Sote ICT Teacher Manual 2015

Teacher Manual
First edition 2014

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About the Project and Its Aims
SoteICT is a project of the partnership between Pontis Foundation (Slovakia) and Kasigau
Wildlife Trust (Kenya), made possible through SlovakAid co-funding. Sote, which in the
Swahili language means ´everybody´, stands in the title to demonstrate project’s
commitment to make ICT accessible to a higher number of students in Kenya and in that
way raise their future employability through improved soft and computer skills. We develop
these skills in educators and learners alike through equipment and software donations,
continual trainings, cooperation with school management and establishment of student IT
clubs and training companies. Having started in 2010 with only one school, Moi High School
Kasigau, the scope of the project has broadened beyond 10 secondary schools and thus
helps improve lives of thousands of students all around Taita Taveta County.
What We Do and Why It Is Important
The high penetration of mobile phones, a higher rate of success of businesses which are
able to market their products online, or employers demanding job applicants to possess
computer skills, all demonstrate that ICT has become an integral part of the society of
Kenya. Taking into consideration high rates of unemployment especially among young
people, employers today can choose those who best suit a profile of their desired candidate.
Hence, the job market is becoming extremely competitive and to stand a chance, a
candidate needs to demonstrate a set of skills serving as their competitive advantage.
Therefore the goal of soteICT is to provide students with this advantage through enhancing
their critical thinking, creativity, and business skills. This is accomplished through
recombination of three important aspects which will be dealt with further below: the
integration of ICT in schools at all levels, project-based learning and establishment of ICT
clubs and student-led training companies. We have focused on rural schools in Taita Taveta,
as adviced by our partner Kasigau Wildlife Trust, and gradually expanded our presence in
the county whilst supporting the cooperation between Kenyan and Slovak schools by
project-based learning through training companies. This manual is an attempt to create a
practical guide for teachers that introduces simple but powerful ideas and resources and
summarizes our experience. We hope the guide will facilitate the expansion of our soteICT
programme to other schools in Taita Taveta County, Kenya, and beyond.

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Contents
ICT Integration in Education ..................................................................................................................4
Project-based Learning ..........................................................................................................................5
soteICT Clubs ..........................................................................................................................................7
Training Companies................................................................................................................................8
From a Teacher to a Mentor............................................................................................................10
Simulation Game ...............................................................................................................................25
Training Company Organisational Structures ............................................................................26
Setting Up a Training Company......................................................................................................35
Keeping the Companies Active .......................................................................................................37
Appendix A: CVs, Cover Letters and Emails .................................................................................42
Appendix B: Slovak – English Dictionary for SCCF Internet Banking......................................54
Appendix C: Our Teachers’ Practices ............................................................................................58
Appendix D: Certification requirements of Practice Enterprise Network.............................61
References and Useful Sources.......................................................................................................83

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ICT Integration in Education
In order to turn students into perspective young job applicants or entrepreneurs, the
integration of ICT in education is an inevitable step. Moreover, as it will be demonstrated
further, the use of technology in schools has many advantages not only for students but also
for teachers and administrators.
How Students Benefit from the ICT Integration in Education
First and foremost, the biggest advantage of ICT integration is the interest and motivation it
induces in students. Instead of “chalk and talk” methods, the students are exposed to more
engaging processes using visual and audio content such as pictures, graphs, presentations,
records, videos and many others, which have a positive impact on their attention.
Recombining these types of content in a lesson helps students understand from the very
beginning and hence process the information more effectively. The increase in interest and
attention then positively influences students’ motivation and in turn also their attitudes
towards studying and education as such. The effective and balanced use of technology
improves academic performance and the innovative methodology of project-based teaching
enhances soft skills, such as team work. This can increase chances for graduates both for
university entry and future employment. Innovative teaching methods are of a great benefit
also to a school which based on good results gains a good reputation and recognition.
Except from these, there are still more benefits to it. Working with a computer and
browsing the Internet tests students ability to find information, requires that they think
critically, distinguish important from unimportant, follow instructions, make decisions, solve
various problems and take initiative over their own work. All of these skills are essential for
students’ future professional and even personal lives. They learn how to present their own
ideas and themselves effectively and being exposed to ICT makes them more comfortable
with it, which results in an increase of their self-confidence and self-esteem. Moreover,
with internet (via Skype, FB, email, etc.) they can get in touch with schools from all over the
world, for example with the Slovak students as is the case of this project. This online
cooperation not only makes the experience of other cultures more vivid in classrooms, but
motivates students to learn from each other and be more competitive. Through regular
competitions and collaboration with other schools, students get timely feedback and
volunteers mentor them on important life skills such as CV writing, job interview simulation
and working in student training company.
How Teachers Benefit from the ICT Integration in Education
By integrating ICT tools in their classes, teachers can instil excitement about studying and
engage their students in ways plain “chalk and talk” methods cannot. Technology enables
the demonstration of complex concepts so that they are easier to comprehend at the first
hearing, and therefore lessen the time a teacher would spend repeating them. Of course, in

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the beginning it may take some time to learn how to create an effective presentation, but
once it is done it may prove as a great time saver because it can be re-used multiple times
with some updates according to the given curricula. Moreover, ICT helps teachers illustrate
also the situations that would be unsafe or risky in the real life, such as chemical processes
with poisonous gases or behaviours of dangerous animals. Further, not only teachers’ free
time is enhanced, but also the time spent in class can be used more effectively focusing on
students’ questions and understanding rather than redrawing graphs, charts, etc…
Lectures become improved also by teachers’ unlimited access to information and resources
available online or in various e-learning programmes. The option of storing students’ data
for years, such as personal details and results, is a great assessment tool. It allows to track
student’s progress over time and identify the areas which need to be improved or focused
on further (e.g. we can find out that a student is good at Maths but keeps having problems
with geometry tests). Such electronic portfolios may also be displayed in communication
with parents to inform about their child’s performance.
Finally, teachers can use ICT to expand their own opportunities and practice or increase
their competence by overcoming the classroom isolation and getting in touch with
colleagues via professional networks in order to share experience, ideas, and resources. This
can be done in teachers’ working time when they are not having classes, but also after work
as a part of their professional and personal development.
There are several advantages of using professional networks for teachers. On a personal
level, the networks allow them to socialise with their counterparts, discuss their experience,
communicate easily or join together for a common cause. Professionally, the contacts can
help them to acquire information or arrange inter-school partnerships. Furthermore,
potential employers can look up a person´s profile using these professional networks.
Project-based Learning
The presence of a new technology in classroom as such does not magically improves
students performance unless the effective and innovative methods that use the
transformative potential of ICT are implemented. The successful implementation of project-
based learning (PBL) presents such an innovation that can multiply positive effects of
technology in education. It introduces student projects of various complexity and duration.
They help learners combine their knowledge of various subjects from the curriculum and
create a final product: research outcome or a solution to a certain problem. This outcome is
presented publicly in a form of a presentation, text, blog article or artefact. It shifts the
focus from the instruction of curriculum to the construction of final products based on the
knowledge gained from the curriculum. Students hold various positions within their project

