Across Malawi, learners with special educational needs are often identified late. Even when they are identified, consistent support remains difficult to sustain. Limited resources, a shortage of specialised expertise, and heavy reliance on paper-based systems compound these challenges. As a result, learning poverty among learners with special educational needs is much higher than the general population, contributing to elevated rates of grade repetition and school dropout.
The Remote Enablement and Assessment for Children’s Health and Education (REACH) project is an EdTech implementation research study designed to test practical solutions to these challenges. Rather than introducing entirely new systems, the project builds on existing tools and practices, aiming to strengthen and streamline the support already available to learners with special educational needs and disabilities.