, troubling statistics emerged regarding secondary school education in Kenya. It revealed that close to 35 percent of Kenyan secondary school students will not complete their secondary school education by 2030. Lack of school fees, cost of education, family background, and drug abuse are some of the factors cited as contributing to school dropouts in Kenya.

Having been founded in 1999, the NairoBits Trust organization is on a mission to prepare young people from low-income areas for high-impact careers in the tech space through digital training and professional integration within the labor market. It is located in the informal settlements of Nairobi—Kariobangi, Kangemi, and Machakos.

Debra Milantoi, a Digital Literacy Program student at the Kariobangi Center, is among the success stories emerging from the NairoBits Trust Organization. Despite her lack of initial exposure to computer lessons during high school, her eight-week stay at the institute made her have the best experience because she got to learn new things that she did not know.

“My stay at NairoBits was an awesome experience. I heard about this program from an alumni of NairoBits from the 2017 class, and when I released a post in need of more students, I decided to try it out, came for an interview, and passed.”

She joined the program with her fellow students and embarked on a DLP course, which she initially thought was a hard course.

Rhema Hinn, another DLP student at the NairoBits Kariobangi Center, entered the program with zero computer skills. After attending the classes, he has learned a lot and now finds the program to be so easy, aspiring to make better things using ICT.

Apart from the Center’s Digital Literacy Program, NairoBits also offers advanced courses to learners, including the Advanced Multimedia Program, where they learn new skills like coding and creating a website.

Rose Nanjira, an Advanced Multimedia Program student who transitioned from the DLP course, shared her positive experience, highlighting the plans to enhance her coding skills and improve her communication abilities through interacting with fellow learners.

In comparison to DLP, Nanjira, who has been in an AMP class for three months, says this was a good opportunity for her because she has been able to interact with a lot of new people who have impacted her with a lot of new ideas.

25 years of changing lives through the technology landscape

In the hearts of the Netherlands, young women embarked on a journey to bring change to the underserved communities and give them the opportunity to express themselves through creative media. Hence, the birth of the NairoBits Trust organization.

The vision was to help young people from informal settlements change not only their mindset of how they view themselves but also how other people view young people from certain backgrounds.

Magdalene Wanjugu, the executive director of NairoBits Trust, who has spent seven years working for the organization, reflects on the organization’s remarkable 25-year legacy of working with young people using technology. With the aim of helping them socially and economically.

Since its humble beginnings in 1999, it has been a very transformative journey, which she recalls with joy. “We are pretty excited because we have existed for 25 years, a big milestone for NairoBits Trust.”

The journey began with just photography training and creatively putting the photographs together, but then they noticed that there was a lot of potential in young people. With the first photos that they took at the Museum of Kenya, they saw the potential of young people to do something with their lives, a move that changed their mindset on what they were capable of.

The executive director explained that NairoBits Trust was started because they had a background in tech and design, where they started a curriculum and enrolled the first group of 20 young people who were coming from the informal settlements of Mathare and Mukuru, among others.

Magdalene has had the greatest impact on the transformation journey of NairoBits. When she joined the organization, it was very enlightening to see young people who had come from different backgrounds working for big tech companies holding a NairoBits Trust diploma and competing in spaces with young graduates from universities with degree courses such as computer science.

“I think for me the biggest success that we have had in the 25 years has been the transformation for young people who would otherwise have ended up in other negative spaces or having another negative life of crime addiction and all that. Another milestone has been to scale the program to other regions and, as the name suggests, Nairobi. We started in Nairobi, but we have now moved to other counties,” she noted.

NairoBits is not only located in Nairobi, but it has branches in Kisumu, Mombasa, and Machakos, looking to expand the program to Kwale, Garissa, Nanyuki, and many other regions across the country.

With the ever-evolving EdTech landscape, NairoBits remains at the forefront of innovation. Embracing new technologies, like AI and machine learning,. The organization ensures that its curriculum remains relevant and adaptable.

They have not only been able to integrate what is new into the curriculum but also ensure that their training entails a way that the young people are inspired to continue learning by themselves.

As NairoBits looks to the future, its commitment to transforming lives remains steadfast, with each student empowered to harness the boundless potential of technology as they continue to write a story of hope and endless possibilities.