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teams in PBL and a teacher assumes the role of a facilitator. The students learn in the course
of PBL various so called 21st
century skills – collaboration, independent problem solving,
communication, project management and critical thinking. These skills combined with an
effective use of ICT tools can help prepare students for real life responsibilities, for instance,
in their future jobs.
Project-based teaching also cultivates collaboration between teachers as well as the
application of knowledge in one subject to practical problem solving that involves other
subjects too. There are potential risks in overestimating the final product and
underestimating the group dynamics. In this case not all students in a project team gain the
same skills and team leaders do work on behalf of the weaker members. However, the
effective facilitation and regular feedback from the team can help prevent these negative
aspects.
Today, PBL is commonly used in extracurricular activities even without noticing, for
example, when a particular group of students prepares for a scientific competition or
creates a school magazine. Our soteICT programme intends to promote PBL across the
whole spectrum of school activities and to help students develop their presentation skills
through ICT. For instance, student ICT clubs can help school administrators to prepare
school presentations, brochures, calendars, magazines and business cards using tools like
MS Publisher or PowerPoint. The ICT club is also a place to develop a long-term project we
introduced – student training companies which help students simulate business operations
and make use of the knowledge they have learnt during their Business Studies. Besides
presentation skills, we stress the importance of typing, using an automatic grammar
correction tool, and effective business communication skills in preparation of a Curriculum
Vitae or cover letters. We conduct regular competitions between schools in CV and essay
writing or creating promotional videos for student companies.
There are various levels of PBL integration in a daily life of schools. Our project also helps
the schools improve the presentations for their scientific competitions and develops various
soft skills in students during their weekly ICT clubs. We strongly believe that teachers of all
subjects who embrace not only technology (email, text editor, presentation software,
internet, etc.) but also the new possibilities of technology in project-based learning benefit
from it greatly.
We encourage teachers to get further information on PBL and connect through their
colleagues on professional networks, such as Partners in Learning which is operated by
Microsoft, or blogs like Edutopia.

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soteICT Clubs
Computer literacy is often one of the most crucial requirements of companies to their job
applicants. ICT, however, brings a great potential to improve much more than mere
computer skills. Computing positively impacts critical thinking, creativity, initiative and
accountability – all of which are crucial for creating good working habits for both
employment and one’s own business management. However, due to the lack of resources,
time or a high number of students, the Computer Studies alone may not be sufficient to
develop students’ individual skills to the fullest.
Therefore, the benefits of ICT integration in education can be enhanced through the
establishment of ICT clubs. The advantage of ICT clubs is that they allow students to use
technology in ways which the regular Computer Studies class curricula do not. Thus, the ICT
clubs complement the classes, as, besides equipping students with theoretical knowledge,
they provide the opportunity to develop the skills through practical experience. While the
classes focus on teaching how to master a tool (i.e. technical aspects – how to use Microsoft
Office), the clubs should use these tools in order to teach practical skills (e.g. how to use
Microsoft Office tools to create an attractive CV design, how to create effective databases,
etc.). Also, the clubs put emphasis on students’ ability to use the ‘power of internet’, find
necessary information on their own, distinguish important from unimportant and use the
acquired knowledge for their own benefit (e.g. to find advices on how to successfully pass a
job interview).
As the clubs should be student-led, teachers’ position shifts from a lecturer to a mentor.
This unburdens the teachers who instead of preparing extensive materials and
demonstrations operate as motivators and facilitators (e.g. when teaching about video
editors, the mentors give students essential information but let them explore all the
functions of the given editor themselves). In this way the students get advice and feedback
they need but they also learn to work independently.
Setting topics and activities for the clubs, the teachers can be creative and try new and
challenging ideas so that they can grow, learn and have fun alongside their students.
Moreover, they can search for some inspiration online (a good source of activity ideas are,
for example, www.teach-ict.com/teachershome.htm, www.parkfieldict.co.uk/ictclub/ or
www.simonhaughton.co.uk/2010/01/ict-club-activities.html). Furthermore, we encourage
student ICT clubs to focus a big share of their activities on another important aspect of the
soteICT project - the student training companies.

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Training Companies
With a 40 percent unemployment rate, the formal employment in Kenya is diminishing and
the impact of small businesses on country’s economy takes on a greater significance. Every
year a great number of secondary school graduates start their own firms. However, a
research shows that more than 60 percent (Ndeje, 2013) of these companies go bankrupt
every year as a result of insufficiency of resources, but mostly also due to the lack of
practical managerial and organisational skills that are essential for a successful business
leadership. In good faith that these companies have a potential to grow and improve lives of
individuals and communities, this project aims to identify and address these problems by
providing computer-based business learning environment in which students can develop
their entrepreneurial skills and creativity.
What Are Training Companies?
Training companies simulate a real-business environment. Replicating all functions of an
actual firm, from production to marketing, sales, customer relations, accounting, human
resources (HR), etc., they work within detailed structures and departments. Similarly to real
firms, they keep their records, materials and documentations, such as orders, invoices or
shipping forms. In order to make the experience even more real, the global market is
simulated by a cooperation of the practice enterprises working on import-export basis. In
the case of this project the Practice Enterprise Network connects training companies in
Kenya and Slovakia.
What Are the Benefits?
One of the advantages of training companies is that they cut across borders by developing
business, computer and life skills essential for students’ future after a high school. The real-
world skills acquisition occurs through ´learning by doing´. Even though the students can
make actual products or partner with real companies, the training methodology by the
Practice Enterprise Network is not based on any real goods or money transaction and
stresses the need of close simulation of relevant business practices in Kenya. The interface
between education and development of real-life skills occurs through the replication of real-
life business processes.
By establishing training companies, the project aims to provide the students with a
competitive advantage in order to equip them for the job market and entrepreneurship.
People who start their own businesses without any previous experience acquire the skills
and knowledge throughout the process. It is quite natural that the process of ´learning by

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From a Teacher to a Mentor
(the Role of Teachers in soteICT Clubs And Training Companies)
Even though the Kenyan curricula are very good at equipping students with an extensive
knowledge in order to prepare them for any professional choices, they can often feel too
compressed or heavily based on memorising. Therefore, the ICT clubs and training
companies aim to provide students with an opportunity to develop their “21st
century” skills
in a way regular classes may not. Naturally, with a shift from theoretical to practical, the
method of ´learning by doing´ brings a change in the role of teachers in this process. In order
to learn the necessary skills, students they need to be able to learn how to work
independently, make their own decisions or judgements. Therefore, in the ICT clubs and
training companies, instead of a lecturer, a teacher becomes a mentor, a motivator and a
facilitator.
Mentor
What Is Mentoring?
Mentoring can be understood as an active relationship between an experienced person
(mentor) and a mentee, aimed at developing mentee’s knowledge and skills, which would
enhance their personal and professional growth. In comparison with teaching, mentoring
does not focus on providing the mentee with answers or solutions to their problems, but
rather guiding them towards the right direction so that they can resolve problems
themselves. An important part of mentoring is a provision of critical, honest, unbiased and
balanced feedback in a suitable form, in order to provide students with something they can
learn from and build on.
What Is the Role of a Mentor?
Mentor’s role changes according to the needs of individual stages of mentee’s development.
They pass on the benefit of their experience by sharing knowledge and resources, providing
guidance, advice but they also pose as role models by sharing information on their own
career path.
Instead of telling mentees what to do, mentors realise that the effectiveness of learning is
enhanced when students are responsible and feel ownership over their work. Focusing on

