In a move that is set to revolutionize the future of learning in Kenya, Safaricom, through the M-PESA Foundation, has launched Citizens of the Future, a five-year education program aimed at modernizing the classrooms and training teachers in digital skills, with the aim of supporting thousands of learners coming from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Dubbed “Citizens of the Future,” the ambitious program will involve an investment of KES 30 billion in upgrading over 600 basic and tertiary institutions, providing more than 10,000 scholarships, and improving ICT skills among teachers across the country.
Safaricom CEO Peter Ndegwa said the program brings together the firm’s previous education interventions into one transformative umbrella, anchoring on long-term impact.
“We have developed education interventions that seek to bridge the gap through innovation and material support,” Ndegwa said. “Under the Citizens of the Future Programme, we are consolidating our initiatives to ease access to education from early learning to technical and vocational training over the next five years.”
The M-PESA Foundation has announced plans to establish model “Schools of the Future” that are sustainably built, fitted with modern infrastructure, and inclusive of special needs learners. These schools will represent what education might look like in a digitally driven era.
Despite Kenya’s commitment to education through the allocation of KES 628.6 billion to the sector in the financial year 2023/24, representing 20.7% of national revenue, challenges persist.
Many schools still experience underfunding, outdated learning materials, and insufficient infrastructure, shortfalls that make collaboration with the private sector important.
The initiative comes at a time when the education landscape is changing at a very rapid rate, said M-PESA Foundation Chairman Nicholas Nganga.
“We are witness to what quality education can do for communities,” he said. “In an increasingly digitally driven world, the traditional classroom is becoming more dynamic. We’re going beyond supplementing education to transforming it.”
Trustee Michael Joseph reiterated the same, adding that the move coincided with the 25th anniversary of Safaricom and marked a new beginning in the firm’s social investment journey.
“Our objective under Citizens of the Future is to ensure every region has a model institution that not only trains for academic excellence but also moulds future-ready learners through digital integration,” he said.
Kenyans are further encouraged to nominate deserving schools through the www.citizenofthefuture.org website. This, with shortlisted institutions set to benefit from the first phase of the programme.
This investment, as Safaricom celebrates 25 years of operation, shows the company’s continued commitment, having spent over KES 29 billion through its foundations and impacted over 4 million learners to date, to changing education and empowering the next generation of Kenyan innovators.
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