For more information, contact:hello@mwabu.com 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:

hello@mwabu.com 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

lusaka@unicef.org or visit www.unicef.org