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students’ total development, mentors help their students clarify their goals and methods for
their achievement.
A huge emphasis is on the relationship between a mentor and a mentee. Students may
often be unconfident or afraid to share their thoughts with people who they naturally look
up to and respect. It is up to the mentor to create an atmosphere in which learners feel safe
and appreciated. A mentee needs to be valued as a person and be paid attention to.
Providing non-judgemental support, honest feedback and maintaining confidentiality are all
essential elements for creating such atmosphere.
In order to make the relationship work, it is essential that the mentor is interested in this
kind of work. Students need to feel they can trust their mentors and not to feel like they
bother them with all their questions or problems. Mentors should possess active listening
skills so that they can analyse and react to what a mentee is saying without interrupting.
Dealing with different kind of personalities, mentors need to be patient and ready to
support the students’ views and decisions. Still, an honest and critical feedback is always
desirable but must not be replaced by imposing mentor’s views and opinions.
How Does a Mentor Benefit?
The mentoring relationship does not brings benefits only to a mentee. Taking on the role of
a mentor is a rewarding and valuable position to be in, given only to professionals with a
proven record of experience and results. Throughout the process, mentors learn and
develop alongside their wards; they broaden their knowledge and develop new skills. By
cooperating with young promising persons, mentors potentially increase their professional
and personal networks for the future. Mentoring not only gives mentors a new dimension
to their every-day job, but most importantly, allows them to see others learn from their
experience and, based on that, to grow into productive individuals.
Feedback
Often the reason for hindering students‘ development rests in their misunderstanding or
disinformation about their performance. Without any consultations, students may struggle
identifying their mistakes and hence also the areas for further improvements. Therefore, an
appropriate and regular feedback plays a crucial role in enhancing learners’ potential
through raising awareness of their strengths as well as areas to work on harder.
For any feedback to be effective it needs to be understood as an interaction between a
mentor and a mentee rather than a one-way communication. It is then also highly valued by
students as they know that it comes from someone who they know and respect.

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A quality feedback should adhere to a few basic principles:
1. Timeliness – Feedback should be provided, if possible, immediately after an activity
is over. This allows students to remember the process of learning or problem
resolution clearly, reflect upon it and think of rectifications. A mentor should operate
in the boundaries of “here and now”, which means that they do not bring up
mistakes from previous assignments in order to avoid discouraging a student.
However, in case there is a certain pattern of behaviour which needs to be
emphasised and overcome, an exception can be made.
2. Concreteness – A feedback which is too general or does not focus on specific
observations may lack effectiveness. Therefore, mentors need to be clear on the
subject of their feedback, concentrate on specific issues and provide concrete
examples whenever possible. Mentees should be acquainted with intended
outcomes of an assignment. If possible, the point should be summarised again at the
end of a meeting session.
3. Practicality – After identifying the problematic areas clearly, it is important to
provide students with guidance or suggestions on alternative behaviour. A mentor
and their mentee should be able to agree on actions to be taken in order to improve
the performance of the mentee.
4. Balance – In order to prevent the student from taking a defence when receiving
criticism or getting discouraged, it is important to communicate the message
sensitively. Therefore, it is advised that a negative feedback is preceded by a positive
one. The purpose of positive feedback is to highlight a mentee’s strengths and
successes achieved so far. A student who has been motivated in this way becomes
more receptive to a correcting message. In all cases, feedback should be provided
confidentially and in private.
Motivator
Why Is Motivation Important?
A strong motivation makes the process of teaching and learning more effective, easier and
more comfortable for both teachers and students. Generally, if people see a purpose and
meaning in what they do, and find the end point attractive or useful, they pay more
attention, they are more collaborative and initiative. What may motivate students is also
the content of a class and the way in which information is presented. It can often be seen
that students tend to like or prefer specific classes because they find teacher’s personality
pleasant or the information is disseminated in a more attractive way. Motivated students

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show better behaviour, working habits and improved academic performance. They work
harder because they see the reason of doing so. As it has already been mentioned, one of
such tools of attracting students’ attention and increasing their motivation is for instatnce
the integration of ICT in teaching. Another important advantage of motivation is that the
students are encouraged to move beyond their comfort zone and develop beyond their own
limits. Motivation instils positive attitudes to education and helps overcome difficult or
challenging times more easily.
When students are motivated, it is beneficial not only for them but also for their teachers
and schools. Teachers find it easier to work with inspired students, while schools can boast
about better academic results which position them well in the national ranking of secondary
education institutions. The very same proven record of results also ensures a good
reputation of teachers and broadens their opportunities for the future. Hence, motivation
helps to achieve goals of all – students, teachers, and schools. It can be seen as a smart way
of leadership which is adopted also by top Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of companies
worldwide. By getting all the support, encouragement and motivation from their mentors,
students have a great potential to find their own confidence and become effective leaders
themselves.
How to Motivate Students?
Motivation
Most importantly, for anyone to be motivated, they first need to see the meaning of their
efforts. Mentors should make their students understand why it is important for them to
work hard, try new things, think outside the box. Further, mentors should show their
students meaning behind all the activities, tell them where the actions taken are supposed
to lead them, what new skills they can develop through them. Often, the problem of
students’ passivity lays in the fact that they do not understand the purpose behind tasks
given to them. Even most useful educational tools, such as training companies, can prove
ineffective due to members’ inactivity caused by confusion over their purposes. Therefore,
the best motivators never go without explaining the meaning of every activity and by doing
so encourage better performance.
The roles of a motivator and a mentor have much in common and are related to each other.
Similarly to mentors, motivators need to develop mutual trust and respect with their wards.
Emotional support and person’s belief that there is someone who has faith in them seem to
be one of the best encouragement tools. Appreciation and well-communicated criticism
drive students forward and make them want to achieve more by working harder. On the
other hand, a lack of appreciation may lead to loss of students’ motivation and interest in

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their work. Rewarding does not need to involve any material tokens, a word of appreciation,
a letter or a simple certificate are enough. These certificates, of course, should explicitly
state the quality or the act for which the person is being rewarded.
The students get encouraged also by being exposed to inspiring people. Therefore, by
setting a good example for their wards, teachers can become role models and have a
positive impact on students’ desire to achieve their goals.
People often get discouraged when they do not understand their roles or feel like they
cannot change anything or have no word in decision-making process. Hence, motivation can
be ensured by allowing students to get a hands-on experience through taking part in
planning, problem resolution or individually-assigned tasks.
Communication and team work
Communication and team spirit are also essential. In order to be able to fully develop their
potential, the students need to feel they work in a safe environment. They need to feel they
can express themselves and will not be mocked for their opinions or actions. It is important
to be sensitive to students’ personal issues as it may be these which hold them back. Young
people are often under much pressure from their families, teachers, and friends. Students
with worse performance are often convinced they are “stupid" and therefore resign any
attempts to accomplish something or excel at anything. However, experience shows that
each person has a different set of skills and the best qualities await to be discovered. Still,
they will not come on the surface if a student feels given up on or underestimated.
Therefore, one of the main roles of teachers is to help students find their talents and
interests and assist them in their further development.
As a consequence of the lack of confidence, students may be passive. There are various
reasons for that; some may be bullied by their companions, some may feel they cannot
amount to much due to their personal background, origin, gender, looks, handicaps, etc…
The role of a motivator is to try to identify such reasons and by empathising with students’
situations provide them with support which makes them stronger. Again, no difficult or
sophisticated approaches are necessary. If you see that a student is shy and does not
believe in himself or herself, start with assigning them simple tasks which you are sure they
can accomplish. By carrying out challenging tasks and accomplishing them successfully, you
are showingstudents the qualities the possess and a sense of achievement inculcates a
higher self-esteem and gives them the drive to further continue in their development.
Also, it is not advised to assign multiple roles to a small number of students as the rest may
feel neglected or may think they are perceived by a teacher as unfit for the tasks. In their
mentoring positions, teachers should aim at securing development of the highest possible

