Airtel has donated 40 solar lamps to Tala SA primary school and St. Mary’s Tala primary school in Machakos County, Kenya in a move expected to help over 1,2oo students from the two schools the freedom to extend their study hours, allowing them to revise and complete their coursework to enable them to succeed in their education.
According to the firm, the solar lamps are also a vast improvement on the poor light from candles and kerosene lamps, that may cause long-term eye strain; a significant health effect to the children.
Airtel Kenya CEO Adil El Youssefi “Lack of adequate lighting critically undermines children’s ability to study in the evening and consequently constrains their performance in the classrooms. We believe that the solar-powered lamps will now allow the students to study and for teachers to prepare during the hours of darkness. This will greatly contribute to the academic performance of the students and improved grades for the school.
Today, approximately 800 million people in the world lack access to reliable lighting. A recent survey titled “Exploring Kenya’s Inequality” by Society for International Development (SID) and Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) indicates that nearly 70 per cent of Kenyans rely on kerosene tin lamps as a mode of lighting.
In most parts of the country, many students rely on kerosene lit lanterns as their main source of lighting at night, which constrains their study through dimness, indoor air pollution, fire risks, and high marginal cost of usage.
Airtel Kenya has so far connected over 60 schools across the country, allowing teachers and students 24 hours access to access learning material and unlimited amount of information from the internet.