
The children of the Mzimba district of Malawi, whose parents grow tobacco, maize and beans under the shadow of the Viphya Mountains, are among the poorest in Africa. Malawi has a GDP per capita of only $625, and Mzimba is by no means the wealthiest part of the country. But some children in Mzimba have something their counterparts in many other parts of Africa do not: an interactive teacher.
Since 2023, Malawi has been introducing a trial to give adaptive learning tablets developed by onebillion, a UK edtech non-profit company, to children across the country, with Mzimba one of the first districts selected. By 2030, the aim is to get the tablets to 3.5mn primary school children in more than 6,000 schools.