Digital promise, physical limits: The Case of AI in Malawi’s Education Sector

By Collins Mtika

Malawi’s integration of AI in early education is a case study in ambition meeting constraint. With initiatives like BEFIT leading the charge, the challenge remains: how to scale technology in a system still grappling with basic infrastructure.

In a quiet classroom in rural Malawi, a child sits on a wooden bench, hunched over a solar-powered tablet. The ceiling fan does not spin. The chalkboard is cracked. The electricity is out, again.

But on that glowing screen, a digital teacher speaks Chichewa.

Welcome to Malawi’s education paradox: the pursuit of an AI-powered future, unfolding on top of infrastructure barely built for the present.

As the government looks ahead to Malawi 2063, it is long-term development blueprint, leaders are pitching artificial intelligence as the key to transforming education.

They speak of classrooms retooled for the digital age, teachers supported by machine learning, and students equipped for a global economy where code is currency.

But in a country where electricity is unreliable and internet access is still a luxury, ambition often crashes into reality. The glow of the future is real, but flickering.

The grand Vision: AI as a national catalyst

From Parliament chambers to university lecture halls, the message is clear: AI is central to Malawi’s development. It is not seen as a luxury, but as a necessity for building an “inclusively wealthy and self-reliant nation.”

“We want AI to enhance, not replace, our teachers,” said Minister of Basic Education Madalitso Kambauwa Wirima earlier this year. “It should empower educators and expand access, not automate them out.”

This vision is beginning to take shape.

In October 2023, the Malawi University of Science and Technology (MUST) launched the country’s first Centre for Artificial Intelligence and STEAM (CAIST), with support from a consortium of U.S. universities. The centre aims to be a hub for AI research and homegrown solutions.

“We can’t afford to be left behind,” says Professor Zipangani Vokhiwa, a CAIST co-founder. “AI will reshape every sector. We must train for it, regulate it, and innovate within it.”

Malawi is also asserting itself on the global stage. With backing from UNESCO, the government has proposed hosting a Southern Africa regional AI hub, signalling its intent to help shape, not just follow, the continent’s digital future.

BEFIT: The Digital Revolution in the Classroom

The most visible sign of this ambition is BEFIT—Building Education Foundations through Innovation & Technology. This national programme aims to bring tablet-based learning to up to 3.8 million children in Standards 1–4 by 2029.

It is a bold expansion of the earlier Unlocking Talent pilot, and one of Southern Africa’s most ambitious digital learning initiatives.

At the core of BEFIT is adaptive software called OneCourse, developed by the non-profit One Billion.

Installed on tablets powered by solar panels, the app delivers literacy and numeracy lessons in Chichewa, with a digital teacher avatar guiding each child at their own pace.

In overcrowded classrooms, where a single teacher may manage 60 or more pupils, this is not just helpful. It is transformative.

The need is urgent. According to the Ministry of Education, only 13% of 10-year-olds in Malawi can read or do basic math. Without foundational skills, the next generation will be shut out of the digital economy before they ever log in.

Supporters, including Ecobank Malawi, believe BEFIT could be a game-changer, closing early learning gaps, levelling the playing field, and boosting future earning potential through AI.

Digital Dreams, offline lives

But the road to AI-enhanced education is rough, and the gap between vision and reality remains wide.

While some surveys suggest internet access is at 68%, the World Bank paints a starker picture: only 27.7% of Malawians are truly online, and just 4.2% of households own a computer.

For children, the numbers are even worse; UNICEF estimates over 90% of Malawians aged 3–17 lack any internet access.

Power cuts are frequent. In many districts, classrooms go days without electricity. While BEFIT attempts to solve this with solar-powered devices, the wider infrastructure—connectivity, maintenance, and tech support, is fragile.

Even when students get a device, data is expensive. Devices are few. And even if internet access were free, most students wouldn’t have a way to connect.

Then there is the human factor. Most teachers have never been trained to use digital tools. In past projects, equipment broke and went unmaintained. Tools turned into clutter. Tablets gathered dust.

“We risk turning good tech into junk if we don’t train the people expected to use it,” warned one education official.

Without continuous investment in digital literacy for teachers, even the best intentions risk ending up as e-waste.

Homegrown Hope: building with less

Yet despite these challenges, innovation is emerging.

At the University of Malawi, a workshop on “TinyML” showed how machine learning can run on ultra-low-power devices, designed for countries where energy is scarce but ideas are not.

At MUST, students have built an AI model to diagnose measles from skin images and developed a soil-scanning tool that helps farmers decide what crops to plant.

Staff Nyoni, founder of Access Ability Africa, created The Blind Classroom, an AI-powered, voice-based assistant for visually impaired students. It works offline, runs on recycled parts, and is already being used in special needs schools.

Meanwhile, educators are sounding notes of caution. Professor Francis Moto of the Catholic University of Malawi warns that generative AI tools like ChatGPT may erode critical thinking if used without care.

“AI literacy must go hand-in-hand with ethics, pedagogy, and a respect for our own cultural context,” he said.

Malawi’s AI movement is no longer just an abstract policy goal; it is happening, device by device, classroom by classroom.

A bold leap on fragile ground

Malawi stands at a crossroads. The dream of AI-driven education is bold, visionary, and high-risk.

Success will not depend on the sophistication of imported algorithms.

It will depend on something far harder to build: reliable electricity, affordable internet, effective teacher training, and infrastructure that reaches every district, not just urban centres.

This is a long game. BEFIT is a strong starting point. But the true measure will be whether Malawi can raise a generation of creators, not just consumers – students who do not just use AI but shape it.

That child in the rural classroom with the flickering tablet, will she someday build the systems she is now learning from? The future of Malawi’s digital revolution depends on the answer.