A Second Chance to Shine: Elias Julius's Inspiring BeFIT Learning Journey

Elias on the tablet.

Elias Julius is a Standard 1 learner at Chisambe Primary School in Mulanje, who is experiencing a meaningful transformation thanks to the Building Education Foundations through Innovation and Technology (BeFIT) programme.

BeFIT is a Government of Malawi–owned and led programme aimed at improving foundational literacy and numeracy skills among learners in Standards 1 to 4 in all public primary schools nationwide. The programme delivers supplemental, individualized, and self-paced learning through specialised applications installed on Android tablets.

Elius has a physical impairment and multiple learning difficulties, which limited his participation in the traditional classroom. In a typical learning environment, Elius rarely had the chance to engage freely with lessons.

He often struggled with letter recognition, sound identification, and understanding basic number concepts. Faced with these challenges, Elius needed a new approach—one that BeFIT was able to provide.

BeFIT has given Elias a second chance at learning through its inclusive, interactive design. The tablet-based sessions allow him to learn at his own pace, repeat activities, and use audio-visual support to reinforce concepts.

These features have helped him better associate letters with sounds and numbers with quantities. For example, Elius can now identify all the letters of the alphabet and count to ten independently, skills he struggled with before using BeFIT.

As a result, Elias is more attentive, eager, and confident during learning sessions. He participates actively and shows great excitement during BeFIT activities,” shared Edna Zatengeni, a Standard 1 teacher.

Elias's progress highlights how BeFIT embraces inclusion and supports learners with diverse needs by creating a learning environment where every child can succeed.