EMPOWERING YOUNG PEOPLE WITH FINANCIAL LITERACY TRAINING

New financial literacy course reaching thousands of young people

The delivery of a new financial education course is now reaching completion, empowering young people with vital financial literacy training. After a successful pilot study, the new learning materials have been implemented in the initial target area of Eastern Province, Katete District, reaching over 18,000 learners!

The bespoke e-learning programme has been developed by Mwabu, working in partnership with Financial Sector Deepening Zambia (FSDZ) and Impact Network. The course includes bespoke illustrations and animations, plus interactive questions and quizzes. It is written and voiced in the vernacular language, Nyanja, in order to be accessible to rural communities. It covers topics such as budgeting, saving, borrowing and investment.

The learning modules are being delivered by locally trained facilitators, who have all had very good experiences using the content. The course is being delivered to the primary target group of vulnerable young women in rural communities, mostly through a local netball project. The course has been very well received, with the participants really taking on board what they have learnt. In fact, groups of women have started teaching others in their community to share what they learnt.

The course is also being used in schools, with primary and secondary aged male and female pupils. The progress of all learners will be thoroughly analysed through pre- and post- testing, as well as anecdotal feedback.

Mwabu are nearing completion of an English language version of the digital content, in preparation for the programme to be extended to other regions in Zambia.

Survey Indicates Teachers Want Tech!

23 October 2024

In a recent pilot of our survey tool, focussed on foundational learning, we collected data on the availability of teaching and learning resources, teachers’ training and support needs, availability of technology (smartphones, tablets, computers) as well teachers’ beliefs and willingness relating to technology use in the classroom.   Our preliminary findings show that despite recent large-scale interventions, teaching and learning resources remain limited, for example there is one reading book per 3-5 learners in 46% of classrooms. This, together with learner absenteeism are the most prevalent challenges faced by teachers. The most requested forms of support are training on literacy teaching methods and provision of numeracy materials. 

Time + Tide Report on Fantastic Learner Progress.

16 October 2024

Mwabu congratulates the Time + Tide Foundation Girls Club for the fantastic improvements they have achieved in their Girls Club literacy programme in Liuwa Plain. After one year of using the Mwabu Learn app as part of an after-school programme aimed at improving low literacy levels of girls, the 2023 cohort scored a collective average of 53% on their literacy assessments – a significant increase from the baseline at 27%.

Digital Sexual Reproductive Health Education.

23 September 2024

Mwabu’s product team has created a few sample modules and developed a draft course outline for a new interactive digital course to support dissemination of crucial information about sexual reproductive health (SRH) to adolescents across Zambia and beyond. We have taken these steps as we are aware of the urgency and need for relevant, sensitive and appropriate education content relating to this topic. We also know that individual organisations working in this area seldom have the funds required for investment in a full digital course so, as part of this initiative, we are exploring alternative funding models to enable contributions to development from several sources.