Ministry, CSEC urge innovators to invest in EdTech
Various start-up innovators have been urged to invest more in Education Technology (EdTech) in Malawi, amid assurance of government and civil society support, as policy and strategic efforts to grow and broaden the sector get more promising.
Ministry of Education and Civil Society Education Coalition (CSEC) jointly made the call in Lilongwe during a stakeholder engagement meeting on EdTech, saying the innovators will help accelerate access to technology among learners.
The ministry, CSEC and stakeholders continue to have a series of engagements on EdTech, having already reached a consensus that this will result in, among others, improved education quality and reduction of learning poverty, which is at 87 percent in Malawi.
In his remarks, Director of Open Distance and e-Learning, Dr. Joshua Valeta, said start-up innovators in specialized digital content are, therefore, crucial as they experiment and research on challenges, leading to worthwhile solutions.
“That is why we want them to understand the policy direction the ministry has. We want to support them to access human and financial resources.
“We already experimented with the use of EdTech for the past eight years in foundational education, standards 1 to 4. Evidence has shown that we can accelerate learning by four months in literacy and three months in numeracy using EdTech”.
According to Dr. Valeta, after Covid, foundational kids who had learned using a tablet had retained much more knowledge than those that had not learned using a tablet.
“All this shows that there is potential for us to use EdTech not only to accelerate attaining of learning outcomes and reducing learning poverty but also to achieve resilience”.
Taking his turn, CSEC Board Member, Harold Kuombola, said Malawi can also leverage on the growing interest of rural communities in EdTech to get everyone else on board to act.
“Imagine 87 percent of learners not demonstrating adequate grasp of subject level or grade level content. We need to bring together the passion everyone has in EdTech to enhance those outcomes”.
Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :