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For more information, contact:[email protected] or visit
www.mwabu.comImproving literacy and numeracy
through the provision of e-learning services.
Demonstrating pupil performance improvement in rural schools.
• 5 selected pilot schools and 3 control schoolsin Lukulu District, Western Province
• 348 pupils tablets and 49 teacher tablets suppliedto the pilot schools
• 1 year of implementation for the study
• 2760 pupils from grades 1 to 7 benefiting from the intervention
• 43 teachers from the 5 pilot schools trained in interactive teaching methodologies
• pupils improved more than control school pupils in 5 of 6 literacy sub-tasksand all 7 numeracy sub-tasks
Key facts & figures
Background & Overview
Improving Literacyand Numeracy throughthe provision of e-learningservices to five Primary Schools in Lukulu District.
UNICEF and the Minster of Education, Science,Vocational Training and Early Education (MESVTEE) through Mwabu have implemented a pilot programme in three community schools and two government schools in Lukulu, Western Province with the aim of improving the performance of learners. The pilot project aims to measure the educational impact of the Mwabu programme and the effectiveness and applicability of e-learning in rural areas. All pilot schools have been provided with the necessary e-learning equipment which includes Mwabuʼs interactive national curriculum content, and all teachers have been trained in the delivery of interactive and enquiry based lessons.
A baseline and an endline study were conducted to assess the impact of Mwabu lessons. After a year ofexposure to the Mwabu intervention, results show that the performance of pupils who were taught using Mwabu content improved more than those in the control group who were not.
The District Education Board Secretaryʼs (DEBS) office played a critical central role during the implementation, selecting pilot schools and supporting Mwabu with the fieldwork. The DEBS office also supported Mwabu through assessor recruitment; midterm evaluation; and training and monitoring of the schools by standards officers, all key components of a successful implementation.
Evaluation FindingsA baseline assessment was conducted on pupils in grades 1
and 2 in October 2013, with a follow-up conducted in
October 2014. Pupil literacy and numeracy improvement
was assessed using the USAID-developed ʻEarly Grade
Reading Assessmentʼ (EGRA) and ʻEarly Grade Math
Assessmentʼ (EGMA). These assessment tools have been
applied in more than 40 countries in a wide variety of
languages. For this evaluation, both assessments tools were
translated into Lozi - the language most widely used in
Lukulu - formatted for tablet-based data collection.
ResultsLiteracy: After one year, pupils using Mwabu content
demonstrated substantial gains in literacy ability. The
literacy index score for Mwabu pupils rose from 6.6 at
baseline to 29.5 at the follow-up assessment. By contrast,
control school pupils scored 13.1 at baseline and only 21.3
at follow-up. The graph on the right shows improvements in
EGRA literacy index score for both groups. The EGRA
literacy index was created using pupil scores in the
following EGRA sub-tasks: letter sound, familiar word
reading, unfamiliar word reading, words read (per minute)
and, reading comprehension.
Numeracy: Sizable improvements were also recorded in
numeracy. The graph on the right shows improvement in
Mwabu pupil performance over control school pupils
achieved after just one year. Mwabu pupils demonstrated
greatest improvement against the control group in number
identification, which is considered the foundation skill of
mathematics. Here Mwabu pupil scores improved from 36.0
to 76.1 in the follow-up assessment, while control pupils rose
from 44.5 to 67.8.
The difference in improvement between groups was found to be highlysignificant (P<0.01)
This difference in improvement between groups was found to be highly significant (P<0.01)
These initial results suggest that the Mwabu intervention has had a verypositive impact. Establishing continued success over a longer period is, however,dependant on further evaluation as implementation continues.
*
*
*
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NumeracyGreater Pupil Numeracy Improvement
Improvement in Reading Fluency
5
10
15
20
25
0
30
35
Higher EGRA Improvement
Literacy
Accounts from the beneficiaries
NAME: Mr Simbali LisekeSCHOOL: Kandala Community
SchoolPOSITION: Head Teacher
“Things changed when Mwabu was
introduced in the sense that the tablets
cover all the subjects including those in
which we donʼt have materials, so this
time I can say we have enough resources,
we even have some things that we
thought we would never have. Learning
has become much more interesting and
easier for the pupils.”Mr Liseke started his teaching career at
Namakando Primary School in Mitete
District; after 2 years at the school he
was transferred to Kandala Community
School. At the time of his arrival,
untrained teachers were running the
school, he took over the administration
as head teacher but he faced several
challenges.
“When I came to Kandala, the story
was different; the school had no
textbooks and teaching resources. I
donʼt know how the untrained teachers
I found at the school used to teach
because I found nothing. The solution to
the problem was to go to nearby
schools and borrow books in order to
cover all the areas in the curriculum.”
“Now we donʼt have to struggle with
lessons, everything is already there, we
just have to read through the lesson plans
on [the] tablet and then prepare for the
lessons by making sure that you have all
the teaching resources mentioned in the
lesson.”
“The other improvement has been in my
teaching skills and I think this applies to all the
teachers, my teaching has improved and
teaching has become very interesting since
working with the Mwabu tablet.”
Since the introduction of Mwabu, Mrs
Mwila has noticed changes she attributes to
the use of Mwabu. One of the changes is
the high number of pupils reporting for
class.
“Before the coming of Mwabu, the number
of pupils in my class was sometimes low,
pupils would just give excuses to miss
classes. But now pupils come in large
numbers, more often than not my
classrooms are full, my class registers look
very good now, and few children miss
classes. I really think Mwabu is making a
big difference in improving school
attendance in our school.”
school is using these Mwabu tablets. Very
often, we receive requests for transfers but
we canʼt accommodate everyone. I wish
this programme was given to other schools
too because I know that most schools donʼt
have enough textbooks and would benefit
from Mwabu.”
“For pupils in my class, the performance has
changed because learners remember what
they do and what they see on the tablets.
Iʼm able to know this because when I give
my pupils a test, most of them get questions
right which is the opposite of what used to
happen in the past. Even when I ask the
children what they learnt the previous week,
they are able to remember. These changes
Iʼm seeing are very encouraging to me as a
teacher.”
“I attribute the change to Mwabu because I
have seen that the pupils I had previously were
not as good as the ones I now have, the
simplified Mwabu lessons are making learning
easier for pupils, they understand things easily
and this is reflected in their performance, it has
been good for my class.”“Parents with children in other nearby
schools are thinking of bringing their
children to our school just because our
NAME: Mrs Matanda Mwila SCHOOL: Lukulu Basic SchoolPOSITION: Grade 1 teacher
Improved teaching methods
Teaching and Learning Materials
Simplified lesson planning
Pupil attendance
Increased Enrollment
Pupil performance
Noticeable classroom improvements
Accounts from the beneficiaries
“I like fixing things, and when I grow up, I
would like a job where I fix things so that is
why I would like to become an engineer. If I
work hard, this is possible, it is only school that
can help me. With the coming of the tablets I
like school a lot and I think I will pass my
Grade 7 exams, and if I work hard at
secondary school I will achieve my dream.”
“Classes have now become more interesting
because we are using tablets, things are easy
to understand because we find everything we
need to learn on the tablets, we are learning
by listening, and this makes understanding
easy. The tablets make our brains sharper.”
Classes have now
become more interest
ing
because we are usin
g
tablets.
NAME: Mutale Namwinga SCHOOL: Lukulu basic SchoolGRADE: 5
Since the introduction of Mwabu, Mutale says
that she now likes school very much, and she
does not miss classes. Her mother agrees:
“[Before] the introduction of Mwabu tablets,
she used to miss school, but now she is always
at school, because of Mwabu and the content.
Her mind is always at school.”
One reason why she likes school, Mutale
says, is “When the teacher is writing on the
board, you canʼt see properly, but with the
Mwabu tablet, you can see everything
clearly. And in lessons, for example when you
are learning about diseases, when someone is
sick you can see clearly where they are
taking him or her, how they do the tests,
Mwabu content makes understanding things
simple.”
Mutale is an ambitious girl with dreams of
giving back to the community she lives in:
“I want to become a lawyer so that I can help
those who canʼt help themselves, people are
arrested for things that they have not done.”
NAME: Malichi UkamaSCHOOL: Kandala Community
SchoolGRADE: 6
Malichiʼs mother has even noticed
improvement; “He never misses school,
these [Mwabu tablets] they have brought to
the school are keeping children busy, they
donʼt miss classes and I think they are
learning new things.”
Now she is alwaysat school, becauseof Mwabu and thecontent.
About MwabuMwabu is the trading name for iSchool Africa and
iSchool Education Ltd. Mwabu is a comprehensive
multi-media e-learning package designed to cover the
whole of the primary school curriculum (teacher plans
and interactive learning for students) delivered by the
Mwabu educational tablet. Mwabu lessons are produced
with entirely localised content, with early grades being
involved in 8 local languages. Mwabu works in both
urban and rural schools with equipment and tools
supplied along with teacher training, internet access and
technical support.
For more information, contact:
[email protected] or visit www.mwabu.com
Mwabu is the trading
name for iSchool Africa
and iSchool Education Ltd.
Unicef promotesthe rights andwell-being of everychild in everythingwe do.
About UNICEFUNICEF promotes the rights and well-being of every child
in everything we do. Together with our partners, UNICEF
works in 190 countries and territories to translate that
commitment into practical action, focusing special effort on
reaching the most vulnerable and excluded children, to
the benefit of all children, everywhere.
For more information, contact:
Dr. Hamid El-Bashir Ibrahim, PhD.
Representative, UNICEF Zambia
[email protected] or visit www.unicef.org