Interview: Mwabu’s Charlotte Scott discusses the evolution of tech in the education sector

The 2016 Education Innovation Summit, which has been organised by IT News Africa and sponsored by Telkom and Mwabu, will see education and technology executives convene at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg on the 17th of March 2016 to discuss vital topics surrounding the impact of technology on education.

In the lead up to the 2016 Education Innovation Summit, IT News Africa interviews Charlotte Scott, who is the Fund Director & Head of Monitoring and Evaluation at Mwabu.

Charlotte Scott has spent over 25 years working in development and poverty alleviation in Zambia and other countries in Africa, heading projects for the Government of Republic of Zambia, bilateral agencies, and most recently for UNICEF Zambia, where she was the Chief of Social Policy & Economic Analysis, Planning, Monitoring & Evaluation. Working for the Government and subsequently the cooperating partners, she designed and set up Zambia’s social cash transfer scheme, now a national programme, which has been widely replicated and modified throughout Africa. Charlotte designed and set up the cash transfer evaluation, which was awarded as the best UNICEF research programme world wide in 2014.

Charlotte served for over three years as the Second Lady of the Republic of Zambia, and as interim First Lady during the 90 day period following the death of the President. She has spoken widely on issues of gender discrimination, gender violence, child rights, and issues affecting women in education, careers and public life in Zambia. She was guest speaker for International Women’s Day celebrations in 2013 at the International Labour Organisation (ILO) headquarters in Geneva, and author of Addressing Inequalities global thematic report for the UN Secretary General’s High Level Panel on Millennium Development Goals. She has also recently written a new Global Report on Child Poverty for Save the Children Interntional.

1. As the creators of Mwabu, how has technology evolved the educational sector in Africa?

Charlotte Scott: Mwabu is first and foremost about educational. We use technology as a means to our goal, which is to support the delivery of high quality education in primary schools across Africa. Even though we are not principally a hardware company, our distinctive, durable devices are being used by over 100,000 children, and have proved reliable even in tough conditions, where there is no electricity, no power and no phone signal.

Mwabu represents an entire programme which includes our low-cost, robust educational tablet, pre-loaded with Mwabu content and supported by implementation and change management services to support adoption of the programme, thus improving educational outcomes through its use. As a range of technologies become more widely available at schools and homes across Africa, in the near future the content will in fact be available for delivery on any other device.

2. How has the Mwabu programme assisted teachers as well as students?

Charlotte Scott: In the classroom, the Mwabu programme is not about IT lessons, or for occasional use. The programme offers comprehensive support to teaching every class, every day.

In Zambia, there are 2000 teachers using Mwabu. Their tablets have full plans for each of the 12,000 lessons, providing guidance on the structure, conduct and content of every lesson.

For teachers who are not trained, or who teach more than one grade, access to lesson plans is invaluable. In fact, we are finding that many teachers are buying tablets for their own use, even in schools were the Mwabu programme has not yet been introduced. It makes their work easier, and helps them ensure that they are delivering the curriculum in full, at the right pace. We have also developed a package of teacher training materials, supporting professional development for teachers who often have little prospect of accessing in-service training.

In Africa, prospects for increasing the number of trained teachers and decreasing class sizes are limited. There is a shortfall of around 1.6 million teachers. In many countries, the pupil-teacher ratio has changed very little in the past two decades, while in 17 African countries it has worsened. While some countries will be able to fill the gap, at least 27 countries (mostly in Africa) that will be unable to do so in the next fifteen years at least. This is because an unrealistic proportion of high school graduates would need to go into teaching; even if they did, there is not enough money to pay salaries or to provide adequate infrastructure including houses and classrooms. Where numbers of teachers have increased, many are unqualified. Both qualified and unqualified teachers struggle with large classes, with access to fewer teaching resources than in the past.

The issue of under-qualified teachers struggling with large class sizes is perhaps the most significant and also the most intractable problem affecting education in Africa today.

Mwabu addresses this problem directly, offering an immediate, achievable, cost-effective and scalable way of helping underqualified and under-resourced teachers to teach more effectively, and to cope with large class sizes, even in the most difficult environments.

3. With technology evolving how do you see it uplifting the educational sector in Africa?


Children learn actively, through a range of activities
Charlotte Scott: We are all aware that these days, education has progressed away from old-fashioned memorizing, drills and lectures. Learner-centred approaches have shown that children engage more actively and learn more quickly if they are also challenged by diverse problem solving exercises, group work, and enquiry-based exercises. The Mwabu approach enables this to happen, creating a blend of teacher-led sessions, group work, and individual assignment. That’s why we find that children are enthusiastic about Mwabu schools, concentrating and engaging closely with their lessons – they love the diversity of activities, and they learn well as a result.

Supporting the delivery of quality education
Mwabu’s goal is to support the delivery of quality education in primary schools.  We believe that Mwabu supports transformative change to primary education in Africa. Moreover, the extent of that change is not limited to schools where conditions are already comparatively good. In fact, Mwabu is having the greatest effects where class sizes are large, where the shortage of teachers is most acute, or where schools depend on unqualified teachers.