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number of their wards which can be done only by a balanced division of tasks. At this point,
a mentor and motivator becomes a facilitator too.
Facilitator
Who Is a Facilitator?
Facilitators are individuals who help a group work effectively and achieve improved or
exceptional performance in order to bring about results. Therefore, an essential part of their
role is to secure quality and continuity of activities which takes place following an agreed-on
agenda, as well as keeping records, deadlines and encouraging an active participation of
students. Facilitators support internal and external collaborations between schools, clubs
and training companies and promote good practice. Even though their assistance should be
unobtrusive, their guidance promotes mutual understanding, shared responsibility, and
advocates for fair and inclusive procedures in a group’s work. Good facilitation helps create
a safe environment in which group members are not afraid to take risks or express
themselves. The content of activities should be student-led, but the role of a teacher is to
facilitate the learning process and its structure. The meaning of doing so is to enable
students to benefit to the highest possible measure.
Good Practices
1. Time-management
Time management may be understood as everyone’s own system or a set of practices which
helps them ‘create time’ they need for accomplishing a certain task or organising their lives
more efficiently. There are many benefits of time-keeping. It helps setting up one’s priorities
and positively impacts discipline, focus and attention, which in turn leads to a higher
productivity and after all success.
A good time management system prevents people from losing momentum. By giving their
work an exact structure, it takes them closer to their goals and enhances development of
their skills. Meeting deadlines at work, school projects or any team activities does not only
impact one person, but can have consequences for the whole group. Therefore, it is as
important for teachers to do their best to allow their students to benefit the most, as it is
for the students to try hard in order to secure teacher’s good reputation and work results.

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business environment. Still, in order to develop them successfully, it is important for
students to improve their skills continuously through regular and frequent assignments with
time-bound targets and specific objectives. Therefore, the soteICT team of teachers, who
are the greatest strength of the project, should make sure that their students’ progress
constantly and use the resources provided to them effectively.
However, on a way to success there may be many obstacles. These are, for instance, weak
internet connectivity, insufficiency of time due to tight schedules, passive students, or non-
existent customers for the training companies which may lead to a situationwhere the
companies do not know how to progress with their activities. Fortunately, websites are full
of various ideas and suggestions for fun activities for the clubs. Generally, teachers can be
very busy and it is understandable if they do not have time to google and read websites
looking for information. In this case, they can contact the soteICT team, who are here to
assist the mentors in their roles and are very happy to provide them with some inspirations.
The following are some of the activities which the ICT clubs can carry out to keep the
students busy. For most of them, internet connection is not necessary, even though it may
come handy. The ICT clubs and the companies can adopt these activities but also recombine
them or amend them according to their will:
1. Typing assignments – Typing remains a challenge not only for young students but
often even for people who have worked with a computer for some time now. In
order to master this skill, students can retype a page from a magazine or a textbook.
They can even compete about who is the fastest. By having them write essays, blogs,
articles, etc., teachers help them improve this important skill too. Very helpful are
typing instructors, such as Mavic Beacon software, which are usually freely
downloadable from web,. (no internet further necessary).
2. MS Office and other programs – If a school is low on internet, the students can use
the ICT clubs to enhance their abilities to work in MS Office. They can learn how to
use the tools creatively, in a way they are not able to use them in class. They can, for
example, create various posters for the clubs or schools, design business cards not
only for themselves but also for their teachers, prepare leaflets, information sheets
for parents’ day or school functions. Moreover, if teachers are free, they can even
download more programs freely accessible online, or contact the soteICT team to
provide them with some. An example could be AVS Video Editor or various chatter
boxes and animators (Scratch) in which they can create even their own PC games.
The plan of activities for the ICT clubs could reflect upon the needs of the
companies; they can correlate. That means that if the companies need to prepare a
video that week, they can learn at the ICT classes how to work with various editors
and cut the shot material. (No internet necessary)

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3. Thematical presentations – ensuring balanced participation, the students can be
assigned a theme about which they would have to make a presentation in Power
Point and pitch in front of the class. They may choose the topic themselves, or if
passive, the mentor can help. (No internet necessary)
4. Regular reports – the members of the ICT club and the companies as well as their
single departments can give oral and written reports about their operations and
functioning to the mentor on regular basis whilst changing the spokesperson so that
more students can benefit. (No internet necessary)
5. Blogs – it happens that the students set up their own blogs but struggle to update
them. This can be a great activity, as besides keeping them busy and developing their
typing skills, it also improves their writing, composition, presentation and the way in
which they express themselves. Instead of just uploading pictures, the teachers may
have them write regular articles about their activities, interesting topics, news from
the clubs, schools or their communities. (Internet necessary)
6. School magazines and yearbooks – in case the Internet connection is too weak,
instead of blogs, students can create regular school magazines reflecting on the
hottest issues or any topic of their choice (approved by the school administration) or
school year books. Insufficiency of printers, cartridges or paper is not an issue – the
magazines can exist only in an electronic form and in case there is a good
connection, they can be accessed online. (No internet necessary )
7. SoteICT contests – in order to keep the clubs busy, the soteICT team prepares
regular contests (e.g. video contests, Ambassadors of Change competitions,CV
writing contests, business case contests, etc.), the purpose of which is to help
advance students’ abilities and knowledge. All the information is distributed through
soteICT Facebook page and by emails directly to the teachers. Even though
sometimes internet may be necessary, these contests are mostly designed so that
everyone, even the schools without internet connection are able to participate.
8. Internal contests – Competitions can be organised within the schools when the
competitors are the individual students or the companies between each other.
Besides typing competitions, these may be for instance poster competitions, photo
essay contests, cover letter contests, best marketing contests, best videos, best
business cards, etc. The contests can also copy the competitions carried out by the
soteICT team in order to enhance students’ abilities in the given field further. (No
internet necessary)

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9. Business cases – if there is a problem of a missing customer, the mentor or the
students themselves can make up a business case. This means, the whole story of a
customer coming to use the services or buy the products would be just virtual.
However, this virtual customer would spend their money in the company and
therefore, all the departments would have to start operating and processing the
transaction as well as using the good service to illustrate quality of their firm in their
promotional materials. All of these activities, the mechanism and the structure of
companies’ functioning are explained in the next chapter. (Internet may be very
helpful but it is not essential)
10. Kenyan or Kenyan-Slovak cooperation – a wide network of the soteICT project
which reaches 10 schools in Kenya and a number of them in Slovakia can be used as
a great opportunity to start inter-school activities beneficial for both sides. It does
not only increase the competition and therefore activity, creativity and general
performance of the groups, but also presents a great chance to learn from each
other, make friends and get to know other cultures. (Internet necessary)
11. Thematic months – in the beginning, a mentor introduces a topic, sets up the rules,
standards and expectations and then lets the students work on their own. Finally,
after the task has been accomplished, the mentor would offer a balanced feedback
to each of the groups and gives some suggestions for improvements. The themes can
be practices-enterprise-related, such as marketing strategy months, but also
assignments focused on customer relations, financial management, and so on.
12. Wiki – Teachers can post all the information or instructions on their activities on
their page on Wiki spaces, which provides room for the teacher and the students to
communicate online. This allows the students to easily access the instructions any
time, double check if they are not sure about anything, practise what they have
learnt, repeat it again, and so master the tools. A great advantage is that this would
also enable them to work on their own, in the absence of their mentor. The teacher
can always update the materials from wherever they are. (Internet necessary)
13. Students’ initiative – the students can come up with their own ideas for the
activities. This would not only improve their creativity but it could also boost their
confidence, teach them how to take the lead and responsibility for their own
projects, and, last but not least, how to work independently.
The clubs can post pictures and information about their activities and successes on the
soteICT Facebook page, so that they can motivate others or get inspired themselves.

