Last Mile Education Technology: An Evaluation of Building Education Foundations through Innovation & Technology in Malawi

The randomized evaluation assigned eligible schools to one of three conditions: (a) control, (b) standard BEFIT dosage, or (c) high BEFIT dosage. Two schools were allocated to receive a capitation grant and were not assigned to either of the groups.

Standard BEFIT dosage group: Schools are assigned to schedule student use of the onecourse software for up to five periods per week (about 150 minutes weekly, or 27 hours annually).

High BEFIT dosage group: Students are scheduled to use the software for approximately 240/245 minutes per week (about 43 hours annually).

Control group: Schools continue with existing practices.

2025-08-01

2027-01-31

This study will assess the impact of the BEFIT program on literacy and numeracy test scores.

Student learning outcomes:
a. Literacy (Early Grade Reading Assessment, EGRA)
b. Numeracy (Early Grade Mathematics Assessment, EGMA)

Student grade promotion, dropouts, psychosocial indicators, and attention.

This study will also assess the impact of the BEFIT program on the following student-level outcomes:
a. Student grade promotion
b. Dropouts
c. Psychosocial indicators and attention

It will assess the impact on the following HT and school-related indicators:
a. Beliefs about Education Philosophy
b. Perceptions of Educational Technology
c. School enrolment and number of teachers
d. Quality of teachers- (education, certification status, years of experience, comfort with English and computers)
e. Management practices
f. Use (and frequency) of standardized forms for performance evaluation
g. Use (and frequency) of standardised forms for student and teacher records (such as absences, test scores)
h. Use (and frequency) classroom observation tools
i. Use of performance-based pay incentives
j. Use of standardised lesson plans

It will assess the impact on the following teacher outcomes:
a.Teacher practices
b. Job satisfaction
c. Self-efficacy

Schools eligible for the study must meet three criteria: 1) no prior BEFIT implementation, 2) a suitable roof for solar panel installation and 3) deemed accessible by the implementing partner.

The research team shared a sampling frame with Imagine Worldwide to begin school eligibility assessments. Using the 2024 Education Management Information System (EMIS) data, we generated a randomly selected list of 574 schools across 12 districts (three rural and one urban per region). Single-gender schools were excluded to maximize precision in gender subgroup analysis. All 150 schools previously included in the National Numeracy Program (NNP) evaluation were retained. After Imagine Worldwide conducted eligibility checks, 441 schools were deemed eligible.

Due to budget constraints, the research team dropped 93 of the 441 eligible schools, including one district entirely. A baseline survey was completed with the remaining 348 schools across 11 districts. Information was collected from headteachers regarding school name, location, enrollment, number of teachers and classrooms, interest in technology, demand for the BEFIT program, and their experiences as school leaders. Additionally, a Student Tracking Sample was created by collecting information on randomly selected students, including their names and genders. These students were assessed using the Early Grade Reading Assessment (EGRA) and Early Grade Mathematics Assessment (EGMA) in Chichewa, along with an attention measure. A short household survey was administered to capture demographic and socioeconomic data. For the Teacher Tracking Sample, four teachers (one per grade, Standards 1–4) were identified from administrative data.

After baseline, schools were randomly assigned to one of three groups, stratified by tercile of the school’s predicted baseline achievement (capturing variation from geography, enrolment and pupil-teacher ratio), solar panel size and school level baseline achievement.
Control group (N =221): No BEFIT program
Standard-dosage group (N = 100): Students scheduled to use the one-course software for 150 minutes per week.
High-dosage group (N = 25): Students scheduled for 300 minutes per week.
Note: Two schools were excluded from the allocation to the treatment and control group as they were randomly selected for the capitation grant.

Follow-up surveys and assessments will be conducted with sampled schools (finalized at followup). In rounds after the program is fully transitioned to government management, additional students in Grades 1 and 2 will be added to the tracking sample. This will allow the evaluation to measure the program’s impact on new cohorts and compare learning outcomes with those observed in the original tracking sample.

Not available

The schools were randomly assigned using a computer-generated number.

Schools

Yes

348 schools at baseline

We surveyed 348 headteachers, 1,392 teachers, and 5,394 students at the baseline.

Control group: 221 schools

Treatment group: 125 schools, divided into:
Standard BEFIT program: 100 schools
High-dosage BEFIT program: 25 schools

Note: Two schools were excluded from the sample because they opted to receive capitation grants.

We report the minimum detectable effect (alpha= 0.05 and beta = 0.80) for test scores for the comparison of 125 BEFIT schools (regardless of dosage) in the initial follow-up survey (June 2026). We assume a residual correlation of 0.2 in strata controls and that the residual variance in test scores after accounting for strata fixed effects and other covariates is 90% of the total variance. Analyses focus on the intent-to-treat effect of program assignment. With 125 BEFIT schools, the MDE for standardized test scores is 0.12 standard deviations.