By Ireen Mseteka

Likoma, May 16, Mana: District Programs Coordinator for Ulalo organization in Likoma, Given Manda, says Building Education Foundations through Innovation and Technology (BEFIT) program has helped in reducing school dropout rates in the district.

Manda said this on Thursday at Nkhwazi Primary School during the St. Peter's Zone Open Day Program in Likoma where he emphasized that the school dropout has drastically reduced since the introduction of the program in March this year.

"We have received reports that learners who dropped out of school have returned to their respective schools and absenteeism has reduced. This is showing the positive impact of befit program.

“We are hopeful that in the coming years, literacy and numeracy among learners will greatly improve since the program provides learners with tablets equipped with interactive lessons aligned with the national curriculum in Chichewa," explained Manda.

He said the essence of the open day program was to showcase to parents on what is contained in the tablets thereby appreciating the importance of the program.

A parent from Nkhwazi area in Sub Traditional Authority Mwase in Chizumulu, Martha Banda, thanked government for the program saying her son has been attending school since the inception of the program.

"I had problems with my son when it comes to attending school. Sometimes he could go to the lake with his friends before the program was introduced," said Banda.

Quality Assurance Officer for St. Peter's Zone, Emmanuel Mtawali, said the program has helped in improving punctuality of the learners because they find using tablets interesting and enjoyable.  

He then asked government to supply additional tablets to meet the enrollment of learners which is higher than the number of tablets in the district.

The program which is being implemented by government through the Ministry of Education is aimed at enhancing foundation literacy and numeracy skills among learners in standards 1-4 through the use of tablet based learning.