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3. Balancing the Participation
It is said that ‘if just one person is talking, very few people are learning’. Thus, for learning at
class to be effective, it is important that the students themselves take action and are able to
discuss issues lively. Such an opportunity to participate increases students’ interest and
therefore has a positive impact on their performance. It also allows them to test their ideas,
think more independently and develop their presentation skills. Therefore, progressive
teachers nowadays base their educational methods on participative activities. However, in
order to maximise the benefits of these activities, teachers need to approach differences in
students very sensitively. This applies especially to the ICT clubs where the mentors work
often with a high number of students from different classes and with various levels of skills
or knowledge. To ensure that the highest possible number of students benefit from the
project, the mentors should be able to address the following issues:
- The Issue of Dominance:
Throughout their profession, teachers learn to recognise mainly four types of students:
a) Students actively participating and thriving at classes,
b) Quiet students who usually speak only if spoken to but work hard (often timid
students who still score high grades),
c) Students who seem to be uninterested in the subject of discussion (this may show
either in their silence or class-disturbing behaviours),
d) Mixed cases (depends on how comfortable or safe they feel).
These differences in people are very natural, but if they are not handled well, they may lead
to an imbalance in the group dynamics. Each club or a company should have a leader. Still, it
happens sometimes that one person starts dominating the group with their skills and
knowledge, which may result in other students feeling intimidated or becoming passive.
Some of them may do it forcefully, but mostly these students just act out of their
enthusiasm for the subject. Also, as these students are usually very advanced for their level,
a teacher may unconsciously cause the situation by always appointing the same person to
carry out a certain task because they are sure that these students will do it properly. In both
cases, the dominance of individuals in clubs leads to a decrease in the number of members
who really develop. This problem is most apparent especially when comparing students’
presentation skills.
The dominant students should not be favoured so that they can overtake the group but
neither marginalised so that they lose motivation. Firstly, the mentor should focus on
monitoring group interactions and identify patterns of behaviours. If intervention is needed,

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Especially within the training companies, a teacher can always appoint a person from
another department to give a report of their activities. Sometimes, it does not need to be
the president only; mentors can talk to department managers and deputies or have them
appoint anyone else from the group to do the speaking.
Last but not least, mentors may make the students work in smaller groups, create new
groups and change partners frequently. Setting up smaller groups may be efficient
especially at the training company business. If there are more than 25 students in a group, it
is more beneficial for the students to create two or more companies instead of just one. The
key thing is that smaller groups allow the participants to get a real ‘hands-on’ experience,
cooperate closely, learn from each other, and share their knowledge, skills and strengths.
More companies will also increase the competition between the groups. This could motivate
the students to work more creatively, they will also learn how to make their company differ
from the competition, and attract customers through this added value.
- the Issue of Differences in Students’ Skills and Knowledge
The fact that the members of the clubs and training companies usually come from all the
forms and differ by skills, knowledge and age, may be one of the biggest challenges that the
soteICT mentors need to address. Also, there are students joining and leaving the clubs
every year, the fact thatcould negatively impact the continuity of activities or the quality of
their outcomes. Therefore, it is important to minimise these threats and, if approached
creatively, use the differences to the benefit of the club and the training companies.
Naturally, when younger students join the soteICT clubs or training companies, their
knowledge of computers or business is significantly lower than the knowledge of their older
counterparts. As they don’t want to slow the others down, they let the older students lead
without contributing themselves. However, if the older students carry out all the important
activities and decision making, the younger ones do not really get space for learning and
improvement and they often rely on the leadership of the older students too much.
Moreover, this development does not only hold back the young ones but also the older
students who could be working on more complex things.
One of the ways around this problem may be splitting students into Junior (Form 1, 2) and
Senior (Form 3, 4) companies, where everyone would be able to participate, contribute and
develop in accordance with their skills or needs. This allows the younger ones progress and
learn together, while the older ones can work on a higher level. As the companies within
one school usually do not focus on a similar business field, they would not pose an unequal
competition to each other.

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Within these schools with a Senior/Junior structures, but also outside them, a system of
sororities and brotherhoods may be effective. For instance, a president of a Senior company
has a sister from a Junior firm to mentor; then the twinning can be done on each level, also
between regular members. In this way, they can both learn from each other, the older ones
could develop their leadership skills further, while the younger ones would have support in
their counterparts and therefore should not feel intimidated by their roles. But this system
can be also used within a single company, especially after the recruitment of new members.
These new recruits should be included in the departments where they are needed most –
hence, usually to cover the empty spots after the Form 4 students. The pairs would then be
created within these single departments. The responsibility of the older members is then to
acquaint the recruited with how the department operates and teach them to the work with
the programs central to firm’s functioning so that they can catch up fast.
4. Resolving Attendance Issues
Training companies operate as a simulation of real-life firms and therefore, similarly, the
attendance and performance of employees is the key to their success. Thus, irregular
attendance may lead to a decrease in productivity and quality of work beacuse it impedes
the work of other members. Due to insufficiency of work force, the firms may be missing
deadlines or be unavailable to potential customers. Furthermore, this development may
result in deterioration of morals and discipline within the companies. These problems could
show up in late arrivals and early departures, long breaks or unexplained and unscheduled
absences.
Therefore the first thing to do is to clearlyidentify the problem. Each company and IT club
needs to keep records of the attendance of their members so that the facilitator can
monitor the situation. Of course, reasonable absences and breaks are very natural to
companies’ everyday functioning but if there exists a clear pattern, an action should be
taken in order to prevent such behaviour.
Students often do not understand what is expected of them, so one of the most important
things is to set strong and clear standards for everyone in the very beginning and acquaint
the students with possible consequences of misbehaviour. In case that an intervention is
necessary, the facilitator can usually resolve the problems simply by communication. A
problem may be temporary, such as sickness, a need to work harder on school assignments,
important examination period, but also family illness or financial problems, or even serious
issues such as abuse. It is not teacher’s job to rectify the problematic issues, but rather to
provide the student with enough time scope or resources to be able to catch up with their
work. All of these, if handled well, can be resolved and a student can be re-integrated in the
group.

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However, if the absence seems to be chronic and the given member struggles to explain the
underlying reasons, the teacher or the company itself (Human Resources - HR department)
should take an action and proceed accordingly to their internal rules. After sending warning
letters, HR department may carry out a disciplinary process and in serious cases, the
member may be expelled. It may be harsh, but a mere awareness that this may happen,
may make students realise that there is many of their counterparts who would like to join
but cannot due to the high number of the interested and a limited capacity of ICT labs.
Hence, the student should start appreciating their positions more and act responsively.
After taking the corrective measures on the attendance and the re-integration of the
student, the facilitator should keep monitoring the situation as the elimination of absences
can shift into other undesirable behaviours or reoccur again after several months. In these
cases, a creation of long-term improvement plans or schedules could be useful so that the
member can demonstrate an improvement.

