Schools in most countries are not operational following the spread of corona virus, this has led to most learners depending on digital learning platforms instead to continue with their education. Safaricom – Kenya’s largest mobile service provider in both data and voice has partnered with Eneza Education, Longhorn Publishers and Viusasa to provide free access to educational content for primary and secondary school students studying from home here in Kenya.
Speaking on the development, Safaricom’s new CEO Peter Ndegwa indicated that during this difficult times in Kenya and the world at large, Safaricom was continuously looking for avenues it can be beneficial to its customers. He also acknowledged the initiative was meant to ensure that all students can access education content, whether through feature phones or smartphones, so as to keep up with their studies for the time they will be at home.
By partnering with Eneza Education, students from grade 4 all the way to form 4 will be able to access learning and revision content on the SMS-based Shupavu291 free of charge following a 60-day waiver of the daily KES 3 subscription fee.
Learners will also be able to access education content on Shupavu Web, Viusasa E-learning and the Longhorn E-learning portal through the Safaricom network at no data cost, up to 250MB per day, for the next 60 days [Update: offer has been extended to September while schools are closed].
Eneza Education on its part through CEO Wambura Kimunyu noted they were excited with the partnership resulting in making Shupavu291 platform free to learners across the country during this time. He also added that content would be delivered via SMS and does not require an internet connection, and this ease of access had seen more than 5.3 million students use the platform.
How to access free learning content during the corona period
In 2019, Shupavu291, which is accessed via USSD *291# or through the short code 20851, saw 6.2 million quizzes taken and more than 1 million questions asked on the Ask-A-Teacher platform.
The free to access platforms are as below and will also be available on www.safaricom.com/elimu:
Shupavu Web: www.mwalimoo.com/m
Viusasa E Learning: https://viusasa.com/elimu
Longhorn e-learning: https://elearning.longhornpublishers.com/login/index.php
Perfect leaning