The Digitruck is facing the classroom buildings on the other side of the school yard at Uyoba primary school. A large tree provides a place to get out of the sunshine. This is where we find the teacher coaches that has been working in the DigiLearn project in the past year. They are here to show me their school and the digital tools that they have been working with in grade 6 this past year.
Project Luangwa has trained teacher coaches and equipped Uyoba primary school with the Digitruck and tablets with materials based on the Zambian school curriculum to use as part of the teaching to grade 6 students in this small school in the South Luangwa valley in rural Zambia. The school has about 1 000 students in total, 120 of these were in the two classes that formed the grade 6 in 2023. After their training, the teacher coaches introduced the tablets to their students as a complement to their lessons. The tablets have been used to teach Science, Maths and English providing a vast range of resources including interactive lessons, self-study modules, pedagogical games and opportunities to test your knowledge and immediately know the result. This last part has lightened the workload for the teacher coaches when small tests are automatically marked as the students do the test on the tablet.
The teachers aren’t the only ones who enjoyed working with the tablets in school, the students have also been excited to use the devices for learning. The project has had a positive effect on absenteeism, as students have been eager to come to school and parents have noticed that having access to more pedagogical content has motivated their children to learn. The initial year indicates an overall improvement of results for the grade 6 students. Weaker students seem to have benefited most from the tablets, as their test results have increased more than those of their academically stronger peers.
If Uyoba primary school follows in the footsteps of the first DigiLearn school, the impact of this project can be remarkable. When visiting Chiwawatala primary school, the head teacher showed us the year 7 results that had recently been announced. Nearly 90% of Chiwawatala’s year 7 students passed the exams, and more students received the highest mark than students failing. This grade 7 started using tablets during their year 6 and it has dramatically improved the results of the school. Although the head teacher assures us that he has set the bar higher: “when 100% of the students pass, I will sleep well at night”.
These peaceful nights have a chance of arriving very soon. While in South Luangwa, we had the opportunity to attend the official inauguration of the brand-new buildings that have been constructed at the school. This will be the place where students will have DigiLearn tablet sessions and learn more ICT skills such as using computers. The handover ceremony was covered by ZANIS news.
