Save the Children Malawi has awarded a grant of €18,024 (approximately K38.3 million) to renowned innovator, Staff Nyoni who developed “Blind Classroom”, an innovative youth-led initiative transforming how visually impaired students learn in the country.
The organisation says it hopes through the grant, Nyoni’s innovation will assist more blind children in Malawi.
It says, through the grant, Blind Classroom initiative will reach close to 14 schools across the country.
“Thanks to this grant, Blind Classroom will expand from 3 to 14 schools, reaching hundreds of learners with laptops, headsets, simplified keyboards and more,” information on the organisation’s website indicated.
Save the Children Malawi said it decided to offer the grant after noticing the positive impact Nyoni’s innovation is having on the country’s education sector.
“For instance, in only two days at Chilanga School for the Blind, students were already excelling in standardised assessments, and they loved it,” said Save the Children Malawi.
The organisation has since called on more innovators to come up with innovations that can improve inclusivity.
“Like in the case of Blind Classroom, the Ministry of Education sees it as a game-changer for inclusive learning,” it added.
In his remarks, Nyoni thanked Save the Children Malawi for giving him the grant: “This grant will help me achieve even more.”
The Blind Classroom initiative, is an AI-powered, voice-interactive learning system built by Staff Nyoni specifically for students with visual impairments.
Key features, include AI Teacher for real-time lessons and oral lessons, Joystick navigation for ease of use, Homework, notes and performance tracking and offline access for remote schools, just to mention a few.
