This archive report was first published on 16 July 2020.
On April 1, 2020, as the country implemented measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus, Safaricom introduced a series of initiatives to support its subscribers. One of these measures was the provision of free access to several e-learning platforms for learners across the country, a move that was set to last for three months and was due to expire at the end of June 2020.
However, in a bid to continue supporting digital learning even as schools remain closed, Safaricom has announced the extension of its partnerships with e-learning platforms like Eneza Education, Viusasa, and Longhorn. This move is expected to benefit nearly 2 million learners who have been accessing these platforms since the initiative was launched.
According to Safaricom, more than 10 million education bundles have been redeemed to access the e-learning platforms, with over 1.8 million learners accessing Shupavu291, an SMS-based e-learning service, over the last three months. The service has reported a significant increase in the number of learners accessing its platform, with the number of learners growing by over 400% since the daily fees were waived.
“Waiving the daily fees on Shupavu291 has seen the number of learners accessing our platform every day grow by over 400%.” – Wambura Kimunyu, Eneza Education CEO.
The extension of free digital learning affects the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development’s Kenya Education Cloud and Eneza Education’s Mwalimoo service, which will be accessible for free daily through the free daily 100 megabytes education bundle available through 544#. The bundle can also be used to access Viusasa and Longhorn’s e-learning platforms, which are only open to paying subscribers.
