Dear USIU-Africa Community,

As you are aware, we have successfully completed the Spring 2020 semester, which towards its end marked our first successful rollout of online learning at the University following the closure of all institutions of learning. This was done in order to slow the spread of the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) after Kenya reported its first case early last month.

To ensure that the quality of online instruction remained uninterrupted during this period, the University partnered with Safaricom to launch a subsidized mobile data bundle dubbed ‘Remote learning Mobile Data Bundle Subsidy’ to students and faculty who enrolled online for the service when the announcement was made.

It therefore gives me great pleasure to announce that this service is now live. This means that you can now subscribe to the service, and begin the purchase of data bundles in preparation for the Summer semester. To access the service, simply follow the steps below:

• Dial *544*60# from your Safaricom line.
• Select option 1: “Buy 10GB @ Ksh 500 ”.
• You shall then be prompted to pay for the pass from your airtime or through MPESA.
• A message confirming successful purchase will be sent to you, including a link to the Educational Data Pass.
• When you click on the link, you will be redirected to the University’s E-Learning portal to begin using your Educational Data Pass.

Through the partnership, students and faculty will get a 10GB data bundle at a discounted cost of Kes. 500 for a period of 30 days to enhance their access to e-learning platforms. The same data bundle costs Kes. 1,800 in the market. In addition, students and faculty who may have challenges accessing a device could procure one via Safaricom’ s e-commerce platform, Masoko.

While using the bundle, please note that it only supports access to Blackboard, the CX system and the Library platform. In the event that it incorporates third party providers e.g. Zoom and BlueJeans, you will be updated accordingly. We will continue to keep you updated on any other new measures that we will take to ensure that our online instruction continues to remain as seamless as possible, while allowing you to continue enjoying rich and engaging learning experiences.

For any additional information, please refer to the Terms and Conditions of Service.