Religious leaders around Nasala Primary School in the area of Traditional Authority (TA) Malili in Lilongwe have described Building Education Foundation Through Innovation and Technology (BEFIT) programme as a game changer that will not only improve learning outcomes but also expose learners to digital technology.
The sentiments were made on Friday during an engagement meeting with the faith community on the BEFIT Programme.
Speaking in an interview, Pastor Welcome Domoya says as the world is going digital, it is imperative to encourage learners to go to school and get exposed to digital technology which will mould them to be effective future leaders of the digital world.
“This world has now gone digital, everyone is supposed to know how to use technology, we the pastors nowadays we are using computers and tablets to deliver sermons so when learners know this technology at this stage it will not be hard for them when they are grown up,” he said.
He said as the clergy, they will use their religious gatherings to create more awareness among the community on the BEFIT program and its benefits to learners in low grade classes of standard 1-4.
Publicist for the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Mphatso Nkuonera said the ministry recognises the significant role played by the faith community in sensitising masses on innovations including edu-tech.
“Faith leaders have a wide audience with congregants from various backgrounds, therefore religious gatherings provide fertile platforms to share more insights on the BEFIT programme for learners, parents and the entire community to embrace it,” Nkuonera said.
With a commitment to reach 6000 public primary schools in Malawi by 2029, the BEFIT programme was introduced by the government through the Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education to deal with leaning poverty by equipping learners with literacy and numeracy skill for a strong education foundation.
In schools that are currently running tablet-based learning, they have already witnessed reduced cases of absenteeism, increased enrolment and improved learning outcomes. #Education IsKey.
