Groups including an association of Kenyan parents reject government's laptop plan for children
7/4/2013NAIROBI, Kenya — A group of Kenyan parents say they oppose the government’s plan to give laptops to schoolchildren.
Musau Ndunda of the Kenya National Association of Parents said today the group thinks the money for laptops should instead go toward raising teachers’ salaries and feeding children.
President Uhuru Kenyatta proposed while campaigning for his office to give laptops to 1.2 million children who start school every year, part of a wider plan to make the East African country an Internet hub. The program, which will cost the government $615 million in three years, is set to start later this year.
More than 200,000 teachers across public schools in Kenya are currently striking over unpaid housing, transport and medical allowances promised 16 years ago.