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Running a Training Company
Simulation Game
As mentioned in the previous chapters, the essential teaching method in training company
practice is the simulation of the real business environment. Training firms replicate all the
functions, structures, organisation and working processes of real companies. They are
established by trainees – students with a support of a facilitator – a teacher. The simulation
method enables the students to gain hands-on experience through silhouetting the real
working environment – they can test their ideas and come up with new ones, learn from
their mistakes, take risks and be accountable for their actions. Even though the firms are not
real, the inscenation requires the students to concentrate, develop their soft and hard skills
and approach the ‘game’ seriously. The point is to make the firms operate as realistically as
possible.
All students involved in training companies hold concrete positions within the departments
and are assigned their own specific tasks forthe accomplishment of which they are
responsible. This can be perceived as a role play. For that, all members need to understand
their roles and what they are expected to deliver. The simulation allows students to solve
dynamic tasks, such as various business cases when the goods and services are sold to
virtual or imaginative customers or the firms can work as a cluster and trade products or
services.
A facilitator’s role is to ensure that the education is connected to reality. Teaching is
integrated in the simulation scenario and learning takes place during the process of work
adhering to real-world business organisation structures. The facilitator should create a safe
learning environment which would support students’ creativity and initiative.
The Roles of the SoteICT Structures in the Simulation Game
Even though the businesses may not be real, all the successes, failures, problems and
customer feedback that firms receive need to reflect those of actual people. This will ensure
that during their studies the members will have gained such experience and knowledge
which will help them stand on their own feets in the real world. In order to ensure this, each
of the soteICT structures plays a specific role in the simulation game.

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illustrates that sometime, even despite the best product or an idea, the company cannot
prosper without securing all the other important aspects.
In order to be able to manage all of the aspects effectively, companies should work within
departments. A clear hierarchy structure will allow more students to benefit. We present
one example of company structure with traditional names for its leaders – President, Vice-
President, Department Managers. It should be noted, that company structure in the real
world varies considerably because of many factors – size, core business, legal requirements,
etc. Often the top management has different titles such as a Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
and a Chief Operations Officer (COO). Students are free to choose these titles or titles that
are common within their business sector in Kenya. We however decided to stick with the
traditional title of a President. Besides the presidents, vice-presidents and secretaries seated
in the Directorial Department, each department should have a Manager and a Deputy
Manager. This is efficient in terms of management of the firm – as there will be many issues
to deal with, it is better to ensure that smaller teams can manage their own work, instead of
leaving all the supervision and monitoring solely to the top management. The managers and
the deputies are responsible for the operations of their departments and updating the
President on the most important issues that should be discussed.
Hence, the picture below illustrates an example of a structure each company should adhere
to and a clear description follows. The President, Vice-President and General Secretary are
together known as the Directorial Department, even though each of them has a separate
role. All of the other departments consist of a Manager, Deputy Manager, and employees.
The Managers answer to the President, based on the agreed mechanism of firm’s internal
communication.
President
A President is the main director, executor and decision-maker. This means that s/he
provides a strategic leadership by presiding over company’s day-to-day operations and

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overseeing all the other managers and employees. The president holds the overall
accountability to the stakeholders, such as employees, investors, partners, customers, and
also the general public. His/Her duties include establishing firm’s strategies, plans and goals.
Overseeing the budgets, the President makes sure that all the resources are allocated
appropriately. Further, by organising frequent meetings with managers of the departments,
the President monitors if the departments meet their specific goals, and presides over the
quality of their work and products in offer. Presidents always look for new opportunities,
initiate beneficial partnerships and represent the firm at various occasions (in public, at
business meetings, in contact with government officials, etc.).
Vice-President
A Vice-President is the second-in-command at the company. Therefore, his/her duties
mirror those of the President with only little differences. In situation, when the President is
absent or cannot fulfil the duties for whatever reasons, the Vice-President acts in his/her
stand. Besides the surrogacy of the President, the Vice-President also has his/her own roles
to play. While the President sets up the company’s agenda, objectives and strategies, the
Vice-President carries out the plans and can be directly appointed to assign responsibilities
to the employees. Being directly involved in company’s operations, the Vice-President
collects information which is then passed on to the President or presented at corporate
meetings. Usually, Vice-Presidents are more accessible and are in closer touch with the
common employees than Presidents. In order to increase the efficiency and unburden the
President, the two leaders can agree on splitting the care of the departments between each
other (e.g. the Presidents presides over the Secretary, Financial Department and Marketing,
while the Vice-President oversees the operations of Human Resources, Customer Relations
and Production Department). In this case, it is important that the President and Vice-
President meet regularly in order to inform each other and discuss further procedures and
developments.
Secretary General
Secretary’s main role is to support the President and Vice-President and, if assigned, even
the Managers of the departments. Secretaries maintain effective records on firm’s
operations, take care of administration and correspondence, and organise meetings. During
these meetings and negotiations, they take minutes and prepare the respective documents.
A Secretary may also be responsible for organising President’s time, and follows his/her
agenda. Among their duties belongs also making any travel arrangements, collection and

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distribution of information and spreadsheets, and preparation of all necessary
documentation. It is advised that Secretary’s records are organised in a manner which
allows an external auditor to get a clear picture about firm’s operations since their last visit
up to the present.
Financial Department
The Financial Department is, first and foremost, responsible for company’s day-to-day
financial operations (any deposits, withdrawals, transfers, tracking and recording the
transactions, etc.). All the operations are done in PEN or Slovak Centre of Training
Companies tools for online banking. Therefore, the department as well as the Directorial
one need to ensure that company’s log-in details for online banking are kept safe.
Keeping records, the department informs on the financial situation of the company,
analyses current financial performance, and prepares annual budget and suggestions for the
future operations or policies of the company. It also creates payment policies for both the
customers and the suppliers.
The department does extensive reporting – from informing and discussing issues with the
President and Vice-President, to all the internal and external financial reports (such as
monthly or annual reports), reports for the government (for the educational purposes of the
training company these reports will resemble the requirements of Kenyan authorities and
will be delivered to the soteICT Centre). Besides reports, the department also prepares
receipts, invoices, shipping documents and so on.
The Financial Department is also responsible for the preparation of annual reports and it
focuses on transparency, assists auditors and also takes active measures to prevent financial
crime and fraud.
Another duty of the department is the management of firm’s cash flow. The employees
ensure that the company has enough funds to make payments to its creditors. If saving is
necessary, the Financial Department prepares a saving plan for a pre-set period of time. In
case a loan is necessary, this department asks for it in Mshindi KCB Mshindi (the training
firm at Marungu Secondary), fills in all the necessary forms, records the details sent by the
bank (loan numbers, conditions of the loan payments) and makes sure that all the
instalments are paid on time. The department also makes sure the company pays taxes
properly and on time.
Furthermore, the department carries out payments of salaries to all the firm’s employees.
However, this responsibility can be delegated to the Human Resources Department.

