She is pioneering Coding and Robotics subject in Mpumalanga

“My moment came alive when I stood side by side with the upper echelon of the department officials before my work was officially recognized in the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature during the Policy and Budget speech delivered by the MEC of Education in Mpumalanga on Tuesday, 08th June 2021.”

She stood in the middle of the Head of Department Mrs. Lucy Moyane and the MEC for Education in Mpumalanga, Hon. Bonakele Majuba posing to the photographers.  Keninda was so excited when the exact words of her recognition filled the assembly which was quarter full due to the COVID-19 pandemic strict regulations on the number of people allowed to attend the session. The proceeding was at least broadcasted on the Mpumalanga Provincial Legislature's Facebook page and various community radio stations and would later be heard on the DSTV 408 Parliamentary channel. 

She received recognition for becoming a true pioneer of Coding and Robotics subject in South Africa, particularly in Mpumalanga province. The MEC also committed to work side by side with her and Pepper the “Robot” to promote and advocate Coding and Robotics in Mpumalanga schools. “I hope this remarkable recognition and my commitment to education will take me one step further in becoming a voice of hope especially in girls’ education. 

Keninda is a well-known seasoned educator in the integration of technology in education. She served as an e-Learning Specialist in the Mpumalanga Department of Education charged with a responsibility of training and coaching teachers in ICT skills in line with Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) Framework. She is also a founder of the Mpumalanga ICT Club. The club is well-known of motivating young girls to stay in Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics(STEM) subjects for girls to pursue Information Technology Careers under the initiative called DigiGirlz. 

Keninda started training kids in Coding and Robotics shortly after she came from Belgium in 2014. She was identified by the international Organising Committee in Belguim to attend a Science Centre World Summit. “The science centre summit exposed and empowered me with digital skills and I ended up picking Coding” I was then later trained by Microsoft South Africa to become confident on Minecraft Education and later acquired other Coding skills from various coding languages.

Mpumalanga Department of education has already started with the training of teachers in Coding and Robotics and Keninda has been part of the team. She continuously supports teachers physically and online for teachers to attain their Coding and Robotics National Certificates.  Keninda is a true pioneer of ICT in education, she holds a BA degree, a Higher Diploma in Education and Public Management, Post Graduate Degree in Online Journalism, she is about to complete her Master of Education ICT (Information and Communication Technology).

 

She has also received other outstanding recognition awards. She has been recognised by Microsoft Education Corporation as a Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert and Microsoft Innovative Educator Fellow (Highest recognition in Microsoft). Lastly, she was recognised as an Inspiring Fifty Woman in South Africa by a Netherlands based company called accelerateHER aimed at making tech female role models more visible to young girls.