Over 5,000 learners in Garissa University are set to benefit from improved learning outcomes after the M-Pesa Foundation broke ground on a Tuition Complex worth KES 272.9 million.
The project will see the construction and equipping of modern lecture halls, science & ICT laboratories, faculty offices, examination and conference facilities powered by solar energy with water harvesting systems, making them sustainable. This is in addition to a Safaricom Innovation & Entrepreneurship Centre, in a bid to encourage skills-based education for young people.
“Education has the power to transform lives if learners are given an opportunity to access quality facilities. Education goes beyond content, with infrastructure as an enabling factor in improving learning standards. At the Foundation, we have embarked on a programme known as Citizens of the Future that is targeted at construction, renovation and equipping of institutions in all 47 counties” said Esther Koimett, Chair, M-PESA Holdings Company Limited.
This week the M-Pesa Foundation will be also be launching an ICT centre at the University of Embu under its TVET Programme, adding on to a list of institutions that will benefit from facilities that will equip the youth with practical, market-relevant training, for a future-ready workforce and entrepreneurs.
These include an ICT Centre at Maseno University and a nursing school at Tangaza University in Nairobi, under the Citizens of the Future programme, that aims to provide over 10,000 scholarships in 5 years to learners in TVETs and senior secondary.
For years, the M-Pesa and Safaricom Foundations have supported higher education, with the Safaricom Foundation TVET Programme supports more than 1,000 students in institutions such as Waithaka Vocational College, Ahero Vocational Centre and Wiyumiririe Vocational Centre. Under the same Foundation, the Wezesha Vijana Programme is supporting vulnerable youth in Nairobi, Isiolo and Marsabit Counties with technical and digital skills.
Parallel to this, the Digital Skills Program is upskilling teachers in digital skills in about 35 Teacher Training Colleges with Machakos, Egoji and Eregi TTCs among the institutions which are set to be upgraded, empowering learners through boosting teacher digital literacy.
Since Inception, Safaricom through its Foundations has invested KES 912 million in more than 58 projects across Garissa County in Education, Health and Livelihoods.
