On 5 October 2025, Airtel Kenya switched on free access to the Kenya Education Cloud and the Elimika teacher-development platform, allowing learners and teachers to use KICD resources without incurring mobile data charges. The move aligns with Airtel Africa’s five-year, 57 million US dollar partnership with UNICEF to scale digital learning across 13 countries.
Why this matters
Kenya’s digital divide remains wide. Recent analyses place household computer ownership at 10.7 percent and home internet usage at 23.8 percent, with rural areas most affected. Removing data costs on curriculum-aligned platforms can directly lower access barriers for classrooms that already have devices but face recurring connectivity expenses.
What zero-rating covers
- Kenya Education Cloud (KEC): Curated, CBC-aligned content from pre-primary through junior secondary, plus special needs and open educational resources. Formats include interactive modules, EduTV lessons and downloadable materials.
- Elimika: KICD’s teacher-training portal with CBC orientation, ICT-integration, and specialised courses for inclusive education.
Airtel says access to these domains is free on its network. As with most zero-rated programs, usage typically applies to the core whitelisted sites and may exclude external links or large third-party downloads.
Link to UNICEF partnership and school connectivity
The zero-rating builds on Airtel Africa’s UNICEF collaboration, which includes monthly data support for public primary schools to integrate digital content into lessons using government-issued tablets. In Kenya, current coverage reports point to 141 public primary schools receiving 300 GB per month under the program, scaling from earlier pilots that started at 30 schools with the same monthly allocation.
Connectivity inside schools is still uneven. As of 2020, only about a third of secondary schools had working internet; newer snapshots suggest roughly 40 percent have functional computer labs, with fewer than half of those connected. Zero-rating for core content can therefore stretch limited school budgets while wider connectivity projects continue.
What it means for CBC classrooms
- For learners: KEC’s grade-wise content supports classroom work and revision without data costs, from Pre-Primary 1 up to Grade 9, plus selected senior-school materials.
- For teachers: Elimika courses make continuous professional development and CBC implementation resources easier to access, including ICT-integration modules.
- For schools: Where Airtel coverage exists, the initiative can reduce recurring bandwidth spending for lesson delivery and teacher training, complementing ongoing school-connectivity efforts led by government and partners.
