Wikipedia Foundation has launched an offline encyclopaedia for primary and secondary schools in Kenya.

The CD version named Wikipedia Offline Encyclopaedia would enable students to access content on the world acclaimed encyclopaedia without being on the Internet.

The launch coincides with Wikipedia's tenth anniversary, which is being celebrated in various countries across the world.

Speaking during the launch of the encyclopaedia in Nairobi on Friday, Ting Chen, the chairperson of Wikimedia Foundation said that the version would greatly help students build their knowledge. "Lack of internet has been a great impediment for the access of Wikipedia encyclopaedia. We came with this version to remove barriers that hinder people accessing information on the site," he said.

He added that Wikipedia contains a lot of free educational materials, which would greatly benefit Kenyan students. "This initiative will enhance access to free information, especially critical educational content, to Kenya's students and teachers through the installation of Offline Wikipedia in Primary and Secondary Schools across the country," he said.

The Wikipedia for Schools Project is an initiative of Wikimedia Foundation and Wikipedia volunteers in Kenya.

David Mugo, one of the volunteers said that they would identify several schools with computers in Kenya where they would install the offline edition. "We would then train teachers and students on how to use the encyclopaedia effectively," he said.

Wikipedia is among the top most visited site across the world. However, in Africa, lack of access to Internet by a majority of people hinders it use.

According to Wikimedia Foundation, only 16 percent of people in Africa use the encyclopaedia. It is estimated that the site has 17 million articles translated in 270 languages.

These include Swahili, a language spoken extensively in East Africa. Information on the site is free to copy and use since it has open copyright.

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