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Last but not least, this department should monitor if and how the company prospers and
adjust all the financial operations and planning to the situation. The Manager of the
department informs the President about the problems and suggests solutions or further
procedures. The department can also create forecasts and advise the President on where to
invest or who to partner with. Based on that, the department’s head communicates with
the President on regular and frequent basis.
Customer Relations Department
The main role of the Customers Relations Department is to ensure customers’ satisfaction.
This section is concerned with customers’ perceptions of the company and its products and
services. The main objective of Customer Relations is to instil a positive image of the firm in
the public in order to persuade them to buy its products or services.
Firstly, in order to make sure that the firm produces goods or services, which are demanded
on the market, the Customer Relations can conduct customer preference research. This
allows the customers to express their opinions and hence the firm is able to identify what
the customers want. This department should understand consumers’ buying habits - what
influences their decision to buy and what, on the other hand, discourages them from doing
so. The company then adjusts to these findings and proposes innovative products or
solutions or improves its customer services in order to attract more customers and hence,
increase the revenue of the company.
It is important to realise that customers are central and overall important to any business.
Most companies operate locally and cannot rely on a constant supply of new customers.
Therefore, their customer relations need to be developed in a way that they do not only
attract a customer to buy once but convince them to come back and spread a good word
about the firm, as this, after all, is the best way of advertising.
Hence, in order to establish good customer relations, the department needs to ensure that
their consumers are provided with satisfactory services. Customer satisfaction is delivered
by a series of activities or steps designed to provide customers with what they need and
give them a positive buying experience. Effective businesses thrive to meet or even exceed
consumers’ expectations. This process is based on understanding the customers’ needs and
their behaviour. This can be done by effective communication based on asking questions
and building a rapport during direct interactions. In this way, the employees can establish
what the customer wants and provide them with the best product or service.
One of the aspects which underpins customers’ satisfaction is the ease of use. This means
that the buying experience should not be too complicated. Companies need to ensure that
the information provided on their website or the website itself is easy to comprehend. In

32
order to be able to market their products effectively, the department needs to establish
who their customer target group is and adjust the advertising strategies accordingly.
The Marketing Department is responsible for creating new marketing strategies, business
plans and keeping records on achieved sales. These are later used to determine whether the
expected outcomes were met. If not, the information serves as a basis for decision-making
in the next strategies and approaches. As advised by the Customer Relations Department
and the President, the marketing section sets up a company’s pricing. They also develop a
tactics of how to reach potential customers most efficiently – they create business cards,
posters, leaflets, billboards, commercials, brochures, catalogues, prospects, etc. They need
to come up with slogans and images which would best capture the advantages of owning
the product, while emphasising company’s uniqueness and core values. They can produce
these materials internally or externally and approach other training companies (for example
Dragon Advertising at Buguta Secondary) to send them proposals and select the most
suitable or the cheapest one.
This means that the department is also responsible for building the company’s brand. Being
different is one of the main keys to success. In order to capture people’s attention and lure
them to use the service, the brand of the company should be positive, memorable, and
distinctive. In this way they ensure the brand gets noticed and leaves the imprints in
people’s minds. Looking for a service or a product, customers naturally choose the company
which they remember as interesting, price-friendly, and having pleasant employees.
It is also advised that both the name and the logo of the company are easily memorable.
The more words in the title and the more complicated the logo is, the more difficult it is
especially for the potential customers to memorise the company. This in turnmakes it more
difficult for them to find the firm and identify the product. The point is to create and
promote a good, strong and trustworthy brand with an excellent reputation.
Furthermore, researching company’s competition is one of the essential responsibilities of
the Marketing Department. It allows the firm to spot a gap on the market and fill it
withboth a product and service. It is necessary to observe in what ways the competition
communicates with its customer base and identify if it hits the target. Then the firm needs
to determine how its marketing should differ.
Company’s advertising and marketing must always be active, therefore the departments
tend to employ creative and initiative individuals.
Powerful brands and leading companies have a corporate responsibility strategy that
defines how they relate to their stakeholders (local community, employees, environment
and suppliers) in a responsible way. This means an active and strategic reduction of harmful
activities (paper and energy waste, pollution, irresponsible behaviour towards customers,
employees and suppliers) and active support for responsible initiatives (supporting local

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community through philanthropy, reducing paper work, increasing ecological sustainability,
giving employees more benefits and flexibility than required by the law, paying suppliers on
time and checking if they behave responsibly).
Human Resources Department
The Human Resources Department manages company’s manpower. Because firm’s success
depends first and foremost on its workforce, the Human Resources Department plays a
crucial role in a firm’s growth.
Among its duties belong monitoring and determining of how many employees leave the
company and thus how many people have to be recruited. This is what is called manpower
planning.
This department organises and oversees the overall process of recruitment. It prepares job
descriptions which contain information on job responsibilities, work environment and the
skills which are required from the candidates. The goal is to recruit people who are the best
fits for the positions in order to make the company even more prosperous. After advertising
the job offers, the department short-lists the most interesting applicants for a job interview.
Job interviews take place in front of a panel consisting of Human Resources recruitment
specialists who effectively question the candidates in order to identify the best fit.
Further, after the consultation with the President, the department determines salaries of all
the employees, including the Directorial Department. After receiving money from the
Financial Department, this section sends out the salaries on regular basis.
Human Resources also keep records of all the employees. Such include employees’ details,
but also their performance, attendance or achievements. If an employee shows a pattern of
a problem with attendance, a disciplinary process can be initiated. The procedure of
disciplinary process is embedded in the policies of the department. A disciplinary action can
also be taken against individuals who do not respect internal regulations or rules. Best
employees can be rewarded for their performance and contributions. This is an important
aspect of motivation of employees who need to see a meaning in their work and feel
appreciated. Appreciation encourages further development and thriving performance.
The company can also provide the employees with any necessary training, from
introductory programmes to personal and professional development classes. These
trainings could be designed and carried out by internal Human Resources specialists.
In order for a team to work effectively, employees have to learn to communicate and work
together. Therefore, the department may organise team-building events, such as dinners,

34
games, or trips. The aim of these activities is that the members get to know each other
better and learn to trust one another.
In addition, the section monitors employees’ satisfaction and tries to solve any emerging
issues. It always tries to create the best working environment for all. Employees are the
most valuable resource of a company and need to be treated in respectful and transparent
manner.
Finally, based on all the collected information, the department after the discussion with the
President determines who to dismiss or make redundant. Again, strong internal policies on
the process need to be developed.
Production Department
The main responsibility of the Production Department is to turn inputs into outputs in the
form of concrete goods or services. It receives raw materials, makes records and reports to
the President. The section oversees that the products are made to the best quality possible
for the lowest cost. The Manager supervises the whole production procedure and ensures
the safety of employees.
The department orders or purchases the necessary components and technology to carry out
the process effectively. After the materials arrive, the department checks their state and
quality. All the equipment necessary for the production procedure is stored under the
supervision of this department.
As the employees of the department are usually creative individuals, they can test their
ideas, come up with new ones and research on various options and opportunities. They can
propose the Directorial that they put new goods into production. Constantly, they try to
make the production most cost-effective.
As other departments, even this one keeps effective records. It monitors the reception of
materials, the process of production, and the finished outputs. All the stock taken out of the
store is recorded too. These records and their analysis are then reported to the President.
They also report on any damages or necessary maintenance of equipment.
Finally, the department is responsible for ensuring the high quality of outputs and report if
the products do not achieve the required parameters. They can cooperate with internal or
external designer and conduct research and development projects in order to come up with
innovative ways of production that are cheaper, more ecological and have a better design.