Children enroll in school, and attend regularly
Quite simply, parents and children really love Mwabu. UNICEF has reported that parents actively seek out schools where Mwabu is being used, and try to enroll their children there. We have even had reports that parents have insisted that they are also given the chance to use the tablets – and indeed that is one reason why we developed additional adult learning materials.

It sounds simple, but its really powerful. Lots of parents and children are put off by bare classrooms; they don’t value education delivered by ill-equipped or under-trained teachers. I can understand that: we are quick to criticize parents who don’t value education, but sometimes they have a point! With Mwabu, there is a marked and indeed justified change in attitudes to education, providing a foundation for improved performance.

Children progress through the primary years
Progression and retention rates are a significant concern in this region. In East and Southern Africa, UNICEF data shows that 20 percent of primary aged children are out of school; the rate is even higher in some countries. Many children enrol late, reducing the chance that they will complete school; children are also discouraged by failing, and by having to repeat grades, and drop out early.

It is therefore critical that children in school pass through each grade successfully, and progress through successive primary grades without repetition.

Our evidence to date suggests that children come to school, stay in school and progress through the years better where Mwabu is being used. We are too new to have comprehensive data across the entire primary cycle, but every intermediate indicator points in this direction.

Children emerge as successful primary leavers
School qualifications are extremely valuable. We are delighted that our product is supporting learning at all levels, and accelerating the progress of children who access our programme.

If children are our future, we need to make sure that they are ready for the challenges ahead.

4. How will Mwabu be evolved over the next 5 years?

In the next year, we are expecting to launch Mwabu in projects in Lesotho, Kenya and of course South Africa, as well as other countries in the region.

In anticipation of these expansions, we have developed a means of mapping our existing curriculum onto the requirements in each jurisdiction. Whether for all subjects or for some, we can localise Mwabu to each country, and in so doing ensure that the product is approved for use in schools. We do not intend to be an educational toy: we intend to be accepted as fully aligned with national requirements for classroom use.

In Zambia, the content is available in English plus eight vernacular languages. As we expand, we are also able to provide for translation. Besides French and perhaps Portugese, we also recognise that many countries use vernacular languages especially for the early years, and as a means of transitioning into the official language. We have experienced this in Zambia, and are able to respond to any such situation.

Mwabu is a very cost-effective means of delivering e-learning support to classrooms in Africa. I mentioned at the outset that our core product is the content, and in time that will be available for use on any device. For that, we will be introducing a subscription model that will be priced in the range of $15 per child per year.

At present, Mwabu is delivered on our own tablets. The price for those tablets has halved since inception to its current price of around $100.

We will continue to look for robust devices, suitable for classroom use in Africa, at the lowest price possible, and to offer a preloaded option. With India’s new $4 smart phone, we know that prices will fall further. But we are not a hardware firm, and we do not favour one option over the other. Mwabu is about content, and about enabling teachers to do their jobs effectively. Our strategy will push for uses of the Mwabu programme to access content anywhere at anytime and on any device.

5. With the 2016 Education Innovation Summit just around the corner, what can attendees expect to experience at the event?


Charlotte Scott: Mwabu is officially launching in South Africa at the 2016 Education Innovation Summit. We look forward to meeting delegates at our booth and throughout the day.

Our Fund Director Dr Charlotte Harland Scott will deliver a keynote address on the theme of Investing in ICT for Education and introducing the Mwabu business, our programme and approach. Charlotte will also take part in the panel discussing Unlocking sustainable finance for education through non-traditional sources.

Mwabu CEO Justin Reilly will join the panel discussing ‘The vision for the school of tomorrow’ whilst Mwabu Business Development Manager will join the panel discussing ‘The role of digital technology in education’.

6. Finally, what hot topics will Mwabu be covering at the Education Innovation Summit?

Charlotte Scott: Mwabu stands for a future where all children realise their right to a high quality education, equipping them for success in life.

We know that many African economies are modernising, and growing rapidly. However, many of their communities are unable to access new opportunities, and remain cut off from the benefits of growth. Without access to quality education, young people will remain in subsistence life-styles – wasting human capital and undermining national development.

Mwabu seeks to change this, creating rapid improvements in education standards by bringing highly effective e-learning resources into the classroom.

We believe that the future of Africa needs the talent of all its young people, and we will strive to enable children from all backgrounds to benefit from high quality education.

Topics to be discussed at the Education Innovation Summit include:
– The Role of Digital Technology in Education
– The MOOC Model: Challenging Traditional Education models
– Developing and implementing Education Policy
– How can technology drive down the cost of university education in Africa?
– Unlocking sustainable finance for education through nontraditional sources
– Best practice: Incorporating innovative tools in teaching and learning
– A vision for the school of tomorrow
– Investing in ICT for Education
– Connecting with the next generation of students through mobile and social media

For more information: visit: http://www.africaninnovatormagazine.com/education_summit.html
Contact: Tinashe on: Tel: +27 11 026 0982 Fax: 0866130386
Email: events@itnewsafrica.com

Interview conducted by Darryl Linington
Follow @DarrylLinington on Twitter.