Exampoa aims to help Kenyan Pupils & Students to revise for KCPE & KCSE via their mobile phones. Developed by the Oxford University Press East Africa, the app is interactive learning and revision tool for Kenyan school pupils to use on phones and tablets, and then compare scores.
James Ogolla, Sales and Marketing Manager Director at OUP EA said the Android-based ExamPoa app, which works on Android 4.2, is initially offering English and Science for the primary level, and English, History and Biology for the secondary level and is downloadable from the Safaricom App store.
“Exampoa is a revision tool for pupils as they prepare for the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE),” said Rosemary Kabura, marketing co-ordinator at Oxford University Press. “We are therefore targeting class seven and eight for primary level and forms three and four students in our first phase roll out.”
“Through the Exam Poa app, we offer users two broad download categories: quizzes accompanied by revision notes; and model examinations, all with a ‘game’ feel as the pupils work on different levels of difficulty, as well as competing with pupils from across the country by uploading their scores, just as they do with other kinds of games,” said Rosemary.
To get started, users download the ExamPoa app and can browse the content for free. They then download and pay for specific quizzes that can be completed online or offline.
The coverage of the app will next be extended to cover classes five and six in primary and forms one and two at the secondary level.
“In bringing the app to the market, we are looking to expand the reach in providing excellent learning and teaching materials using mobile phone technology. In addition, we are motivated to make revision fun and accessible to students, while raising the quality of education,” she said.
The ExamPoa app comes at a time when the government has set aside some Sh1.6bn to provide laptops for schools, which will see Kenya join countries such as Rwanda, which has successfully implanted one laptop per child into its school curriculum and is currently working on internet connectivity in order to see the program take full effect.
The app will further encourage pupils’ Internet use and also tap into the knowledge and skill set being offered to teachers who are currently undergoing formal government-funded ICT training.
Exampoa, first commissioned in July 2014, was last week demonstrated at the 8th Annual National Secondary School Student Leaders Conference at BOMAS of Kenya, attended by the education Cabinet Secretary, Dr. Fred Matiangi, who emphasised the importance of education and its power in moving Kenyan youth forwards.