Ituru High School is in the heart of the Kenyatta family town of Gatundu.

The Teachers and support staff work hard to successfully provide a rich and wide-ranging learning experience for all students, so it was with regret that IT had to be taken off the curriculum. The school lacked the necessary Computers & Computer peripherals to offer a full and enriching technology experience. Knowing how integral technology is to modern life  and the information that can be accessed to support learning goals, Mr. Peter Kariuki, the new school Headmaster) was determined to get IT back on the curriculum. His first hurdle, the budget to install 50 computers all with access to a learning network beyond the walls of the school. In stepped TTAT.

“Did you know there are more smartphones on the planet than tooth brushes but the schools in Kenya have very few computers.”

Miracles do happen in Kenya. Thanks to miracle man Mr. Peter Kariuki

Once again Abdul, Harpal and Liz happily rose to the challenge of implementing a 50-desk Raspberry Pi based e-Learning Centre. The school worked to lay the necessary infrastructure so when our team arrived we were ready to install the learning centre. With the help of teachers and our trusted local supplier CELCOM Africa we implemented a basic 50-desk ICT Infrastructure but were hampered by our Raspberry Pis being held up in Kenyan Customs. Mr. Peter Kariuki camping at the offices of the Kenyan Customs forced the release of our Pis – miracles do happen in Kenya.

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Our detailed plan showed a one-week implementation, with the centre being ready on 20^th June 2019. Instead the Raspberry Pis arrived on the morning of 20^th June. With the help of teachers and students, expertly led by Mr. Peter Kiarie, the new Internet-In-A-Box (IIAB) System was up and running within 2 hours. Just as the system fired into action local dignitaries including Madam Victoria Mulili – County Director of Education for Kiambu county – started to arrive for the opening ceremony. 4 Servers and 50 desktops were installed in record time, leaving the community ready to celebrate the opening and ready to benefit from the access to a wealth of materials curated from across the globe, all listed below

There are numerous books, medical resources and maths & technical simulations within the system. University of Colorado’s PHET system of simulations (https://phet.colorado.edu/) are world class and available to all students and teachers. Project Gutenberg (www.gutenberg.org) alone has over 59,000 books including a number which are on the school’s curriculum list. The wider community benefits from materials like Learn Saylor as the school can now hold Adult classes at off-peak times. The school can also add their own books and material to the system for all to access.

“We thank TTAT for helping school children of Kenya by building this tremendous ICT learning resource and showcasing the best public/ private partnership has to offer.” Madam Mulili, County Director of Education Kiambu County

“This system will enable teachers to start to maximise teaching and learning at Ituru High School. TTAT has done a great job in making the most of technology in our school. Teachers already know that the equipment is going to work and they can now start to compete with the rest of the world” Mr. Peter Kariuki Headmaster Ituru High School.

The ripples of this learning centre can be felt immediately throughout the community and will help kickstart a generation of tech based learning within Kenyan youth – providing them with an education that has served all TTAT Alum so well.

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The Thika Alumni Trust donated 100 new chairs worth kshs 120,000 to Ituru High School in June 2019.

The chairs are made of metal frame with a wooden seat and back.

The trustees of TTAT handed over the chairs just in time for the opening of the new 50-desk e-Learning Centre at Ituru High school.

“Our donation is part of TTAT’s vision of helping our sponsored schools to provide the best and sound facilities in their schools” said Abdul Yusuf Secretary of TTAT.

“We hope that TTAT and Ituru High school partnership will flourish over the coming years in preparing the leaders of tomorrow”

said Abdul Yusuf, Secretary of TTAT.

“I want to express my sincere appreciation for this donation and we really look forward to our partnership,”

Mr. Peter Kariuki, Headmaster Ituru High School

Chetana visited Ituru High School, a new venture for her, and discussed with Mr Peter Kariuki, school Headmaster, and Senior staff how to set-up a new Staff system.

Chetana and her friend Sonal, also an ex-alumnus of Chania High School, met the school’s Peace Club Co-ordinator and discussed how they could interact in the future to provide material for the Club.

Chetana sat-in on 5 lessons (Geography, Mathematics, IT, Physics and English) followed by detailed feedback to each teacher.  Addressed boys before and after each lesson observation.

Chetana said “The Immediate response from staff and senior management was extremely encouraging – certainly a step forward towards achieving TTAT aims but also very rewarding for me personally”

Chetana’s visit to Chania Boys School was instrumental in building a relationship with the new Headmaster Mr Allan Macharia.

The school provided a very positive feedback on the use of equipment previously donated by  a TTAT like Projectors, Laptop, Printer, Whiteboards etc.

Chetana is going to work with Mr. Macharia to set-up a home-made peer appraisal scheme for staff, which they both agreed is a key to raising standards.

Chetana is now working with the schools remotely to further enhance and build on these initial steps.

Abdul & Harpal visited Kenya for a very quick trip to conduct a Feasibility Study and also lay the foundation for The Thika Alumni Trust (TTAT) 2019 Projects in Kenya schools.

Chania Boys High School (CBHS)

Enhanced the existing e-Learning Centre at CBHS as requested by the school by the provision of 6 new clients and upgrade the old RACHEL Servers to new Internet-In-A-Box Servers (IIAB).

Built a small 2 desk Development/ Experiment Shop by the installation of IIAB Development Server plus 2 Workstations (2 x Raspberry Pis, Keyboards & Mice) – to be used for IT Development, Teacher preparation & Student Experimentation. The donation of a Powerbank will enable the school to take their Development server out into the field to conduct their experimentation.

The school was presented with a new WIFI HP Inktank Printer, which will enable staff to print from anywhere with their laptops, smartphones and desktops.

The school were also presented laptops, Video Camera, Routers, A4 Whiteboards, 7-inch Portable Monitor, numerous USB flash drives and various other educational materials.

Gatuma-Ini Primary School (GPS)

Installed a test e-Learning Centre – one Server & 2 clients – at GPS. This was to enable GPS to start using the Internet-In-A-Box (IIAB) server with their existing government provisioned Tablets, which have been sitting in a safe for over a year.

As an addition to the lessons already provided by Shanti last year the teachers were given a further tutorial on the content on the IIAB Server and how to use this material on their government provisioned  tablets. The tutorials will be further enhanced on future trustee visits.

The school was presented with a new Wi-Fi HP Inktank Printer, which will enable staff to print from anywhere with their laptops, smartphones and desktops and the TTAT also donated hundreds of pens and pencils and USB flash drives to the school.

Ituru High School (IHS).

Discussions were undertaken with the school Headmaster, Peter Kariuki, and Heads of Departments on the feasibility of building a 50-Desk e-Learning Centre at Ituru High School in June 2019.

Harpal & Abdul were shown around the designated classroom for the e-Learning Centre which will need to be significantly enhanced with Electricity Power points if it is to be ready for a June implementation.

Left the school a one IIAB Server 2 Desktops – as the pre-cursor to the installation of a full-scale e-Learning Centre at the school and also to enable the teachers to familiarise themselves with the Server & Raspberry Pi content.