Name of the Social Innovation: Tunapanda Institute
(TI)
Founder/Initiator/Leader/Developer of the Innovation: October
2012, Co-founders arrive in Nairobi and begin building “an education on a hard
drive. “Initial problem identified: “free” online education materials,
particularly videos, are expensive for those who pay for bandwidth - which
includes most low-income people. Exact founder is not mentioned.
For more
information: http://www.tunapanda.org/
Project summary:
In Kenya, primary school
students who don't score high enough on a single exam do not secure a place in
secondary school. Many of those who are accepted to high school have
inconsistent attendance due to parents' lack of ability to pay school fees -
they might be in school one week and out the next. Only 5% go on to university,
and the rest find that they lack the skills needed
to find jobs or generate income in today's rapidly-changing world.
Thus for the ones who don’t even reach till university to
get education and skill to find a good job tunapanda runs a training center in a large Nairobi slum serving hard-working
individuals with 3-4 month intensive training programs. TI forms partnerships
with local businesses and community groups to achieve maximal (goal: 100%)
employment or advanced study for TI graduates.
TI works with educational partners in rural and peri-urban
parts of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda to upgrade computer infrastructure,
improve software offerings, and develop advanced technology, design, and
communication skills. TI favors blended-learning, which empowers teachers and
teaching facilitators with software and video content.
· Main
project idea: TI explores how new technologies can solve problems in local
contexts with both educational and practical goals. Technologies under
investigation include 3D printing, mesh networking, and tools enabling
high-impact low-cost digital-era community libraries of the future. TI develops
open source software and creates openly-licensed content (in English and
Swahili) to enable any individual, community organization, school, or family
with computer access to acquire valuable “digital era vocational skills” and
discover their own voice and passion.
· Focus
group: People around slums in East Africa who doesn’t have skill to get good
job.
· Main
outputs:
· Innovative
aspect/s of the idea: If we train people in specific topic they also can get
skill as good as university graduate and get good job leading to a better life.
· Project
location: Headquarter Olympic Estate, Kibera, Nairobi.
· The
project cost: Initiated crowd funding to its different project. Recent crowd
funding it initiated is done in https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/tunapanda-spreading-tech-skills-in-east-africa#/
Rico Morasata
ReplyDeleteThe Tunapanda project is very ambitious as it aims to train rural people in specific fields for them to have more job opportunities compared to graduates. Due to low incomes, parents cannot financially support the education of their children and the latter have to quit school.
The main objective of the project is to train the children with modern technology to allow them to find job opportunities.
I think the project gives hope to many parents as well as children since they help the latter to better integrate today's world.