Kenya has trained ‘thousands of teachers’ in preparation for the introduction of e-learning in primary schools as scheduled for the first quarter of the year, say government officials.

“We have trained 150 000 teachers and are targeting an additional 300 000,” said Belio Kipsang, Kenya’s education principal secretary.

Kipsang was confident the training of the teachers could enhance the success of the e-learning programme.

He said the trained teachers could guide pupils on the use of laptops, which are planned to be distributed during the period.

Kenya plans to buy 1.3 million laptops for class one pupils in public primary schools. Furthermore, submissions for its primary schools laptop tender project were extended to Thursday last week.

But tendering hitches have delayed the implementation of this project, which featured prominently in the ruling Jubilee Alliance party’s manifesto prior to the March 13 2013 elections.

It was reported that bidders were offering up to three times what the government had budgeted.

The delays in tendering has also raised suspicion about whether government can keep its school laptop promise.

“There is no cause for alarm over the laptop project that was one of the campaigns pledges made by the Uhuru Kenyatta during the general election earlier this year. The plan is much on course,” Kipsang attempted to assure education stakeholders.