"Nobody Even Noticed I Had Entered the Classroom"

Linice Sanga, Program Manager at CRECCOM, monitors a BeFIT learning session at Malabada Primary School in Blantyre City and shares her experience observing learners actively engaging in tablet-enabled literacy and numeracy lessons.

Usually, when visitors enter a classroom, there is a little bit of drama. Learners suddenly sit up straight, some become unusually quiet, while others stare at you as though you have arrived with sweets hidden in your bag. But my visit to Malabada Primary School in Blantyre City was completely different.

Nobody noticed me.

And honestly, I took it personally for about three seconds.

The moment the Building Education Foundations through Innovation and Technology (BeFIT) period started, as scheduled on the school timetable, the classroom transformed into a well-coordinated learning space. Learners quickly lined up, tablets were distributed, headphones carefully connected, and the teacher guided them through the usual preparation process with impressive calmness and order.

Then silence.

Not the kind of silence that comes from fear or confusion, but the deep, focused silence of learners completely absorbed in what they were doing. The children were so engaged in the tablet-enabled lessons that my presence as a monitoring visitor became almost irrelevant. For a Program Manager, that was probably the best compliment I could receive.

As part of BeFIT Cohort III monitoring sessions, I visited the school to observe how learners are benefiting from tablet-enabled learning aimed at improving literacy and numeracy.

What I witnessed was encouraging, inspiring, and, at times, quietly amusing.

Some learners handled the tablets with such confidence that you would think they had been born holding them. Others moved through lessons with excitement and concentration, carefully listening through headphones while following instructions on the screen. The classroom atmosphere reflected active learning, curiosity, and growing confidence among the learners.

What stood out most during the visit was how the BeFIT program is steadily becoming institutionalised within the school system. This is no longer an “extra activity” squeezed into free time. The BeFIT session is now part of the official school timetable, with teachers and school leadership fully supporting its implementation.

That level of ownership is important.

The school leadership has embraced the program by ensuring consistency in lesson delivery, accountability in handling learning materials, and support for teachers facilitating the sessions. The systems being put in place are helping ensure that the benefits of the program continue beyond the Implementing Support Partner (ISP) phase.

At the same time, community engagement continues to play a critical role. Parents and community members are increasingly appreciating the value of tablet-enabled learning as they observe improvements in learners’ reading, writing, and numeracy skills. Their support and involvement are helping create an enabling environment for children to learn effectively.

CRECCOM continues to support the implementation of the BeFIT program by strengthening collaboration among schools, communities, and education stakeholders. Through monitoring, engagement, and continuous support, the program is helping create sustainable foundations for improved learning outcomes.

As I continued observing the session, I realised something important: the true success of innovation in education is when technology stops feeling like a special event and simply becomes part of normal learning. At Malabada Primary School, that transition is already happening.

And perhaps my favorite part of the entire visit was this: throughout the session, the learners remained fully focused on learning; not on the visitor standing in the corner trying very hard not to feel ignored.

For me, that was evidence that the program is working exactly as it should.

BeFIT is a government of Malawi owned and led program aimed at enhancing foundational literacy and numeracy skills among learners in standard 1 to 4 across all public primary schools in Malawi through supplemental, individualized, self-paced instruction delivered via specialized apps on android tablets.