Next Gen Explorers: Konza uses technology to bring classroom learning to life

The initiative, known as Next Gen Explorers, is designed for learners from Grade 4 through to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) level. It forms part of a wider programme of educational visits that also includes university students undertaking technical tours, industrial attachment and experiential learning.

Josephine Ndambuki, chief manager for business development and innovation at Konza, said the visits were intended to help young people understand the practical applications of technology.

“For all the university students, we have very many of them who come here to Konza for their industrial attachment, for their technical tours, experiential learning, including children. We have a programme called the Next Gen Explorers. Now, the Next Gen Explorers allows children, all of them from grade 4, from grade 4 all the way up to TVET. They come here, they spend a day with us. We show them the technologies we are working with and everything else that is happening around here,” she said.

The programme gives learners an opportunity to encounter infrastructure and technology in a working environment, rather than relying solely on classroom explanations. 

At Konza, that environment includes facilities supporting water treatment and reclamation, automated waste management, digital connectivity and the development of a technology-focused urban centre.

The Technopolis also hosts educational institutions, including the Kenya Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (Kenya-AIST), which is intended to strengthen advanced training and research in science and technology.

For learners considering careers in these fields, exposure to such facilities can help connect academic subjects with their practical applications. It also offers an opportunity to see the range of technical disciplines involved in developing and operating modern infrastructure.

Brian Chage Mwaura, a quantity surveyor at the Technopolis Development Authority, said Kenya-AIST was expected to support innovation through an international approach to science and technology education.

“Since it's being spearheaded by the Ministry of Education in conjunction with the Korean team, we intend to now foster a lot of innovative thinking, not on a local scale but internationally as well,” he said.

He said access to advanced training within the country could also give students an alternative to seeking similar opportunities abroad.

“Rather than saying you want to find a scholarship to go to outside Kenya, you can just get a scholarship and study within Kenya,” Mwaura said.

The educational visits and the presence of institutions such as Kenya-AIST place learning within the wider development of Konza as a technology and innovation hub. The approach brings together infrastructure, research and opportunities for students to engage with emerging fields.

While the Next Gen Explorers programme targets younger learners, the wider educational activities extend to university students and those pursuing technical training. The programme's stated reach, from Grade 4 to TVET level, creates opportunities for learners at different stages to explore technology.

The available programmes' central focus, however, is clear: to give learners direct exposure to the technologies and facilities shaping the Technopolis and help them understand how science and innovation operate beyond the classroom.