Our work expands to support Universities
Over the last 4 years, our Improving Access to ICT Program that we implement in partnership with the Turing Trust, has been supporting secondary schools in Malawi with ICT resources. However, recently we discovered that universities in Malawi also needed computers. Although universities did have some computers, there were never enough for the numbers of students who needed to use them and most students do not own their own devices.
The recently published Malawi’s Digital Economy Strategy recognised that there is a need for “innovative digital learning solutions to contribute to improved education and skills development especially in light of the new challenges posed by Covid-19 and inadequate space for learners, especially in secondary schools and tertiary institutions.” We felt that we had to step in to help.
Once we reached out to universities, they were quick to respond and work with us to set up computer labs. So far we have supported 5 university campuses with a total of 200 computers.
University of Livingstonia
1. Laws (Livingstonia) Campus,
2. Ekwendeni Campus
3. Kaning’ina Campus
Malawi Assemblies of God University
1. Lilongwe Campus
2. Blantyre Campus
In excitement, a university representative explained how these computers will have such a huge impact on the education of the students. He said:
…….they didn’t have enough computers for the students to be using ….
…….most of the students we have don’t own personal computers to use for research and assignments. So, they rely on the computers the schools have. It was very difficult before because the students had to wait on each other to use the limited computers we had. This led to late submissions and other inconveniences.
We are very proud of the impact the computers are making on different levels of education in Malawi, be it at Primary, Secondary or University level. However, there are still many schools and universities in Malawi without adequate IT facilities, so please continue to support our work with donations of IT equipment you no longer need. It makes a real difference.
