Under the BEFIT program, we are working with the Malawi Ministry of Education and partners onebillion and VSO, among others, to serve all students in Standards 1-4 across all 5,770 public primary schools in Malawi. The program utilizes existing government resources, is aligned with the national curriculum, and is embedded within school timetables.
We’re finding out whether children can attain reading fluency and comparable numeracy skills with 40 minutes of daily use of the tablet-based curriculum for 1-2 school years. This research is fueling our work with government and implementation partners to scale this program countrywide.
We’re learning what types of implementation and delivery will enable children to achieve significant learning gains in informal and out-of-school settings.
We’re learning about the key drivers of and barriers to the use of tablets in a home setting.
Serving 5-8 year-olds in an informal school
Serving 6-12 year-olds in a community center
Serving second graders in public schools
Serving 700 low-income households with primary age children affected by school closures due to COVID-19
Since the introduction of free primary education in 1994, Malawi’s education system struggles with overcrowding in classrooms, lack of learning materials, shortage of trained teachers, and high student-to-teacher ratios.
Population: 18 million
Number of early grade children: 3.5 million
Official student to teacher ratio: 70:1
Primary school completion rate: 79%
Minimum reading proficiency achieved by the end of primary: 24%
Official literacy rate: 62%
Our 2-year randomized controlled trial (RCT) (conducted 2019-2021) in Malawi demonstrated approximately 4.2 months of additional learning in literacy and 3.6 months of additional learning in math (added values of 32% and 28% respectively) after 13 months of tablet use and despite COVID-related school closures. Imagine’s research has demonstrated additional important benefits including increased attendance in school, higher engagement in class, and greater confidence in learning and girls benefited at least as much as boys in contrast to standard classroom practice.
For the full research brief, click here. This model has already been successfully implemented in over 250 schools across Malawi since 2014, serving 225,000 children via the Unlocking Talent program.