Giving back to the community

In its 25 years of existence, NairoBits, which is located in the busy city of Nairobi, has been able to change hundreds of young people, moving them from the threat of poverty to gainful and sustainable employment, not just for themselves but also for the communities in which they come from.

Their tale was not just to build skills but to empower, lifting the veil of poverty and ushering in a new dawn of opportunity. Through their programs, they nurtured futures and molded tangible success stories.

Vincent Opetu is one of the stories, a rock of inspiration from the heart of NairoBits. He is a software developer with about seven years of experience at the institute. His journey with NairoBits was nothing short of transformative and a testament to the boundless possibilities that lay before those willing to grab them.

With his mind full of fresh memories of a journey that began in 2016, he says, “It was a fantastic journey. I still remember the day I stumbled upon NairoBits, guided by a hand of fate and the whisperings of a friend back in the Kariobagi slums. Little did I know it would become the stepping stone to my dreams.”

Through all the hardships and his determination, Vincent earned his skills in the corridors of NairoBits, digging into the world of computer courses, graphic design, and digital marketing. His passion for coding led him to the realm of software development. He was lucky to get a job opportunity, which changed his life.

To him, being raised in the slums feels like giving back to the community. He did not equate success with wealth but rather with having the best interests of the residents of the slums, where he grew up, in mind.

His experience in the slums gave him the urge to go back to NairoBits to teach young people, and so far, his journey has been amazing because it has taught him how to deal with a different generation.

“My aspiration for these young people is to rewrite the stories of their past, shatter the chain of poverty, and forge a new legacy of success. As long as I have breath, I will stand by their side, guiding and acting as a light in the darkness.”

Compared to other institutes, NairoBits Organization is a beacon of hope and affordable to students who are only required to pay a commitment fee to show that they are interested and ready to learn.

Maxwell Olingo, an Advanced Multimedia Program instructor and a web developer trainer at NairoBits Trust, reflected on how his career took an unexpected turn. After completing his studies at the institute, he landed a job at a company in town. Although this was a promising start, fate had other plans.

One day Maxwell received a call from his former supervisor, who made a simple request if he could join NairoBits as a trainer. The year was 2022, and the news of him going back to the institute as an instructor gave him joy because he had the urge to change lives.

“I was looking for something I could do to change lives,” Maxwell recalled, his eyes lighting up the passion that drove his decision. “If I train somebody and give the person a skill, eventually that skill is going to run a long time, and at the end of it, all I would have saved is that person’s life.”

Since he accepted the opportunity, he has watched his students grow into some of the best professionals in the country. Many have joined companies, while others have ventured into the East African Community to work as developers. Some of them interact with big people, which makes him happy and proud.

Since he accepted the opportunity, he has watched his students grow into some of the best professionals in the country. Many have joined companies, while others have ventured into the East African Community to work as developers.

As an Advanced Multimedia Program instructor and web developer, Maxwell’s aspirations extend far beyond the confines of the classroom. For him, it’s about shaping the future and igniting passions.

He shared his vision for his current student, noting with determination, “I dream for them to understand everything they are taught. We don’t just focus on web development and graphic design but also explore various subprograms to enrich their skills.”

In the nine months of learning at NairoBits, students immerse themselves in practical projects that mirror real-world scenarios. His teachings extend beyond just theory.

Debra Milantoi, a student with the inspiration of becoming a designer and a web developer, calls upon young people not to be scared and instead to seize the opportunity before them by joining the program to better their lives.

In the next 25 years, Magdalene Wanjugu, the NairoBits Trust executive director, envisions growth and expansion of job opportunities.

She explains, “We are working hard to breach the digital divide, reaching out to more marginalized groups, and fostering transformation. Our tagline is to educate, which means providing access to high-quality, higher-level education. We aim not only to provide education but also to create a space where young people can identify their talents and capabilities, innovate, contribute to solutions at the national and global levels, and then transform.”

In conclusion, the Digital Literacy Program by NairoBits Trust shines as a beacon of hope for out-of-school youth in Kenya’s underserved communities. Through relentless efforts, NairoBits has bridged educational gaps and empowered young people to pursue careers in technology, overcoming initial challenges. Celebrating 25 years of transformative impact, the organization’s dedication to nurturing talent and fostering socio-economic empowerment remains steadfast. NairoBits continues to lead the way toward a brighter, more inclusive future in Kenya’s tech landscape.