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Setting Up a Training Company
In order to successfully set up an active training company, facilitators and students should
follow these steps:
1. Informative stage - A facilitator explains the students what a training firm is, and
what its purposes and benefits are. The mentor can use posters, leaflets, business
cards and brochures of older companies, or companies from other schools to
illustrate companies’ operations better. If there are no hard copies of such materials
available, the club can take a look at promotional materials which other firms post
on the soteICT Facebook page.
Similarly as in reality, the success of the training company depends on its directorial
and employees. Therefore, it is important to stress to the students that the
companies entail much work and focus which means that if they want to get
involved, they need to be serious about their engagement.
2. Choosing the business subject and creating a business plan – Firstly, the facilitator
initiates brainstorming about the business subject of the new firm. They allow
students to express their opinions and give them serious consideration. When
choosing the subject, the group should use their knowledge of what their country or
their communities need – they know best what products are there in offer, what
products are absent and how services are provided. By observing and discussing how
the current market looks like, they should be able to identify a gap on the market
and try to fill it or provide the services better. The students need to keep in mind the
‘demand and supply’ rule in order to establish if their services are really necessary
and are able to make the firm profitable. The power of the brand and marketing is
crucial in most business sectors and one cannot compete only with price. Students
should do a market research and see which service or product is missing in their
neighbourhood. For example, if they want to open a café, they need to find out how
many similar companies operate in a town, what are their prices, quality of coffee
and the customer service, and try to beat the competition either in price or in quality
and the overall customer experience and market their brand as a trendy lifestyle
choice.
Further, the students can also look at the existing soteICT firm list and use their
creativity to come up with a special idea and fill the gap there. Maybe they could
look at what the network lacks or how their company could fit into the cluster of
companies that creates synergy between their services and products.

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posters, business cards, commercials, etc. Human Resources collect records on the
employees, monitor attendance, or recruit other members, if necessary. The
Financial Department works on setting up a bank account with Mshindi KCB in
Marungu and may also ask for a loan. Customer Relations conduct customer
research and start contacting potential customers. The Secretary can compose
emails to send to the soteICT team and the firms within the project’s portfolio to
introduce the company and possibly even initiate a cooperation. The President and
Vice-President oversee and monitor the operations of single departments, do the
main decision-making, represent the company, look for new opportunities, and so
on. They also look for partners abroad, cooperate, try looking for opportunities how
to export their goods and arrange Skype negotiations with other firms. The
departments cooperate, share relevant information or look for advice.
9. Running the company - After taking all the initial actions, the company is ready to
start functioning on regular basis and conduct all of its operations as described in the
part on the firm structure.
Keeping Companies Active
One of the best things about training companies is that there is nothing that would limit
their activities. While the real-world firms often fight difficulties such as insufficiency of
production materials, financial problems or missing customers, the training companies have
an advantage of being able to work virtually – hence, even the products and customers can
be virtual.
According to the Practice Enterprise Network methodology, every operation of training
company is only for educational purposes and therefore they do not start doing real
business and earn real money. However, in some cases a school or local community might
become customers, for example, in case of printing business cards or calendars. It may
happen that the students get discouraged if they lack means to finance their production or
they struggle with finding customers. With the loss of motivation, also the activity and
effectivity of the company tend to decrease. Therefore, it is important that the teachers
remind the students of the fact that the firms are here for them in order to learn and
develop. Instead of being seen as ends to themselves, the training companies should be
perceived as a method of teaching and learning. They should not focus solely on production,
but rather help the members enhance their business management skills in each of the
aspects mentioned in the chapter on the company structure. Thus, in some cases, it may be
even better for the students to lack finances as this forces them to move from production,
which is usually on a very high level, to other attributes of running a business successfully.
Even though this may not bring them a real profit during their studies, the gained

38
knowledge and skills are surely going to pay off once they look for a job or want to start
their own businesses.
Best practices show that the companies do best in keeping active and progressing when
they adhere to and balance the following points:
1. Emphasis Should Be Put on Activities of the Single Departments
If the departments are busy, the students are busy, which means they are improving their
skills. This makes them bring the best out of themselves and consequently results in more
prosperous and successful companies.
As an example of how to put all the departments in move, a model situation will be used.
Let us say that a company called XY deals with pottery. Unfortunately, for some time they
have been struggling to sell their products and so they cannot afford buying new materials
for the production of any new goods. Therefore, they decide that even against the odds
they want to make the best out of their time in the training firms and agree on running their
business virtually. The unsold goods can now pose as a great material to use in their virtual
marketing strategies. However, because the school is having an Internet connection issues,
the firm cannot do online marketing or contact other training firms they could sell the
products to. Still, they manage to take pictures of the products and use them in their
posters, leaflets, brochures and catalogues. Before they can move to imaginative
transactions, they first check if they have carried out all the activities and steps as
mentioned in the section on Setting Up a Training Company. If they have, this means that
the firm is ready for their first customer.
Now, the firm asks the teacher to act as a customer and welcomes them to their company
or shop. The teacher is being taken care of by the employees of the Customer Relations
Department who present the products and proceed according to firm’s internal regulations
on customer service. After deciding to buy, the teacher spends virtual 6000 KSh and leaves
the shop or company with the imaginative products s/he has just purchased.
The money is now sent to the Financial Department. The Financial Department prepares all
the necessary documentation – receipts, if necessary, invoices, and records. They send the
information about the transaction to the Secretary and the Marketing Department. The
Secretary takes the record about the transaction, marks it in her/his books, and distributes
the information to the President and the Vice-President.
Further, the Financial Department deposits the respective amount of money to their bank
account in Mshindi KCB from Marungu. They can also transfer the amount necessary to pay
off the employees to the Human Resources Department and then deposit the rest into the

39
bank (as they have 20 members, they divide 6000 shillings into 25 portions – they keep the 5
portions in the bank and use the rest for paying off the salaries). Consequently, they prepare
a report for the President informing about how much money there is in the account and
start working on their analysis of the company’s performance. The information should,
again, be sent through the Secretary.
The Human Resources Department now accepts the transfer from the Financial
Department and, depending on the agreed mechanism of paying off the salaries, starts
preparing the payments to their employees. Besides that, the section monitors all the
departments and employee’s performance based on which they prepare appraisals in forms
of ‘thank you’ letters or identifying an ‘employee of the month’. The department also
researches employee’s satisfaction and proposes amendments to be made in the future.
As the company does have the details of their customer - teacher, the Customer Relations
Department sends them a follow up email thanking them for choosing shopping in XY
Company. They ask the customer about their shopping experience and if they were satisfied
with the services provided. This is called customer satisfaction research. Based on the
answer, they prepare reports for the President and Vice-President, which is again sent
through the Secretary. The feedback is sent also to the Marketing Department so that they
can adjust the marketing strategies and advertising respectively. If the customer is
unsatisfied, the Customer Relations come up with the best solution and rectification. They
compose an apology letter in which they inform the customer about the proposed
compensation.
The Marketing Department now uses the information they have been given to improve
their marketing and advertising strategies. They brainstorm and come up with ideas on how
to improve their product or think of a new one. This decision must be based on the available
account balance. The money earned can now be used to increase the production. The
department consults the Customer Relations Department on whether the product would
be wanted on the market. If the answer is positive, the Marketing Department asks the
Secretary to organise a meeting with the President and Vice-President in order to discuss
the issue further.
In case that the Directorial Department has decided to go on with the production, they
agree on the amount which the Financial Department sends to the Production Department.
After the Financial Department has gone through with the transaction, the Production
section starts planning the producing process. They order materials and do all the necessary
paper work. Now, as the money which they have received is just virtual, they still cannot
afford buying real materials. Therefore, the section can create the picture of the product
using MS Office tools. Throughout the process, the manager of the department checks on
the quality of the product. After the product has been produced, the Production section
asks the Secretary to organise a visit by the Marketing Department so that the marketers

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