Catalyzing Literacy and Numeracy for One Million Young Africans

Summary

In 2024, Imagine Worldwide committed to scale its foundational learning tablet program in Tanzania and Sierra Leone over four years to transform those countries’ primary education systems and empower more than one million children with life-changing reading and math skills. Imagine’s tablet-based, personalized learning solution, previously successful in Malawi, is designed for the most challenging environments–it operates offline, is solar-powered, and uses adaptive software in local languages. The project will additionally enhance enrollment and attendance for those youth, achieve solar power for 1250 schools, provide training for thousands of teachers, and create jobs around solar device installation and maintenance.

Approach

Imagine Worldwide’s commitment is to scale its foundational learning tablet program in Tanzania and Sierra Leone — transforming those countries’ primary education systems and empowering 1mm+ children with life-changing reading and math skills.

Imagine provides a tablet-based, personalized learning solution designed for the most challenging environments (works offline, is solar-powered, uses adaptive software in local languages) . Nine Randomized Controlled Trials across multiple countries, settings, and languages have shown dramatic learning gains, increased school attendance, and gender parity for <$7 per child/year. Sierra Leone and Tanzania have publicly committed to improving foundational learning and digital education. In both countries, Imagine has successful pilot programs, strong local partners, and government agreements to sustain the program long-term. In Sierra Leone, Imagine is working with local implementation partners (Rising Academy Network, EducAid, SEND, and Action Aid) and the government to scale to 750 schools, serving 150,000 students/year by the end of 2026. In Tanzania, Imagine is collaborating with the government to serve 500 schools and 150,000 students/year by the end of 2026. In addition to boosts in literacy and numeracy (with gender parity) , Imagine's goals include improvements in enrollment/attendance, solar power for 1250 schools, training for thousands of teachers, and jobs created around installation and maintenance. Imagine is contributing $6mm of the required $20mm of philanthropy needed to fund the initial expansion and unlock a subsequent wave of Big Aid funding to further scale the programs nationwide. This capital will catalyze the elements necessary for national scale: government collaboration, ecosystem coordination, solar infrastructure, purchasing tablets and training, launching a critical mass of schools, and developing country-specific evidence. With sufficient early capital, Imagine will triple the performance of the current education systems, leading to 1mm+ students acquiring life-changing — and world-changing — reading and math skills.[commitment-title title='Action Plan'] Q1: Sierra Leone Program launched in 80 new schools (131 schools cumulative) Baseline assessment in 40 schools Program implementation, monitoring, and evaluation in 131 schools (ongoing) Tanzania Submission of revised program proposal to the MoE based on Dec 2024 co-creation workshop Q2: Sierra Leone Select additional schools for next phase of program expansion Program designed/adjusted based on lessons learned to date and local stakeholder input Tablets/accessories procured Endline assessment of representative sample of students in the same 40 baseline schools (June) Refresher training for schools launched in Q1 Tanzania MOU signed between Imagine and government of Tanzania (expected June 2024) Initial Implementation Service Partners (ISPs) selected (expected June 2024) Q3: Sierra Leone Analysis of Jan-June learning gains New baseline assessment for '24/'25 school year in 60+ schools (Sept) Identify an additional 60 schools for expansion in Q1 2025 Tanzania Complete contracts with ISPs Complete initial school selection and infrastructure analysis Procure assets for initial pilots Q4: Sierra Leone School infrastructure set up (solar panels, charging cages, tablets and accessories) Teachers/school leaders training (includes refresher trainings) Community sensitizations Program launched in 99 schools (230 school cumulative) Tanzania School infrastructure set up Teachers/school leaders training Community sensitizations Program launched in 20 pilot schools 2025 Overall Sierra Leone – Continue quarterly implementation steps outlined above to serve 245 new schools (475 cumulative) Tanzania – Continue steps above to serve 200 new schools 2026 Overall Sierra Leone – Continue quarterly implementation steps outlined above to serve 275 new schools (750 cumulative) Tanzania – Continue steps above to serve 300 new schools (500 cumulative) 2027-2028 - Maintain program in 1,250 schools, serving 300,000 students/year End of 2028 - 1mm children served[commitment-title title='Background'] All children have immense potential, but millions lack access to the learning they need — especially girls and other marginalized children. Basic literacy and numeracy improves children's health, wealth, and social outcomes — benefits that extend to future generations. However, 89% of children in Sub-Saharan Africa cannot read with understanding by age 10 (UNICEF, 2022) . Despite commitments to foundational learning, existing systems have been unable to solve the problem due to large class sizes, insufficient teacher training, lack of instructional materials, and a lack of power and connectivity. Building more schools and hiring more teachers has proven to be too slow, expensive, and ineffective in addressing the persistent foundational learning gaps. The urgency around solving this challenge is intensifying as nearly half of the world's youth will be African by 2030 (World Economic Forum, 2022) . The scope of the challenge requires a massively scalable solution. Imagine Worldwide's model overcomes the systemic barriers that have prevented widespread adoption of edtech in the developing world. Instead of expanding school-by-school, Imagine partners with governments to scale across entire countries and focuses on sustainability from day one. Imagine taps into the talent of local organizations and communities to strengthen the capacity, expertise, and infrastructure of government systems before stepping away for long-term local ownership. Imagine's work has been proven in Malawi, with a national expansion of the learning program underway. The opportunity now exists to replicate that success in Sierra Leone and Tanzania, where Imagine is partnering with the governments to reduce those countries' high learning poverty rates. This is an unprecedented moment in time when the promise of education technology can finally be realized to serve the most marginalized children on earth. Imagine's efforts will transform learning for 1 million of the world's most under-resourced children — allowing them to reach their full potential.[commitment-title title='Progress Update'] [commitment-title title='Partnership Opportunities'] Imagine's biggest challenge to successfully scaling its tablet program in Sierra Leone and Tanzania could be mobilizing sufficient early philanthropic capital to catalyze the elements necessary for national scale: government collaboration, ecosystem coordination, solar infrastructure, purchasing tablets, and training, launching a critical mass of schools, and developing country-specific evidence. Additional support for telling Imagine's story and growing awareness of the opportunity to transform foundational learning in Sub-Saharan Africa will be another helpful resource., Imagine believes that systemic change must be driven by governments and local actors to have lasting impact. Imagine's role is collaborative and temporary. They work to strengthen the capacity, expertise, and infrastructure of government systems before stepping away for long-term local ownership. Specifically, Imagine offers design strategy, provision of solar infrastructure/tablets, training, monitoring, research, communications support, and catalytic early philanthropic capital.