Safaricom customers can now buy tokens for coding lessons on M-Pesa following the inking of a deal with online publishing firm Kodris Africa.
Upon purchase of a year’s worth of coding lessons, customers will be required to activate them on a tablet, laptop, or desktop computer for their children.
“We are excited to partner with Kodris to expand access to learning solutions to more than 30 million M-Pesa customers who can now conveniently access the Kodris Mini App through our M-Pesa Super App,” said Safaricom chief executive Peter Ndegwa.
Coding, which is also known as programming, involves translating human intentions into commands that can be understood by computers.
The Safaricom-Kodris deal follows the approval of the coding curriculum by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development as the government moves to boost digital literacy for learners.
Digital literacy is a key plank of the competency-based curriculum that has now been rolled out in Grade Six, the final level of the primary school cycle.
Kenya is the first African country to approve coding as part of the syllabus. Kodris will be offering the syllabus in another 49 nations on the continent.
Kodris Africa chief executive Mugumo Munene said that the partnership with Safaricom will boost initiating coding in Kenya’s education system.
“The skills that students will learn will be relevant today and tomorrow and allow them to explore and unleash their creativity and innovativeness in a highly digitized and computerized world which offers growth opportunities,” he said.
Coding and computer programming are becoming vital job skills in a changing world that is more computerized and connected.
Kodris recently inked a deal with the National Bank of Kenya in what would see the lender’s customers directly pay for coding licences from any of its branches across the country.
