In Zambia, more students than ever go to school, but learning outcomes remain low.
PEAS opened its first school in Zambia in 2012. Today, we are supporting over 58,000 students to access life changing education in our schools and partner schools.
In 2024, we expanded our support to students in Zambia by merging with the award-winning Impact Network programme. Together, we have been delivering high quality, low-cost education to rural Zambians across early childhood, primary, and secondary schools for over twelve years.
Merging with Impact Network means we can support students from the moment they begin primary school through to graduation from secondary school.
Evidence shows PEAS is reducing financial barriers and increasing access for young people who may not otherwise be able to go to school. PEAS students get better results despite having lower prior academic achievement. PEAS schools have strong community engagement especially around girls’ education.
The Impact Network programme is delivered in 40+ extremely hard-to-reach primary schools in Eastern Zambia.
The programme has strong evidence of delivering transformative education to the poorest children, especially girls, while keeping costs low. Each year 13,000+ students benefit from the tech enabled education model which centres on quality in-school teacher support, and foundational literacy and numeracy programming.
Evidence shows the Impact Network programme increased maths achievement by 55% and literacy by 103% compared to other schools. At the end of grade 1, students are 12 months ahead on numeracy and 22 months ahead on literacy.
Building on what we’ve learned in Uganda, we’re supporting the government to strengthen and improve the quality of school management - a key challenge in the Zambian education system.
Peter is a Grade 7 student who had no prior experience with ICT before joining his school. Here, he shares how eLearning has transformed his education.
Find out more about Peter’s story“When I first got into this school, I had no ICT skills. My first contact with a tablet was in this school. Having been given this opportunity, I can now attest that I am able to operate and use the technology with very minimal supervision.”
“In the earlier days before eLearning was introduced, I used to find it difficult to remember what was taught because some lessons were hard for me to remember without anything to look at. I enjoy the lessons when they are projected on the wall, and I pay more attention. At times it feels like I am watching a cartoon, which helps me to learn the material faster because it is interesting and brings something real into the classroom.”
“eLearning has enhanced my ability to learn and remember things that I see. The lessons on the tablets are awesome because they get us engaged as a class. I love group work. We all interact and work as a group, whereas before, the teacher would do an exercise on the board and each student would hide their answer, whether it was right or wrong.”
“One statement our teacher uses is: ‘If you see it, you can’t forget it, and if you do something, you are likely to remember always how that particular thing is done.’ Truly, I have seen this in my learning ability as well as when it comes to remembering what I learned. When I compare my performance before and now, I can truly attest to the fact that my grades have improved, and I am more zealous and positive-minded than I was before. Visual learning is so much easier and fun. Now our classes are on time because we do not take so much time to understand what the teacher is teaching, and the number of absenteeism has dropped.”
“I am a better, more focused, and committed pupil now than I was some time back before visual learning and other learning aids were introduced. I look forward to so much more that I will learn with regards to ICT skill acquisition.”
*Name changed for anonymity.