These are not the best of times to be a KCPE/KCSE candidate in Kenya, more so if you attend a public private school. The closest many pupils are getting to their teachers is seeing their faces splashed on the media as they protest for better pay. Meanwhile, the November 10th start date for KCPE exams draws ever closer.
Most children have resorted to preparing in groups, pooling whatever resources they have available (text books and past papers) in readiness for the exam. Parents, already worried by all the tutoring time lost, now have to contend with tuition to help the children make up for all the lost time.
Safaricom has been quietly piloting an education portal dubbed “Shupavu 291” with the aim of making the service available to as many children as possible. So lets get into it:
What is Shupavu 291?
Shupavu 291 is a USSD based education service from Safaricom. It works equally well on basic/feature/muliak mwizi phones as it does on smart phones.
Ok. So how much does it cost?
The service costs Ksh 10 per week. Read that again. Week! And what do you get for this trifling sum? A whole lot actually:
- Unlimited sms quizzes and content
- An “Ask the Teacher” service
- A Wikipedia query service
In this economy, 10 bob gets you – gum, a small pack of peanuts, a third of roast maize and now? An education.
All that? For 10 bob a week?
Yep.
What do you get for 10 shillings?
Sound promising. So why should I register on Shupavu?
I can think of a number of very compelling reasons:
- While the service does not replace text books, it supplements the learning that the students have been doing.
- You can use it on any device. As long as it has a screen and and send and receive sms, you are totally in business
- Your child can ask a question of a teacher and get an answer within an hour. Even if he (teacher/student) is still in their pyjamas.
Stop selling me this thing and tell me how to get it started already!
Ok. This is what you have to do:
- Dial *291# on your Safaricom phone
- Follow the prompts and provide the requested information
- Voila! You are all done!
Waaaaait! Break down the steps a little more!
Tell you what, I’ll run through the steps with my daughter then come share what the actual experience is like. Expect that post on the 22nd of September 2015.
I’ll see you then.