The objectives of this project are to improve the movement of people and goods and digital connectivity and access to social services to communities at designated locations along the targeted sections of the Isiolo-Mandera Regional Road Corridor; and the capacity strengthening of selected transport related institutions in Kenya. Under this component Kenya Institute of Highways and Building Technology is beneficially of U$ 2.32 million. KIHBT will use this money in constructing five floor ICT Smart Classrooms and equipping it with all necessary equipment’s.

 INSTITUTIONAL BENEFITS OF A SMART CLASSROOM

i.    The smart classroom will spur innovation and provoke creative and analytical thinking especially in robotics, automotive engineering, and renewable energies.
ii.    It will enable the institute to save on equipment cost since students will be trained using simulators instead of actual equipment. Due to the reduced cost of training, student enrolment will be increased.
iii.    Smart classrooms will modernize our teaching methodology to ensure that our students are at par with the technology in use in the developed countries.

ECONOMIC BENEFITS

i.    Unemployment for youths in Kenya is a major problem. According to a 2017 report by world bank, youth unemployment in the country stood at 17.3 percent. (dairy nation newspaper report dated Wednesday, June 5,2019 pg18). This is because graduates from the Kenyan institutions lacks important skills that the employers are looking for. The new attitudes, knowledge and skills will increase KIHBT graduates’ employability, allow them to explore new technologies and bring new ideas to industry which will lead to economic growth.
ii.    The project objective is in line with National ICT strategy for Education and Training (2006) which focusses on "the use of ICT in schools, colleges, universities and other educational and training institutions in the country, so as to improve the quality of teaching and learning".
The project will lead to improvement of access, quality, and relevance of TVET education in Kenya, through the integration of ICT based resources and to bridge the gap between theory and practical training, which can be combined with practical hands-on education and training.

PROJECT ACHIVEMENTS BY OCTOBER 2023

•    Forty laptops procured and distributed to the teaching staff to improve on digital delivery of lessons.
•    In the financial year 2023-2024 about seventy (70) members of staff to be trained on capacity building courses. 
•    Design of the ICT Block already done.