In Malawi, 88% of children enroll in primary school, but only 33% complete the vital first stage of their education.1
Although enrolling a child in school has been free since 1994, families still need to cover the costs of shoes, uniforms, pens and notebooks. Many cannot afford to do so, and children drop out of school without the ability to read, write and count. They face a life trapped in the unforgiving cycle of poverty.
A day in the life of a student in Malawi
In Malawi, children wake up when the sun rises, get dressed and walk to school. Many of them live in very small homes in rural areas, and they must walk miles to attend school every day. Only few of them wear shoes and many must walk on the dusty ground with bare feet. Lots of them won’t have eaten breakfast before embarking on their journey.
When they get to school, children in Standard Class 2 (roughly equivalent to year 2 in the UK) will sit down in their classroom on the bare concrete floor. In the winter it’s freezing cold, and in the summer, boiling hot. There are 200 other students sat in the classroom with them. It’s chaotic, cramped, and there’s only one teacher.
Imagine trying to learn in a classroom where you’re shoulder-to-shoulder with so many children that you can barely concentrate. Imagine trying to teach 200 children at once, when so few of them have paper, pens or textbooks.
Unlocking potential in primary schools
In Malawi, education is the key to a better life, and VSO’s educational tablets are giving children the education they deserve.
These tablets are changing children’s futures; they’re charged using solar energy and come fully loaded with learning activities so children can learn everything from spelling to adding. Some of these children will have never owned a book before. For them, using a tablet to learn will be life-changing.
The children are taken into VSO learning centres in groups of 30 for an hour of focused learning on the tablets, in a calm, quiet environment with no distractions. They have their own profiles so they can pick up where they left off and they can work at their own pace.
Imagine how exciting it is for the children, running to the learning centre every day, sitting down with a tablet in their hands and headphones over their ears. Once they log onto their individual profiles, they're fully focused on the work in front of them.
There are no distractions, no noise, and they can learn at their own pace. There are learning centre co-ordinators and expert VSO volunteers on hand to support them if they need it.
Hope for the future
In Malawi, poverty is often passed down from one generation to the next. Support like yours ensures that children can get the education they need to break the cycle of poverty.
Currently, only 19% of children in Malawi aged seven to 14 have foundational reading skills. Just 13% have foundational numeracy skills.2
But the children we are working with now have the chance to finish school with the ability to read stories and add large numbers thanks to the educational tablets. Not only that, but they’re confident and enthusiastic to learn using pioneering technology. As of September 2023, we have reached 250,000 children, all thanks to your support.
*Pseudonyms have been used to protect the identity of the children.