CSEC Launches Digital Literacy and Policy Push in Dowa Schools
With pandemic disruptions still fresh, officials agree building both access and skills locally can establish foundations benefiting generations.
DOWA, Malawi- A leading education coalition will promote digital access and skills across 20 Dowa district schools over the next year to boost pandemic-disrupted learning, writes Vincent Gunde.
The Civil Society Education Coalition (CSEC) outlined its Malawi Inclusive Digital Transformation Advocacy Project to officials on Tuesday.
The initiative targets 5 BEFIT and 5 non-BEFIT institutions in the region with teacher trainings, digital literacy drives, and supplementary reading materials.
"The project seeks to strengthen civil society advocacy for inclusive digital transformation in Malawi's education system," said CSEC's Duncan Chirwa.
Besides student and educator skill building, CSEC will also train district stakeholders like Youth Clubs and School Management Committees on effectively participating in national digital policy dialogues.
"We want local voices influencing decisions around education technology access and innovation from the ground up," Chirwa noted.
To spur wider social engagement, online advocacy campaigns, community radio programs and parliamentary discussions are planned highlighting citizen perspectives on digitizing learning.
School committees and village heads will be coached on monitoring community perceptions of digital adoption challenges and reporting findings to support evidence-based reforms.
UK charity Aid International has provided a 5-year supply of books targeting reading culture among primary and secondary learners in project areas.
Officials welcomed the supplementary materials addressing stretched resources.
"Some donated books contain topics highly relevant to the national curriculum," said regional education officer MacMillan Maziya while advising close public sector collaboration.
Backed by a 100,000 Euro grant from GIZ via the Global Campaign for Education, CSEC ultimately seeks to spark advocacy and policies ensuring digitally-enabled, quality education reaches Dowa's most marginalized groups.
With pandemic disruptions still fresh, officials agree building both access and skills locally can establish foundations benefiting generations.