‘Pay teachers more instead of free laptop’, Kenyan parents say is the headline of an interesting newspaper article.

The Kenya National Association Of Parents opposes the $700 million dollar government deal with Microsoft to give free laptops to students because of the present shortage of teachers, the bad working conditions of present teachers, and the lack of preparation for the technology program.

I don’t know the specifics of Microsoft’s program, though the mixed results of the One Laptop Per Child program does raise some questions about what they might be doing.

There’s a much bigger question, though — Again, I don’t know the details, but perhaps Kenyan parents should have been consulted prior to such a major education policy decision?

Just sayin’….

I’m adding this info to The Best Resources On Parent Engagement In Countries Other Than The U.S.